Buttery, the Story of a Neighborhood Café

It's Sunday afternoon. Lulu, the owner of my favorite neighborhood café, Buttery, moves about her open concept kitchen space gracefully. She's making lattes and delivering them in small artsy mugs to the few of us here working today. As Lulu moves over to the stove to check on her chili, Mary Wells' words Nothing you can say can tear me away from my guy/ Nothing you could do 'cause I'm stuck like glue to my guy softly float into the air from a tiny iPod placed underneath the table with hand-crafted jewelry that Lulu sells in the cafe.

Those of us enjoying this warm space today are breathing in the aroma of blueberry, raspberry and blackberry jams simmering on the stovetop. Fresh pumpkin spice and blueberry scones are propped up in front of me, deservingly elevated on a cake stand -- the flavors from Buttery have been raising the community's spirits for the past three weeks, the same amount of time fears and restrictions from the novel coronavirus have been spreading.

Lulu opened Buttery in May of 2019. I remember catching a glimpse of the café as I descended Nanshan Mountain in the spring. I peaked in a couple of times, but it wasn't until this fall that I opened the door and ventured inside her haven.

"This is so much of my love," Lulu told me as we sat down to talk last week, a lull in the afternoon business opening up space for some storytelling. When you walk into Buttery, you feel the love, the warmth, the sense of community that emanates outwards from Lulu into the space surrounding her.

Lulu at her industrial-sized mixer. She bakes bread daily.

The set-up of the café is an open-concept kitchen with a horseshoe of small tables and chairs surrounding one end of the cooking space. The decor is eclectic: carved gnomes stand on a shelf along with hand-crafted pottery and other knick-knacks; it's not kitschy, nor does it exude sophistication. The entire space works together to embrace you; you have the warm feeling of having just eaten your grandmother's best comfort food even before you've sunk your fork into Lulu's homemade dishes.

Photo courtesy of Lulu

The menu at Buttery is inspired by Lulu's memories of watching her grandmother cook homemade recipes for the Chinese New Year. As Lulu and I continued to sit and talk, her tone becoming more animated, she told me of how she wants people to understand that wholesome eating is achievable.

Soup Joumou, steaming with pumpkin, chunks of savory beef, squash carrots and fragrant herbs. Photo courtesy of Lulu.

In 2006, Lulu met her husband, Kodiak, at a wellness center in Harbin Hot Springs, California. Lulu's friends brought her to the retreat after she volunteered at an event for Obama's campaign in the Bay Area. Kodiak was helping to build a temple at the hot springs.

As the two were getting to know each other, Lulu shared with Kodiak her dream to open a café someday. "What will you sell there," he laughed, "frozen food from Trader Joe's?" Lulu stubbornly told him that living her younger years in Shanghai and Shenzhen, she knew about cooking fresh food. When he asked her to make something, she didn't have any recipes at her fingertips ... yet.

Kodiak and Lulu's relationship deepened, and the two moved to Mendocino County in 2007. They were surrounded by people who were growing their own vegetables and Lulu's consciousness of the impact of whole foods on our health deepened. She began spending time with new friends who taught her about growing her own food. She began to read and watch videos about food science. She began to experiment with making her own bread. She noticed how she felt when she ate such fresh foods.

You can dine in or out at Buttery. It is placed on a quiet corner, so it offers the perfect nook for some reading. Photo courtesy of Lulu.

After spending five years in Mendocino County, Lulu and Kodiak made the move to China. In 1983, when Lulu was four years old, she had moved to Shenzhen with her family from Shanghai. Over 30 years later, her return to Shenzhen would see the realization of the dream that she had shared with Kodiak, though not for some years still.

Lulu and Kodiak opened a language center once they had settled into Shenzhen. In a small space at the learning center, Lulu began to bake fresh goods such as bread and scones. In time, two food bloggers stumbled upon the space and wrote about her "mysterious confidence."

Over time, Lulu and her husband grew tired of teaching English at the center they had opened. Their vision did not always match what parents who sent their children wanted. When Lulu and Kodiak received a strong offer for the space, they sold the center, serendipitously drawing Lulu even closer to the location that would become Buttery.

On Sundays, Lulu, Kodiak and their son, four-year-old Atticus, came to Shekou to walk Nanshan Mountain. One day, as they were dining on their favorite dumplings after a hike, they noticed that there was a vacant storefront nearby. In January of 2019, Lulu and Kodiak began renovations and five months later Buttery opened to the public.

