Ivy Linn Brings Sweet Treats to Squirrel Hill

667 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Role of culture in international business

Shoppers seeking ethnic wares, foods and services have lots of choices on Murray Avenue, but the only place to get Chinese New Year Cake is Bubble Pie Baking Arts.
Walking into Bubble Pie Baking Arts, the customer is greeted by sassy and sweet Japan native Ivy Linn, who owns and operates the bakery. Bubble Pie, located in an unsuspecting storefront front next to Harry’s Barber Shoppe, was opened in 2008. Linn, 56, offers many unique bake goods found in Asian countries like Singapore, Indonesia, and China that may be unfamiliar to the American taste buds. Some of the more popular Asian bake goods include Chinese New Year cake and other festival cakes enjoyed by the Asian demographic in different season. Still, Linn states that the clientele of her bakery is less one sided than one would think.
“It’s about 50-50”, said Linn. “50 percent Asian and 50 percent Caucasian.”
Though Linn was born in Japan, she moved with her family to Taiwan when she was 6 years old. She came over to the states at the age of 24 with her husband to attend college in Madison, WI. Linn would make her way to Pittsburgh when her husband was offered a job with Alcoa. Linn indicated that she really interested in chemistry and physics while in college, which she says she initiates into her baking.
“When I was I in school I always enjoyed chemistry and physics,” said Linn. “I try to use that in my baking to solve the problem.”
On the website for Bubble Pie, it reads that the philosophy of the bakery is to use the best ingredients and pay great attention to detail. Though this philosophy might not seem true when one walks into the cramped, almost unnoticeable bakery, but it has become quite popular amongst the ethnically diverse area where Squirrel Hill re...

... middle of paper ...

... people go to an Asian restaurant like Chinese, Japanese, or even Korean, that the customers would not partake in any dessert. If they did, she explained, it would not be a true authentic Asian pastry and it would be something like a fortune cookie, which is an American creation believe it or not. Still, Linn wanted to bring true Asian style desserts not only to the white suburbanite who enjoys the occasional Chinese takeout, but to those Asian born students who go to Pitt, CMU, and Duquesne. These desserts give these students a taste of their homeland even though they are thousands of miles away from home.
For the last five years, Ivy Linn has brought the sweet treats of the Far East to the melting pot of Squirrel Hill. With her friendly demeanor and dedication to her baking, there is no doubt that Bubble Pie Baking Arts will continue to thrive under Linn.

Show More
Related

  • Struggles of Immigration in Bates' Midnight at the Dragon Cafe and Kroetsch's "Elegy for Wong Toy"

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    The function of the Chinese Restaurant in Midnight at the Dragon Café acts as a bubble of protection for the Chens. Su-Jen, however, lives both inside and outside of this bubble, inside both worlds of China and Canada; this is shown very early on in the novel when Su-Jen adopts a “Canadian name” (Bates 21), in order to assimilate into the Canadian culture. Unlike Annie, her parents and Lee-Kung keep their Chinese names, and by extension they keep themselves separate from Canadian culture. The restaurant provides a sanctuary for Annie’s parents and Lee-Kung, since the restaurant seems to be the only place they truly belong in Irvine. In Toronto with the established Chinese (China Town) community, the older Chinese-minded Chens feel more at ease because they are surrounded by people who speak the same language, are going through the same struggles, whom they can talk to and understand, nothing l...

    Read More

  • Chinese Food: Potstickers

    621 Words  | 2 Pages

    The article then continues on to the significance of the potsticker. Martin Yan, cooking show host, says “The potstickers are special because of the succulent filling inside and a crispy bottom outside. People also like the play of the dumpling with its dipping sauce.” The article ties back to the introduction of Amy Tan and her connections with the potsticker. She also states the potsticker is an equalizer to all; people rich or poor can eat the most glorious pot sticker for “they transcend class and money.” Tan continues to make potstickers in her mother’s memory. The pot stickers are great for entertaining a party and culinary schools are now teaching how to make the dumplings. The article also provides a recipe and illustrations in addition to seven columns on how to prepare them. On the Bottom of that article was another article by Olivia Wu, titled, “A Family That Rolls, Fills and Crimps Together Creates More Than Just Dumplings.” This article talks about the significance of one family and how making potstickers brings them together like playing a board game would.

    Read More

  • Twinkies

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    Traditionally, Twinkies are usually thought of as cream-filled yellow sponge cakes. To Chinese Americans, a different image is conjured. When Chinese Americans integrate with the American culture so much that their Chinese culture is much less apparent, they are known as “Twinkies”: yellow on the outside and white on the inside. In Amy Tan’s essay “Mother Tongue” and Elizabeth Wong’s essay “The Struggle to be an All-American Girl”, both girls are Chinese American trying to fit in with the American society while their Chinese mother’s are very traditional at home. Tan and Wong are trying to please their image in America and their mothers at the same time.

    Read More

  • The Ancient Mesopotamiath Shape

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Ancient Mesopotamia was one of the most culturally significant civilizations in the early world and the Mesopotamians also produced some of the earliest known recipes. Among these recipes was the palace cake. This is an ancient dessert dating back to the Third Millennium, which originated in the city of Ur around 2100 B.C.E. The name of the cake itself is very fitting because it looked elegant and was to be served and enjoyed at the palace of a Sumerian king or queen by the higher citizens of Ur during feasts or banquets. The ingredients for the desert included: 3 sila of chopped dates, 1/3 sila of raisins, 2 teaspoons of ground fennel, 1/3 sila of cottage cheese, 1 sila of butter, 2 eggs, 2/3 sila of milk, and 1 ½ sila of flour (Kaufman). While the cake itself is important, the specific ingredients, the environment, and the the food connotations to their culture also had a large impact on the Mesopotamian society.

