Irene Li: Mei Mei Restaurant, Boston
Profile TWO in this series: Boston Chefs and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Nina first interviewed Irene Li, chef and owner of Mei Mei Restaurant and co-author with her siblings of Double Awesome Chinese Foods (2018), in January of this year as she was gearing up for a busy spring of events, parties, her very first Open Book Open House and… awards season. Nominated five times for James Beard Rising Star Chef, she got the nod once again this week. Nina checked back in to see how the changes forced by Covid-19 have affected Irene’s day-to-day work, how she sees Mei Mei reopening and how her business will change to face new realities.
Update: On Wednesday, May 13th, Irene spoke with WBUR radio about re-opening… or not. Listen here.
What are your thoughts right now in the peak moment of the pandemic crisis?
I’m worried about any restaurant owner or worker who doesn’t have the support and resources that we do. This is hard work, even at the best of times, and right now it’s even harder. Mei Mei is going to get through this, but it’s a slog, even with our many advantages, like flexible debt, lines of credit and UI (unemployment insurance) coverage for pretty much all our employees.
When the guidelines were released in mid-March, what were your immediate thoughts?
We made the decision to close just before the guidelines came out. It made sense to me to stay one step ahead of the rules—I didn’t feel like we could rely on the state to act decisively and in our absolute best interest. It made me nervous, though. So when the guidelines came out, I felt like I’d made the right decision.
What steps did you take to prepare for the lockdown—both professionally and personally?
I ordered a couple extra cases of toilet paper and dry goods. I sent multiple surveys to the staff to find out about their health, their financial needs, their ideas and fears. I set up an emergency grocery program for foodservice workers, including my own team. And, I eliminated my [physical] contact with my mom, which was really hard.
We made a rapid transition to remote work for about half our team in order to keep them with at least some income. We joined Trello and started working in ‘sprints’—so we’re feeling a lot more like a tech company than a restaurant business sometimes.
Are you using this time to experiment with other dishes or are you not working with food at all?
I’d say we’re definitely using this time to experiment—not with dishes, but with the concept of our restaurant and restaurants in general. What else can a restaurant be? Can we reimagine the purpose of our business in a way that serves our community better in this terrible time? Can we ‘pivot’? And can we rely on our core values to help us make the right choices? We’re experimenting with donor-funded meals and groceries for hospital workers, with retail grocery and bulk-sized takeout orders and with other community-based efforts to help get support to those who need it most. We had to push the city of Boston to permit the sale of groceries [from the restaurant].
We’re also experimenting with other sales channels, like with our virtual dumpling classes. These have been so successful that we’re considering not going back to on-site classes!
Describe the differences you’ve experienced between being at home for the past five weeks as opposed to running your restaurant.
I’m still in the restaurant pretty much every day, but it’s much quieter. I’m cooking more at home than I ever have—a gift and a curse, I think.
Everybody’s talking about Netflix, HBO and other TV streaming; do you have any recommendations you want to share? Have you found the time to read, and if so, what are you reading now?
I’ve been relying on RuPaul’s “Drag Race” pretty heavily. And we just started watching “Ozark,” which I find delightful.
What are the staples in your kitchen that you can’t do without? Have you been able to keep these items in stock?
Lemons, bread, tinned fish and cultured butter. Supply has been spotty but pretty good overall. I’m lucky to have access to our distributors, who need our business now more than ever.
What is your go-to menu now that you are cooking at home?
We’re eating a lot of pasta. I like to say that carbs are my love language.
What kind of safety precautions are you taking?
I wear a mask every day. We’ve implemented new protocols in the restaurant and we’re limiting the number of staff who work at once.
How are you coping with stress?
We have a Nintendo Switch, and I’ve become moderately addicted to Animal Crossing. It’s nice to do something frivolous. And I can invite my niece and nephew, who I can’t have in-person contact with, to play with me. It’s fun to chase them around and give them presents.
Because of the stay-at-home rule have you been propelled to do things that you never thought you had time for? If so what?
I think this situation has prompted me to challenge myself to find more and better ways to serve the community. It’s become so clear how privileged I am and Mei Mei is during this time. So it’s more important than ever that we put our good fortune to work. We started a GoFundMe called Unsung Restaurants to bring attention and cash to under-the-radar, mom-and-pop and immigrant-owned businesses. We raised over 10k with that. We’ve connected with community organizers and grassroots aid movements and met a lot of incredible people who we hope to host at Mei Mei in person one day. None of that ever would have happened without the pandemic.
Will this pandemic crisis change the way you do business in the future and if so how?
I think it will change everything, like our products and services, our staffing, our hours, etc. Previously, our annual revenue was about 30% catering. That’s been all but wiped out. So we’re going to have to find ways to make up that revenue and reduce our costs at the same time.
One thing that will stay the same is our commitment to transparency through open book management. We hosted our first public P&L review, which we called Open Book Open House, just a couple weeks before the pandemic hit. It was an incredible experience and generated a lot of conversation. Given how vulnerable all businesses are right now, I think transparency will be even more important, both with staff and customers/guests.
Would the seating capacity of your restaurant change because of the social distancing even when the guidelines no longer exist?
Probably. Our dining room is so small that we’re really trying to evaluate if and when we would reopen it at all.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity; it appeared in May 2020 as an online exclusive, part of a larger series of interviews with local chefs during the Covid-19 pandemic.