The public includes the neighborhood cats. When Lulu saw this sweet one outside, she rushed to her refrigerator to get fresh, organic chicken to serve her.

"I remember the day that you first came in," Lulu told me. "You were the first foreigner to order my chicken." I feel special in this moment, that I have somehow made a mark on Lulu. The truth is, I have, but so has everyone else that has entered Buttery. Lulu has a knack for names, and for remembering others' stories. It is, in part, the reason why, even after a lull in business from July until October, the café is now thriving. At Buttery, you are at home.

Most days, during this coronavirus outbreak, I have snuggled right into a chair here, feeling safe and cozy. While many restaurants have remained closed, Lulu has kept Buttery open, becoming a haven for the community.

Lulu uses her calligraphy to communicate to café visitors that we all live under the same sky and the same moon. We are one, she reminds us as she paints this Buddhist message.

As we close our conversation today, I am getting ready to go cuddle with the cats, and Lulu is getting ready to return home to Kodiak and Atticus, she leans towards me, and says, "Life just kind of takes you ... you plan ... but what's inside of you drives you. You will say verbally what you want to do, but in the end, you will be driven to where your heart is."

Update, May 5, 2022

The pandemic has brought so much change to the world, on global and community scales. Not so long after this article was first posted, Lulu and her family left China for Japan. Since Kodiak does not have a Chinese passport, the family was locked out of China long term. Due to these circumstances, Lulu and her family moved to the United States where they have extended family. Last we spoke, her spirits were high and she was doing well.

Reporting from China: Just Add Oil

This weekend saw Shekou, my little bubble of Shenzhen, tightening up on restrictions and protocols in order to continue to work to contain the virus. Published in the Shekou Daily, the new rules decreed that "Residents in residential buildings shall not visit other households in the same complex, and must strictly adhere to the requirements for wearing masks in public places." Having lived in China for four years and having been in Shenzhen since the coronavirus outbreak began, this kind of restriction does not feel to me now what it might have felt in years before. As it stands now, some buildings are not enforcing the rule as strictly as others, so a few of us did get to gather last night for some Exploding Kittens and Fishbowl shenanigans.

Charles appears quite tranquil in the midst of what Trey seems to be communicating as an epic ... something.

Katie, caught mid-gesture -- I think this was in describing ... newborn baby poop?

Which of those cards is going to save you from the exploding kitten, Alli?

Other members of the Shekou community who have decided to stay on in Shenzhen have put up tents for their children on their balconies, offering a new experience in the midst of masks and large periods indoors. This same primary teacher, the nature and bug loving Kevin O'Shea, has a vlog on YouTube that I highly recommend checking out -- you get daily insights into what the city really looks and feels like through his videos and narrations.

Before staying up until midnight (I felt young again), Alli, Ann, Charles and I started our day with a run at Talent Park, a lovely area with sculptures and a cushy running path that circles a small body of water.

New rules also say that while in open spaces, we do not have to wear a mask. The air quality on Saturday was perfection.

These three logged many more miles than I did -- 17 in total!

After running a 5k, I meandered along, taking time to stop and breathe into the balance of lovely art.

And this -- sending out Love to Wuhan, and to the whole wide world.

Today I got busy brunching with my fellow midwesterners. We dined at Gaga Garden. Again, we were the only ones, save for the employees who took a seat at a nearby table.

I am not entirely sure what the purpose of the red caution tape is -- and I cannot read the sign.

Craig and Ann and a cup of coffee. My kind of slow Sunday.

This is the state of my life right now. As I continue to feel safe in Shenzhen, I am also fortunate to be enjoying a slow, mindful pace, something I have not felt in many years. There is a part of me, the adventurous and very privileged part, that considers meeting up with my family in California or getting on a plane to Thailand. The seeker in me, though, has me staying put. My soul has been seeking this rhythm for so long, one that allows me to think more clearly, appreciate my sense of presence, and enjoy what is rather than wanting more.

Staying put in Shenzhen has also meant that I have had more opportunities to hear the stories of my immediate community. Tonight I was fortunate enough to cook for a new SIS friend, our primary school librarian, Megan, who also lives in my building. As a fellow cat woman, we shared stories of how our felines came to find us. We shared stories of living abroad ... and we shared a lot of vegetables.

Two whole bowls are better than one. This is the year of #wholebowls for me and my kitchen, and my gut biome (I am so that nerd right now) has been thanking me.

