Mama’s Soul Food Comes to Beijing

With his wispy goatee, shaved head, and dark-rimmed glasses, Yan Si Ming, or Simon Yan, looks and speaks more like a Chinese scholar than the owner of a casual hip café. Simon used to be an engineer. But in 2004, fueled by a desire to own a business and share his Hakka food, he opened Paddy Field Hakka Restaurant (Shui Tian Kejia Cai), a cozy art-filled café that has become a gathering place for the Hakka in China’s capital. “Hakka food is quite different and not too well known here,” says Simon. “The restaurant reminds Hakkas living in Beijing of their childhood. There aren’t many restaurants here that do that.”