Baohaus 2 Opening
We're big fans of Eddie Huang, his politically incorrect shenanigans and his ambitious cooking. So we were among the first in line for his new Baohaus 2, which opened in the East Village last Friday. At the center of all the hubbub was Huang's idea to put up a "Great Wall of Chinamen" mural by design group Attack, done in the style of ancient Chinese ink-and-wash line drawings and featuring a pantheon of tongue-in-cheek Asian American personalities (Connie Chung, Chairman Mao) as well as GZA and Huang himself.
We dropped by Wieden+Kennedy the night before opening to see how the mural was coming along. "It'll be done when it's done," the Attack team said ominously around 10 p.m. Thursday night, about two-thirds done with painting. The crew worked all night, and finished up close to dawn in time to install before opening.
At 6 pm Friday, things at Baohaus 2 were hectic. The sign was not fully installed, finishing touches were still being made, and there was some frantic cooking going on. Meanwhile Eddie's dad and little brother, Evan were on hand to help as it started to pour. "My mom says the rain is good luck, it means money," Evan said.
Baohaus 2 opened its doors when the rain stopped, before the sign installation was finished, before anyone put away all the tools, and before the a/c was fully functional. Almost immediately there was a line 20-deep, and the orders were flying for the opening-night special: $2 baos and fries. At 11 p.m., Eddie tweeted this: "Thanks every one who came out! we do it for yall. Love u mofuckers. Sold out of food. Back tomorrow at 6pm. Eat at @artichokepizza til then."