I feel blessed to be in Shenzhen, feeling settled in my high-rise apartment. I also feel especially blessed to have the option still to leave if that settled feeling changes. I know that during this outbreak, so many do not have the same options or sense of security.

One of our SIS administrators sent out a video this evening that returns our attention to the unsung heroes in Wuhan, the doctors, and medical staff that are bravely serving those who are sick.

The video is in English and has subtitles in English.

In closing, tonight, my friends and family all over the world, Jiāyóu加油

Add oil as the Chinese saying goes.

Reporting from China: Another Call for Higher Love

I've just returned from a date with the Denson's. Dinner "out on the (ghost) town" felt like a real event given the way we've been laying so low this week. We first went to a Hong Kong-style eatery named Gaga Garden, only to walk in and find that it was closing for the night. It felt like this ...

I don't know how to smize very well, but I think it's clear that I can pout with my eyes. This look did nothing to convince Gaga to stay open an extra hour. Ho Hum.

We ventured a bit further into Seaworld and this led us to Baia, a restaurant owned by a couple of European men that serves "upper-scale" food. I had the best meal that I have had in three weeks, the amount of time that I been Candida cleansing. Alli, Charles and I had the entire restaurant to ourselves -- we did choose to eat outside in the open fresh air.

I'm ever so grateful to be a third wheel with this duo. These two are my kind of happy hour.

The fine dining dinner did feel well-deserved after finishing our first week of online teaching and learning -- as an online educator now, I am definitely learning about how to reach all of my students through various modes. Altogether, though, it seems the instruction has generally been effective this week, and I do feel connected to my students, even from a distance.

While I have worked to separate church and state, for the most part, going to school and to Buttery to type out lesson plans and send audio feedback to my kids, yesterday I decided to work from home in the afternoon. .

Mom has always said, watch your children when they are sleeping (because when they are being pills while awake you'll be able to remember that they have sweet moments).

While my new routine has begun to feel quite comfortable, my heart feels weighted with how some of the world continues to respond to the new virus that came out of a city in China that was hardly on most people's maps until last week.

My friend and her family decided to fly home while we are not physically in school. The neighbors caught wind of my friend's family's arrival and interrogated her mother about where my friend and her family had been exactly. The neighbor was worried that her child, with a more compromised immune system, might catch the virus from the family just home from China. While I think we can empathize with a mother's fears for her child, her call to my friend's mother wreaked of ignorance.

My sense of the world's perception of the virus is that it has gotten the stigma it seems to have because it came out of a wet market in a country that doesn't have "great relations" with the US. A wet market is particularly foreign in a way that incites disgust, perhaps, and misunderstanding along cultural lines.

John Pomfret, for The Washington Post, writes, "At a middle school a few blocks from my house, a rumor circulated among the children that all Asian kids have the coronavirus and should be quarantined. Misinformation has also reached higher education: In college campuses across the United States, some non-Asian students have acknowledged avoiding Asian classmates for no other reason than, well, the coronavirus came from Asia."

This is rough stuff: xenophobia, ignorance, and baseless assumptions. To look at someone as a walking virus is to deny a person the very humanity that should lead us to care more deeply for one another.

I know, though, that it's not the whole story. I know there are communities of us working to share truth and love and open our arms to one another.

And here is when I put in another plug for you to join the #internationalhigherlovedanceteam. I have a handful of videos so far from friends and family, and it would be amazing to muster up more, of everyone dancing to Higher Love. Do whatever your soul moves you to do as Whitney belts out:

Think about it, there must be a higher love

Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above

Without it, life is wasted time

Look inside your heart, and I'll look inside mine

Things look so bad everywhere

In this whole world, what is fair?

We walk the line and try to see

Falling behind in what could be, oh

Bring me a higher love

Bring me a higher love, oh

Bring me a higher love

Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?

Reporting from China: Does Anyone Want to Join My Dance Team?

After another coconut milk matcha latte, drank at leisure with the cats, my day began something like this (video failed to upload because #thisinternetblows):

Just please play this while you look over these photos.

I am doing my darndest to get together a group to do some video smash-ups for a dance video.
If you want in ... I mean, you want in ...

... and then the workout actually began.

After this dance sesh and a 25-minute HIIT workout, there was indeed a lot of workworkworkworkwork.

While I enjoy the quiet space to #work, coming into to SIS has been strange.

Anyone who enters is usually greeted by Peggy and Leah, arguably the two women who keep the cylinders turning here. When I walked in this morning, there was just a guard who looked up from the video playing on his phone to buzz me in.

