By Victor Jung | June 08, 2025
Chinatown is getting drunk—but in the most elegant, low-intervention, guava-shaved-ice kind of way. Nestled in the crooked elbow of Doyers Street, a new wine bar is about to uncork a cultural renaissance. Meet Lei: the first true wine destination in Manhattan’s Chinatown, opening June 6. Spearheaded by Annie Shi—co-owner of the cult-favorite restaurants King and Jupiter—Lei is more than a personal milestone. It’s a soulful, wine-slicked tribute to heritage, family, and the joys of being slightly buzzed over cumin lamb noodles.
Behind the hand-rolled shaobing and bottles of Ningxia bubbly lies a story that threads grief, gastronomy, and Chinese-American identity into one intoxicating experience. But what exactly is on the menu—literally and metaphorically? Why does this tiny wine bar have the city’s food circles abuzz? Let’s sip slowly through this story.
Table of Contents
- 🍷 The Backstory: Who Is Annie Shi?
- 🏮 Naming Lei: A Tribute in Every Sip
- 🥂 A Wine Program Rooted in Place and Personality
- 🍽️ Patty Lee’s Menu: Umami, Updated
- 🎨 Designed to Dwell: The Visual Storytelling
- 🌇 A Community-First Approach
- 📊 Facts, Stats, and Sip-Worthy Highlights
- 💭 What This Means for Chinatown’s Dining Future
🍷 The Backstory: Who Is Annie Shi?
To know Lei, you must know Annie Shi. Known for her role at the refined, pasta-meets-seasonal-dreamscape known as King (as well as Jupiter), Shi’s work has always danced at the intersection of precision and pleasure. But Lei is her first solo performance, and it’s both louder and quieter at once. No high-profile tasting menus here. No reservations. Just walk in, breathe deep, and order a glass.
Shi is Chinese-American, raised in Houston, with a global palate and deep respect for wine culture. After training in front-of-house roles and mastering hospitality, she’s taken the leap to open a bar that reflects her culinary nostalgia and personal aesthetics. If King was her art school thesis, Lei is her diary.
🏮 Naming Lei: A Tribute in Every Sip
The name “Lei” (pronounced like “lay”) comes from Shi’s late sister Hannah’s Chinese name. Hannah passed away during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami—a devastating loss. Lei, then, is a quiet act of remembrance. A space where time can soften, grief can settle, and flavors can transport.
It’s also a double entendre: in Mandarin, “lei” (泪) means “tear”—but also carries the resonance of softness, flow, and introspection. Just like wine.
🥂 A Wine Program Rooted in Place and Personality
So, what do you drink at Lei?
Expect a global, low-intervention list with a few hundred bottles—curated for discovery, not dogma. The menu leans dry. Earthy. Crisp. Think: unfiltered Greek Assyrtiko, chilled reds from Loire, pét-nats from small producers in Austria, and a few thoughtful splashes from China.
Yes—China. One highlight: a sparkling blend from Emma Gao’s Silver Heights winery in Ningxia. It’s floral, persistent, and proof that Chinese viticulture deserves a seat at the table.
Wine director vibes? Nothing snobby. You’re encouraged to ask questions, try new things, and pair like a poet. “We’re not doing trophy bottles here,” Shi says. “We’re building context.”
🍽️ Patty Lee’s Menu: Umami, Updated
Food-wise, Lei skips the greatest hits of Chinatown—you won’t find dumplings or General Tso’s. Instead, chef Patty Lee (formerly of Mission Chinese Food) has composed a menu built for wine harmony, not nostalgia alone.
- 🐏 Cumin-tomato lamb with cat’s-ear noodles
- 🧀 Rubing cheese from Yunnan, grilled like halloumi
- 🍞 Sesame shaobing with cultured butter
- 🐚 Steamed cockles with loofah and Thai basil
- 🐷 Jinhua-style ham sliced like Spanish jamón
- 🍨 Guava shaved ice with coconut milk and eight-treasure rice pudding
Every dish is designed with pairing in mind, from the texture of the bread to the acid in the vegetables.
🎨 Designed to Dwell: The Visual Storytelling
Designed by Shi’s childhood friend Rachel Vineberg Jones, Lei’s interior straddles modern elegance and ancestral warmth.
- A deep green tiled bar runs the length of the room
- Mahogany wood, cherry-stained, evokes vintage tea houses
- Wall nooks cradle bottles like artifacts
- Drunken crane wallpaper by Dominique Fung in the bathroom
- Soft curtains by Hsien Hua Li, art by Jia Sung
🌇 A Community-First Approach
Shi signed the lease in late 2024, just before giving birth to her daughter. She canvassed the area for liquor license support, gathering over 70 signatures from local residents and businesses. That’s no small feat in Chinatown.
To that end, no reservations, no dress code, no velvet ropes. Just wine. Good wine. And the people you share it with. Expect future wine classes, pop-ups, and community collaborations to flow in tandem with the vino.
📊 Facts, Stats, and Sip-Worthy Highlights
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Opening Date | June 6, 2025 |
| Address | 15–17 Doyers Street, Chinatown, NYC |
| Seating Capacity | 24–28 seats + standing bar |
| Wine List Size | 300–350 bottles |
| By-the-Glass Options | 10–12 rotating pours |
| Star Dishes | Rubing cheese, cumin lamb, Jinhua ham, cockles |
| Design Highlights | Mahogany wood, green tiles, mythic art |
💭 What This Means for Chinatown’s Dining Future
Lei represents a shift in what “Chinese food in America” can look like—intellectual, intentional, and delicious. It doesn’t mimic tradition—it expands it.
As Chinatown evolves, Lei reminds us that the future of heritage food is not erasure, but elevation. It’s about new ways of telling old stories. And that story, in this case, begins with a cork and ends in community.
Final Pour 🍷
So, here’s your weekend plan: Grab a friend (or a lover, or your foodie cousin), head to Doyers Street, and duck inside the bar with the green tiles and flickering light. Order something strange. Eat something spicy. Stay longer than you meant to.
Because Lei isn’t just a wine bar. It’s a love letter—to Chinatown, to complexity, and to the idea that what nourishes us most doesn’t always come on a menu.
Now tell us: If you could pair one dish with your life story, what would it be—and what wine would you drink with it?
