Street: How did you come to own Bubble House?
John Wicks: I owned the building and I was approached by three kids from Wharton about a bubble tea house. I looked at the business plan and of course it was a Wharton business plan so it was very good; I was very impressed. So I told them all that I would do it. But within the first year, the execution of their excellent business plan fell down. It was a case of book smart, street stupid. They just did not know how to handle people, and when you own a restaurant, you have to throw the party.
Street: Where did bubble tea originate and how did it get so trendy?
JW: Just like kids in America go to 7-Eleven, in Taiwan kids go to tea stands, little carts that sell tea. In the '80s the carts started to flavor their teas. At first it was just regular fruit flavors, and then they started using milk tea with ice. They would shake them up and they would get frothy, and so it started to be called bubble tea. Then in 1983, [Liu Han-Chieh] was the first person to use tapioca pearls in bubble tea.
Street: So what exactly are the bubbles made out of?
JW: What we use is the black pearls made out of the cassava root, sweet potato starch and either molasses or brown sugar. They aren't particularly sweet, they're fairly neutral.
Street: You seem to know a lot about Asian cuisine. Have you ever visited or lived in Asia?
JW: I have not been, but let's face it, the whole fusion trend. If you go into an Asian supermarket it's like being a kid in a candy store-there's six gazillion sauces and powders and flavors and vegetables! It's fun.
Street: Tell us about your expansion.
JW: Bubble House had no substantial adult business because of the lack of alcohol, so I thought it would be nice to expand. It rocked my world to make the move. Now that we have a liquor license- we have free appetizers during happy hour and really good drink specials.
Street: So we noticed you are good friends with the people from White Dog Cafe, New Deck Tavern and La Terrasse. Is there a Sansom Street gang we should be made aware of?
JW: I've lived on this block for a really long time and my sister owns White Dog. The White Dog people LOVE Bubble House. When the bar first opened they were most assuredly our best patrons. You know, bubble tea is not something you can get anywhere, and we worked hard to get the flavors. When we got the alcohol, we did the same thing. Like our Sake Sangria--nobody in town has the same drink.