I peaced out of school just before lunch to walk to Buttery, the best café in Shekou, for some food and more company.

Much of Shekou does look like this: deserted. Emily's usually has a steady crowd of café lovers sitting down for coffee and a nice breakfast bowl.

This is a main intersection on my way to and from school each day. I hardly even have to watch for passing cars at this point.

I was hoping to upload a video of how quiet the street is on my way to the café. Instead, here is a still shot of me looking like I am ready to shoot some adverts for pita masks.

It was lovely to settle into the quiet space of Buttery -- an SIS family, who also frequents the cafe, was there, and we chatted a bit about enjoying the nearby "mountain" and all of the things that Lulu freshes cooks, sautés and bakes. "Life is just better with Lulu," said the father.

Since I have been sitting down at Buttery nearly every day for two weeks, I have gotten a chance to talk more with Lulu about opening the café. It is clear this place is a staple of the community. More on Lulu and Buttery to come.

So I am eating well and working hard here in Shekou, Shenzhen in the People's Republic of China.

I consumed those veggies, and the large chicken leg that accompanied them, a number of hours ago now, so I am about to dig into the dish I cooked up in the instant pot tonight.

Again, do you want to join my dance team?

Reporting from Shenzhen, China: Work and Brain Breaks

I am back at school today and, as it's been several hours of very quiet work, I was just inspired to blast the Higher Love remix over my classroom speakers. It got a little shimmy of reaction ...

In the company of the fun nerds.

Day two of Microsoft TEAMS and OneNote e-learning had me tracking down a good number of students with well, hello, I didn't see you on the chat yesterday, can I offer you further assistance in getting started? I am going to have to come up with a strategy for my own work time. My brain almost short-circuited this afternoon as I had emails and notifications coming in at one time from students in four different classes. Learning curves.

Learning curves do call for brain breaks, and a little sweat session is a great way to refresh the synapses ... or something like that (I don't speak Science fluently). The gyms are closed here in Shekou, but on the 4th floor of our school is a mini-gym equipped with everything we needed, from TRXs to weights to two rowing machines, for a Dirty 30 workout.

This is certainly not all fun and games ... but today was a little bit fun and games ... and some good laughs.

After 30 minutes of 45 seconds of HIIT and weights and 15 seconds to rest intervals, we were ready ... to go to lunch. Back at HH Gourmet where the best bagels are sold, I had a large "yoga" omelet. Most restaurants are not serving salads or foods that are uncooked. It's smart, I think.

I have continued to be able to get fresh produce to cook at home.

To hear the story behind this little store, check out a video that I made with a colleague and student: Into the 'kou: Lora's produce.

In Shekou, we are privileged to have Lora, a friendly and community-minded woman who opened a small storefront to bring us organic fruits and vegetables.

I bought free-range, organic eggs from Lora today. She is one of my favorite people. Ever.

Signing off tonight to head into the kitchen to cook up my fresh veg and a halibut steak -- drizzling the BaciBowl with Allison Day's pumpkin seed sauce.

Love and light from Shenzhen,

Jamie

Reporting from Shenzhen, China: Back to School ... Online

It is nearly 4 o'clock in Shenzhen. I am just wrapping up my school day -- a very quiet, but productive day of delivering curriculum and feedback to my students on online platforms.

Sitting on my classroom beanbags, finding a friend peaking in behind me. #SISrocks

It'll be interesting what this more solitudinal life does produce ... today I wondered if I was really meant for Mars.

Because with Google and China #itscomplicated, Shekou International School uses Microsoft Office as our collaborative learning space. I have spent a good part of my day monitoring and dropping into book club discussions happening in Microsoft TEAMS.

I would prefer to be conversing with my students in person, but what was cool about today is that I could drop into multiple book clubs in the same hour; generally, during class time I can only sit with one book club each day.

I did start the day with some yoga, and then made it to a cafe near school in time to catch the halftime show.

HH Gourmet was opened by an ex-pat from New York -- he supplies Shekou's bagels.

This is the only part of the Superbowl that I understand. All hail Shakira and J. Lo!

I was getting sweet updates from Minnesota while I watched the halftime show, and I was excited to see that my two youngest nieces are working on being in the show in a few short years. #justaquickheadbang

After working for a bit at school, a few of my friends and I ventured out for lunch. There were two other individuals eating at a restaurant, Les 5, on what we call The Strip, the long line of massage places, restaurants, bars and pet stores that runs for several blocks adjacent to SIS.

