{"id":189998,"date":"2015-01-22T04:00:31","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=189998"},"modified":"2015-01-22T04:00:31","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T18:00:31","slug":"cha-expand-bakery-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/cha-expand-bakery-march\/","title":{"rendered":"Cha to expand into a bakery in March"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Cha<\/a>
Cha Cafe employees smile for a photo during their shift last weekend. (Thomas Manglona II)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the past two years Cha has satisfied its customers\u2019 taste buds and cravings with their variety of luscious pearl shakes and frappes bursting with flavor. The small business at the Garapan corner building on Beach Road is expanding its menu and size to raise the quality of its products and services for residents and tourists alike.<\/p>\n

The Los Angeles-inspired hip, urban, boardwalk cafe belongs to John Lee and will be rebranded to Cha Cafe and Bakery in March. According to Lee, Cha\u2019s current location will be moved to a larger room in the same building, owned by his father Yang Hoon Lee.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new cafe and bakery is five times larger than our current business,\u201d he told Saipan Tribune. \u201cWe are going to have study tables around the area for students. We are also hoping that adults stop by in the morning to get coffee and pastries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lee, a current law and business student, drew inspiration for the new business\u2019 design from coffee shops he visited while studying in New York, Los Angeles, and Germany.<\/p>\n

Customers can expect a hot cup of coffee to complement the bakery\u2019s \u201chigh-end cakes and pastries\u201d with Cha\u2019s new coffee line, brewed by their custom-made Italian expresso machine.<\/p>\n

Before even getting a taste of the cakes and pastries, customers will be able to watch the pastry chef make them on black marble stone countertops, behind a glass pastry display case.<\/p>\n

Lee hopes the investment will provide residents and tourists with higher quality food and drink options on island.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason why we see so may of our customers come back is because our products are consistently good,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are focusing on making customers happy. The standards we have are comparable to the best cafes in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did not expect it to come this far,\u201d he added. \u201cWhen I was planning to open the business I knew that there were a lot of risks and benefits. In the end, the benefits outweighed the risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

A soft opening will be held in a few weeks following the completion of the renovation. According to Lee, Cha Cafe and Bakery will be open from 7am to 10pm after its grand opening, slated to occur in March.<\/p>\n

Cha\u2019s commitment to the island community reaches beyond quality products and services. The business aims to hire Northern Marianas College and local high school students and even provide scholarships for its employees. With the expansion, Lee said that Cha will be offering to pay a selected employee\u2019s full tuition for the school year.<\/p>\n

Cha employee Tommy Boy Atalig said the expansion \u201cwill heighten the standards of businesses on Saipan.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy favorite part of the job is getting to meet people and tourists. I know that with the expansion, everything will be new and better,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the past two years Cha has satisfied its customers\u2019 taste buds and cravings with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[56,930,313,262],"class_list":["post-189998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news","tag-business-3","tag-germany","tag-new-york","tag-northern-marianas-college"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}