    Read More

  • Catfish and Mandala, by Andrew Pham

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    Reading Catfish and Mandala reminded me of my cultural closeness through food. Due to being bi-ethnic I learned how to cook food from both my ethnicities, however there were times when I found myself acting like a foreigner towards certain dishes. A prime example was when I had Chitlins or pig intestines. I had eaten menudo, thanks to my Hispanic mother and this was the first time I had Chitlins, an African American dish via my paternal grandmother. Unlike Menudo, which to me has an appetizing smell and taste, Chitlins were a gray stringy putrid smelling dish. Remembering the utter dislike I obtained from that African American dish, reminded me of Pham’s experience with Vietnamese food. While there are some dishes people can’t stand, most usually embrace a dish from their culture and that helps ease some of the pain or discomfort.

    Read More

  • Pizza My Heart in Northern California

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    The quality control in Pizza My Heart begins from procurement to kitchens at every location. The first thing that sets it apart from others is local sourcing to en...

    Read More

  • Pop-Tarts

    658 Words  | 2 Pages

    Post Cereals was the first company to come up with the idea for a pastry that would later inspire Kellogg's Pop-Tarts. In the early part of the 1960s, Post began developing a method of packaging dog food in foil in order to keep it fresh and avoid refrigeration. They began applying this method to food for human consumption and created a new breakfast pastry that could be prepared in a toaster and would complement their already popular cold cereals. The announcement of this new breakfast pastry, which Post had decided to call “Country Squares,” came in 1963. Because the product was released so hastily, however, one of Post's biggest competitors, Kellogg, was able to come up with their own version and release it six months later. Even though Post had released their Country Squares prior to Kellogg's version, their sales were lackluster. Many believed that this was due in part to their name. In a time of progressive pop culture, the name Country Squares could be seen as a backward way of thinking. The developers working on the proje...

    Read More

  • Remycake Bakery Case Study

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    On Tuesday October 18, the members of Group 6 met to discuss the challenges facing Remycake Bakery and its employees. During this meeting, we discussed the problem solving and decision making modes we will implement to help Remycake Bakery, the communication tactics to utilize, and a final problem or topic statement for our next group activity. Our team evaluated the Remycake Bakery to assess the changes that have caused a rise in customer complaints over the last six months. The founders of Remycake Bakery believed the culture produced at RemyCake was what made their bakery unique, original, and what set it apart from competitors.

    Read More

  • In the American Society

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    This story is an allegory of life for many Chinese Americans. Many came to America for the opportunity to lead a better life. Entrepreneurship is a big part of that American dream. The Changs’ owning a pancake house represents so many of the Chinese people that own their own restaurants upon coming to America. Mr. Chang’s hesitance to Americanize and his idea that “to embrace what he embraced was love” also represents the views of many Chinese immigrants. Jen’s own parents maintained some of their own ideas of how she should live her life. They didn’t believe that writing was an honorable thing for a woman to do and didn’t support her in her decision until her picture and story was run on the front page of a Chinese newspaper and “their people” accepted it.

    Read More

  • Deceptive Health Marketing on Food Products

    1641 Words  | 4 Pages

    ... Expanded Edition (California Studies in Food and Culture). 2 ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007. Print.

    Read More

  • Organizational Change: Professional Change

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    Working in a bakery is a job filled with opportunities to work creatively through artistic expression. The baking of cakes and decorating them for birthdays, preparing party trays filled with a delicious

    Read More

  • Examples Of Sociological Observation

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    There were people with faces that showed how that they were clueless on what to eat but when they saw people of the same culture through their dressing, they had the expression of happiness written all over them. It felt like they had found a sense of home just by discovering their culture food and those of the same culture. They immediately got their food and went to sit in the section where their culture was present. Women and Men in official clothing chose to dine at the Chinese and Italian section probably because the stand was of a more decorous setting than the other

    Read More

  • Walmart And Publix Compare Contrast

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    cakes among many other freshly made recipes. They have a special cookbook for all of the fancy

    Read More

  • Personal Narrative- Christmas Cookies

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although I have grown up to be entirely inept at the art of cooking, as to make even the most wretched chef ridicule my sad baking attempts, my childhood would have indicated otherwise; I was always on the countertop next to my mother’s cooking bowl, adding and mixing ingredients that would doubtlessly create a delicious food. When I was younger, cooking came intrinsically with the holiday season, which made that time of year the prime occasion for me to unite with ounces and ounces of satin dark chocolate, various other messy and gooey ingredients, numerous cooking utensils, and the assistance of my mother to cook what would soon be an edible masterpiece. The most memorable of the holiday works of art were our Chocolate Crinkle Cookies, which my mother and I first made when I was about six and are now made annually.

    Read More

  • Business Industry: The Cupcake Industry And Economic Industry

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Let’s face it, a good, creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people” said Audrey Hepburn and I agree. As we’ve settled more into the 21st century year after year , people come up with the coolest ideas on serving desserts. The biggest trend over the past few years is cupcakes. I once read that “desserts spelled backwards is stressed” and that’s exactly how I feel after a long week of chaos. What better to easy that then trying one of the new modern types of cupcakes or desserts. People are coming up with new and creative ways of satisfying that crave.

    Read More

More about Ivy Linn Brings Sweet Treats to Squirrel Hill

Open Document