Flap over 'Roundeye Noodle Bar'
The name is racist, says an Asian American group.
Flap over 'Roundeye Noodle Bar'
Michael Klein, Philly.com
Roundeye Noodle Bar - for now, a "pop-up" restaurant as it awaits a permanent home - has drawn the ire of Asian Americans United, an advocacy group.
Organizer Helen Gym says the name is racist. "In the owners' words, they are 'two white boys from the suburbs' ... creating a 'hip noodle spot,'" she wrote in an email advisory to the media over the weekend, on the eve of Roundeye's second pop-up. Roundeye is the creation of friends (and Anglos) Shawn Darragh and Matyson chef Ben Puchowitz.
"But if these self-named 'white boys' are the 'roundeye' noodle makers what does that make the Asian noodle places they're modeling their place after? As a city notoriously home to Chink's Steaks, it's really a shame that a well-regarded spot like Matysons [sic] would lower their reputation to a legacy of petty, derogatory names in an effort to be 'hip.'"
She continued: "I don't think the owners of 'Roundeye' had specific intent, but that's exactly the problem with racial stereotypes - they're so deeply ingrained people don't even question it.
I also heard from AAU executive director Ellen Somekowa, who wrote: "If you grow up Asian in America, there is no more common put down than ridicule of the shape of our eyes. There is no way to hear the name, 'Roundeye,' without at the same time hearing what it is being contrasted to. .. A very hurtful racist slur -- SLANTEYES."
Darragh said he heard from an AAU representative Saturday. "We're not really sure what to do with this," he told me. "She was very nice,. We intended it as a play on words, making fun of ourselves - not trying to be offensive to anyone. We're not racist, but this is making us out to be racist. The weird thing is that the majority of our customers are Asian. Some of the them think it's a funny name. Some people get offended and some don't."
He said they might consider changing the name once a permanent home was found for the noodle restaurant.
The idea of a restaurant is progressing. Darragh said they now have an investor, and they're beginning to scour Center City for a location.
Sunday's pop-up, held at Matyson, drew about 250 people, he said.
Read Drew Lazor's commentary: An Asian-American take on the Roundeye Noodle name
Thanks for writing about this. I do hope that folks here don't get caught up in issues of intent (which we have not raised) in order to deflect attention away from the derogatory name of this pop-up restaurant. As I made clear in the email, no one is calling the owners racist (despite the fact that the ownership chose to racialize themselves in their promotional materials for the noodle bar). The purpose is to ask questions about the choice of name and raise awareness about hurtful slurs - whether intentional or not. We made a point to both write and call the owners directly as well, to which we mostly got the "sorry you were insulted" and "it was a play on words." The ESPN headline on Jeremy Lin was also a play on words. I like many people don't necessarily think the ESPN folks behind it were intentionally racist but the headline crossed the line. That is also what we are raising here with the owners of "Roundeye."
Center City and Philadelphia overall is an increasingly diverse space. It's my hope that the owners will consider a new name for their place so people can go to Matyson's or their new shop and enjoy the food - not the lack of thought behind a poorly-chosen name.— Helen Gym- If it were called "Homeboy's Chicken'n'Ribs, would you have a problem with it? I suspect not. — Claire Voyant
- @Claire, Take your underwear off of your head. You're beginning to sound like you probably look.
- @Clair Voyant: Instead of commenting on the facts of the article, you're accusing the community organizer of bias? Classy. — NotADoneDeal
- I appreciate your comments. I'm a white dude, so it can be easy for me to take for granted how much Asian slurs and stereotypes are still alive. It's crazy and definitely not cool.
I get that people say ignorant stuff. Lord knows, I do it all the time. But it's a shame that in the face of reasonable criticism, these guys have to get all defensive on the subject rather than just saying a clear "our bad" and changing the damn name. It's like playground 101: If I tell my buddy a joke and his response is to get mad at me, it probably wasn't a very good joke.— johnhill 
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- sticks and stones folks, sticks and stones---come on, don't you have anything better to do?— cheffred
- Roundeye is the type of steak commonly used in these dishes. It's definitely a case of accidental racism. Why would you be disrespectful to the exact people you are paying culinary homage too?
They definitely need to change the name if people are going to take it the wrong way.— rockwell - Every minority group tells white america how offensive their behavior truly is, however none of white america will ever believe they are offending anyone. Black, Native American, Asians ... we are all too sensitive. It's not that what the white person did was wrong. Couldn't be that. If you love your own culture so much, then stop stealing others and pretending you evented it. White entitlement is the problem.— Joyner80
- Helen Gym is awesome. She should be Mayor.
And is it really appropriate to call someone named "Puchowitz" an "Anglo"?— Mr. Smith - Rascism will die when people stop making things like this into an issue. When anyone can call each other anything, or much less themselves anything, and not have it be ab issue. All your advocacy is doing is underlying our differences, not our similarities.— metsox
- @metsox, the only time racism will die is when people are treated equally across all boards, regardless of race, gender,faith or lifestyle. It's terms like "roundeye" that underly differences.
- Interesting perspective. So racism will die when people stop resisting it? Sounds like the opposite. It also sounds like you think racism is some pesky thing minorities do for no good reason, meaning you're pretty ignorant. Nice trying to flip the script. — emozemoz
- The name is clever. It makes Caucasians realize that when seen from the perspective of Asians, Caucasians look "different", and helps shatter Americans' self-centered view of the world.— T.Paine
