From Kazakhstan to Kathmandu, wherever you are around the world, you’re likely to find an Irish pub.
Beijing has a few, but among them, Paddy O’Shea’s has reigned supreme since it opened in 2007.
Originally founded by a couple of Brits and one Irish lad, the popular pub now lies in the unlikely hands of a Frenchman, Mathieu Herout.
Once a high-ranking badass at Siemens, Herout traded in his suit and tie for his now signature ‘Who’s your Paddy?’ hoodie in 2014, when he first purchased a stake in Beijing’s beloved Irish pub.
Over the years, he continued to buy up shares and is now the sole owner of the dynamic venue that hosts open mic nights, comedy shows, sports events, whiskey tastings – you name it, Paddy’s does it.
To mark St. Patrick’s Day, we sat down with Herout to chat about what it’s like to run an Irish pub in Beijing.
Mathieu Herout behind the bar
How did you end up in Beijing?
My work sent me here. The company I was working for [Siemens] offered me an assignment.
I had a fairly good position at Siemens in Beijing. I was the vice president of a division with a few billion euros in revenue and a couple hundred employees.
At the beginning, I was just a customer at Paddy’s. Then when Karl Long, one of the previous owners, offered me the chance to take over his shares, I said “Oh yeah, sounds like a good idea.”
I didn’t realize that a little bit later, I would find myself the de facto owner of the place.
What would you say are the essential parts of an Irish pub?
There are different ways of seeing Irish pubs – an Irish pub in Boston is not the same as an Irish pub in Ireland and definitely not the same as an Irish pub outside of the British Isles.
I’ve been to many Irish pubs throughout the world, and I’ve always loved them because it is always a place where people get together – mainly expats.
You get people not from the area all together and socializing. You get a good service, and you get fantastic beer.
We also decided to show sports, and we get a good crowd that comes here for that.
In general, you see a willingness to socialize. It’s as simple as that.
Have you spent much time in Ireland?
No, not much time at all, but I have great admiration for and love the country – mainly the people.
That said, we don’t have any Irish people working here now because you don’t put an Irishman behind the bar with unlimited access to alcohol [laughs]. It’s not a good call, but they are always friendly people.
Irish people see life on the bright side and as I’m French as well, we do have a lot in common, which is the basic religion and the hatred of England.
That’s the important thing, quite frankly [laughs].
What is your favorite thing about running Paddy’s?
That’s a good question. The first thing is that I was an employee all my life, and now it is my business.
I don’t count the time or energy I spend on it because, ultimately, I’m doing it for myself. I have much more energy when I work, but it’s still work.
The second thing I think would be that the connection with the staff is very different from what I knew before. You have a friendly relationship with colleagues or with your employees, but it’s much more solid.
Last but not least, of course, is the customers – not always fantastic meetings, but a lot of fantastic meetings. You get to know each other.
Unfortunately, we are in a city where people come and go, so you always have to try to renew the ties and relations.
What are some of the craziest stories you have about people doing stupid things at Paddy’s?
I’m not telling you [laughs]. You don’t want people to read about that, right?
You just need to look at the lost and found items that we have and what we have found in there.
Basically underwear, sex toys and so on, but it’s not really that common. Paddy’s is not that kind of place, but sometimes you wonder what’s happening in the dark corners.
It’s not completely wild either. This is not an animal farm. Most of the people who come here are usually above 30.
Just a few of the whiskeys available at Paddy’s
Do you have a favorite Irish whiskey?
Not really. I mostly drink cider these days, but we do host some great whiskey tasting events with some special and unique bottles. We usually have around six different ones for people to try.
I do it not as much as a profit-making activity, but as a way to put whiskey – Irish, Scottish, American, whatever – in the center of a debate for people.
I’m pretty proud of having started this activity. People are sometimes scared to spend a lot on expensive whiskeys because they don’t want to be disappointed.
When you have such an event, you pay a flat rate, and then you get to try different ones and you have it explained to you about where it comes from.
Pizza is available by the slice and in three sizes
Some people are not aware that you have quite a great food menu. Tell us a bit about how you developed it.
It used to be much bigger, but we have stuck to the core dishes that are the most popular.
We often have lots of people standing here – so, we end up selling a lot of snacks and finger food.
Our pizzas are also quite popular – we do five or six different types.
Lately, I’ve been personally putting some effort into more traditional staple dishes from different countries, like schnitzel, cordon bleu, and steak frites.
My favorite thing on the menu is the steak frites – it’s a special cut of beef. In France, we cut the beef very differently than the Americans and Chinese do. It’s a bit more complex, but it’s not rocket science.
Jameson Cream Chicken (RMB88)
What is the most difficult part of running the pub?
I think running a business anywhere in the world is not an easy thing to do. That is for sure.
For me, it’s getting to understand all the unwritten rules in China and things that nobody actually really understands. I think the locals are more used to living with that.
I spent way too much time in Germany and not having clear rules is something that I still have difficulties with [laughs].
[All images are courtesy of Paddy O’Shea’s]
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