Beijing to Get Slice of Big Apple in Guise of N.Y. Pizza

A young New York entrepreneur signed a $3.5-million deal today to introduce Big Apple-style pizza to China and keep the Chinese in pepperoni into the 21st Century, saying that despite its recent turmoil, the country is a “good place to invest.”

The agreement is to open a New York City Pizza restaurant, the first pizzeria in China, near the Beijing Railway Station in June, 1990, officials said at a signing ceremony attended by Beijing Vice Mayor Huang Chao and U.S. Ambassador James R. Lilley.

The restaurant is among only a handful of American investments signed since the crackdown in June on the pro-democracy movement. Most investment plans have been delayed out of concern over China’s political stability.

But Richard Rosenzweig, 26, the president of New York City Pizza Corp., said he had “absolutely no second thoughts” about going ahead with the project, initiated earlier this year.

“For certain projects, China is a very, very good place to invest,” said Rosenzweig, whose family owns a development and restaurant business in New York.

“I’m just a pizza man, I’m not a politician,” he said.

The eatery will offer pizza with and without cheese, for which Chinese have yet to develop a taste, and sell a large slice, an ice cream and a soft drink for about 7 yuan ($1.90)--more than a day’s wage for the average Chinese worker.

The $3.5-million joint venture, with a 13-year contract term, plans restaurants later in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin.

The Chinese partner, Yan Hai Development and Trade Corp., is under the Beijing city government and holds 60% of the joint venture to the New York firm’s 40%, with both making proportional capital investment.

The three-floor restaurant will feature New York-flavor decor with subway, street and skyline motifs, and will also sell sandwiches. It will employ an American manager and chef and about 100 Chinese staff.

All supplies will be made locally, including mozzarella cheese, and officials said they would conduct taste tests after a soft opening to determine whether special toppings should be added.

“If people want sea slug pizza, we’ll give them sea slug pizza,” Rosenzweig said.