Two Midwesterners and a Pacific North Westerner featured here.

Today's new norms: temperature checks when you walk into a restaurant and complimentary (read: mandatory) hand sanitizer at the same time. Later, when I walked into my apartment building, I stepped into the elevator to find that a box of tissues had been taped to the elevator wall. Convenient, I thought.

After school, I was blessed with almond cookies and almond bread baked by Alli, time to get down with my #wholebowls routine in my kitchen, and space to meditate.

Stepping away from devices now so that I can turn back to Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill.

Good night, or good morning, certainly have a good day from me and the kitty who loves to live on my air purifier.

I don't ever have to worry about her getting kitty asthma; she's breathing the best air in the house.

Reporting from Shenzhen, China, in the midst of #coronavirus fears, rumors, and new norms

Hello, dear friends and family,

I am snuggled up in my apartment tonight, writing as my second batch of chicken bone broth cooks in my instant pot, and the cats lounge at my feet.

I am pretty tuckered out tonight, largely because I ran a kick-ass 10k along the boardwalk with my friend Ann. This weekend I was supposed to be in Hong Kong for the 9Dragons race -- Alli was going to run the 50k, and I was slated to run the 10k. Understandably, the race was canceled, but my runner's lungs were still craving a little race pace. As Ann and I ran, masks (mostly) on, the scene was quiet and quite lovely. Along the boardwalk, instrumental music plays out of speakers in the bushes. Guards were posted regularly along the boardwalk to ensure runners, walkers and those strolling along were indeed following the mandate that everyone wears masks outside.

Ann is a fellow midwesterner. We have become fast friends because of this, and also because of our love of fitness and food.

The day was pretty cloudy, but we have had a great deal of sun this week, so I've been soaking up that Vitamin D.

Palm trees and distant ships in the South China Sea. The boardwalk is a sweet space to enjoy.

Some of the new protocols set in place this week have been strange to get used to. Just today my building stopped allowing visitors in, so my friend Katie, who came by for a bit, was not allowed to enter. This is disappointing, but we still were able to head out on our favorite hike nearby and enjoy coffee at our favorite cafe.

I have been to Buttery every day for the past ... many days. We love the oolong tea and ...

the pork and chicken and trumpet mushrooms. I didn't order to share, I ordered to have leftovers.

Altogether, I appreciate the measures that China is taking to prevent the virus from spreading further. I now get my temperature checked some 3 or 4 times a day as I enter and re-enter my apartment. Every time they put the temperature gun to my head, the apartment security is very kind. Honestly, I am thankful these are the only kinds of guns hanging around here. The biggest gripe in my day was actually the fact that when I blew my electricity yesterday, I forgot to turn on the water heater again ... the water was running mighty cold after that run.

This is a time it is especially useful to be inclined towards the introvert end of the spectrum. I love my solitude. I have many books, podcasts, Netflix shows, and a Shutterfly book that I started three years ago to attend to.

Earlier today I met with my colleague and friend Clayton to collaborate about how we will work on online platforms to deliver curriculum to the students. As of right now, we will be working online until February 17th.

Alright, kiddos, time for some Microsoft TEAMS discussions.

I am largely ignoring much of the media. If you want to hear more raw truth, I encourage you to drop CNN and FoxNews, and tune in to Harvard Health and NPR. I logged in to Twitter tonight to find that what was trending for me was #coronavirus. Not surprising. Just below that, though, was the #NoMeatNoCoronaVirus and I was like I just cannot with you opportunists right now.

I am fortunate to be part of a community here that is one to offer support, outreach and just some laughs to one another. My principal and director have been close at hand when I have needed to offset some anxiety with a conversation. Those of us who stayed in Shenzhen rather than opting for Thailand, or other destinations, have formed a group chat. Only honest and useful updates are posted to the chat, which was started by an elementary teacher who has continued to offer family hikes to look for bugs and enjoy nature. My friend Megan, also an administrator, has arranged for a viewing of the SuperBowl tomorrow. We are #shekoustrong because of this caring community. I feel so blessed to feed off of this community, and also give back to it.

I plan to offer daily updates here at lettersfromasojournista. No fake news, no bullshit, just what is happening from here in the bubble of Shekou in Shenzhen, China.

For tonight, I sign off with a picture of Ms. Silvermoon Free Solo, shortly, Silvie.

Why is she pouting? I am not entirely sure, but I have a hunch it is because Patacon said something quite catty to her.

Be well, everyone. Sending love from Shenzhen.