Franchising

Junzi launches pop-up Chinese concept

Provided

August 21, 2020

Junzi, the restaurant group behind Junzi Kitchen, is launching a Chinese pop-up restaurant — Nice Day — at 170 Bleecker St. in New York City. Nested within Junzi Kitchen's Greenwich Village location, Nice Day is an updated model of traditional Chinese takeout restaurants, where the dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken and Mapo Tofu will pay homage to the classic American-Chinese flavors that have earned rave reviews for generations, Yong Zhao, Junzi CEO and co-founder, said in a company press release.

"Because the first-generation immigrants who opened the Chinese takeout restaurants are now retiring and their offspring are pursuing other professional careers, the number of Chinese restaurants in the U.S. has been consistently falling in the past few years," he said. "Therefore, Nice Day was born in hopes of revitalizing these closing businesses, helping their retirement transition and paying tribute to these forces of American-Chinese dining. What they have left behind is Americas' longing for the cuisine and an infrastructural network they've built across the country. Instead of looking for new locations, we want to utilize the existing spaces and equipment so that we can modernize the takeout experience faster to meet the customers' needs and expectations."

The concept is about honoring the classics while building a restaurant for the future, chef Lucas Sin said in the release.

"American-Chinese restaurants are one of the most efficient restaurants in the world. They produce a huge number of dishes for a very affordable price without needing a corporate direction. Understanding how these old-school flavors can fit and operate in the modern restaurant was one of our main focuses when the food team created the menu," he said.

While the Greenwich Village location serves as a pop-up of the new model, the first permanent location will launch in the city by the end of 2020.