Patience is a virtue
Good things come to those who wait. And wait. But is that old adage the reason why we’re all too eager to form an orderly line in anticipation of some hitherto unavailable luxury –…
The queue endures. Back before the misery of coronavirus, there was a spate of people getting in very long lines for fashion drops, over-logoed skatewear and even covetable buns. But then – phew – the pandemic killed the queue. It was replaced by text messages telling you when your time was up (not in grim reaper style, rather that your table was ready). But now? Otherwise sane folk are queueing for loaves of bread like it’s the ussr in the 1970s. People are voluntarily spending whole mornings in formation just to gobble a cream puff. Generation instant gratification has discovered a yearning for a very delayed payoff. This waiting game has even ensnared the worlds of academia and psychology as people ponder what the hell is going on. Not wanting to miss out on the action, or inaction, monocle gets in line to find out how lust and restraint are intertwined. —
Bistro
Cheap as chips
Bouillon Pigalle, Paris
When it comes to classic French bistros, Bouillon Pigalle is a hit with Parisians and visitors alike. Located on Place Pigalle, in the heart of the city’s former red-light district, the queue outside the restaurant regularly snakes around the corner of the block, with waiting times that can exceed an hour.
Waiters in white shirts and black waistcoats serve dishes ranging from soupe à l’oignon and oeuf mayonnaise to the French-cuisine cornerstone steak frites, all at alluring prices. Many of the people queueing outside note that this is a considerable part of the place’s appeal. “I’m queueing today with my flatmates from back home in Germany,” says Stephanie Schachel, a student living in Paris while spending a semester at Sciences Po. “I know this place: it’s cheap but good.” Another queuer, Nicolas Lopez, is also an international transplant to the city and showing visitors around. “I wanted to introduce my family to the concept of a bouillon [a restaurant that serves traditional French cuisine],” he tells monocle. “I particularly like the saucisse-purée [sausage served with mash]. It’s French and inexpensive.”
Everyone in the queue agrees, Bouillon Pigalle is perfect for an extended lunch with friends, perhaps with a carafe of wine, which here can range from a modest un quart to a supersize jeroboam; again, at prices that are hard to beat. “We are queueing because this place has the esprit bouillon [bouillon spirit],” adds Cécile Vassas. “There’s traditional French cuisine and a convivial brasserie atmosphere inside. And you can always order steak frites.” The consensus is: the queue might be long but once you make it through the door you will be rewarded tenfold.
bouillonlesite.com
Onigiri shop
Banging the drum
Onigiri Bongo, Tokyo
Come rain or shine, there’s always a queue outside Onigiri Bongo, a renowned onigiri [rice ball] shop in Otsuka. At the weekend people have been known to wait for more than six hours. When monocle visits, the queue is already taking shape at 08.45 – nearly three hours before opening time. The first to arrive get a stool. Everyone in the queue is served green tea and spirits are high.
Bongo’s owner is Yumiko Ukon, a youthful 72-year-old, who has been working six-day weeks for the past 40 years. “I’m the face of this place and I don’t like to disappoint people, particularly my regular customers,” she says. Her late husband started Bongo in 1960; they met after she tried one of his onigiri on a visit to Tokyo. It was love at first bite.
Today, Ukon runs a tight ship with a team that starts work at 07.00 and spends the morning prepping before the doors open at 11.30. Ukon uses rice from Iwafune in Niigata prefecture and a wooden mould to make the ball, adding any of the more than 50 fillings on offer and wrapping it in seaweed. “People crave the taste of home-cooked food”, says Ukon.
Kiyoe and Michiyo from Tokyo are the first in line. They saw Bongo on TV. “It’s fine,” says Kiyoe of the queue. “Women are used to waiting.” Masakazu has come all the way from Shizuoka. “I’ve never waited this long for anything,” he says. He’s planning to order the grilled salmon onigiri, Bongo’s most popular. Sujiko (salted salmon roe) is another favourite, as is egg yolk soaked in soy sauce.
When the restaurant recently relocated, the old interior came too, including the worn counter. “The world is changing but nothing changes here and that’s how people like it,” says Ukon.
2 Chome-27-5 Kitaotsuka, Toshima City, Tokyo
Bagel shop
Running rings
It’s Bagels, London
New York-born photographer Dan Martensen can name supermodels and actors among his subjects but it’s his bagel shop in north London that is turning heads. The idea to bring a slice of New York bagel culture across the pond first began as a passion project. But when the shop opened in 2023 it was clear that the business would become more than a sideshow.
From the moment it opens, a long queue grows outside It’s Bagels on Regent’s Park Road. “It gets a bit lawless,” says the manager, Franklin Arthur. “When we ask people to cross the road, to start a new section of the queue, people start jumping ahead and we don’t know who was there first.” He often has to leave the assembly line to put on a high-vis jacket and control the chaos. The shop hired its first queue manager, so that Arthur will be able to focus on the bagels. “The demand is outrageous,” he says.
A mixture of north London devotees and out-of-town visitors make up the daily queue, which can be 50-people long by midday.
Customers who bring friends and family are helping to drive the queues: when monocle visits, David Lock has brought his mum, Tricia, visiting from Belfast, to his new favourite spot. Every week, Lock makes the journey from Bermondsey in southeast London to It’s Bagels and describes the occasion as “a bit of a pilgrimage”. But for others in line, the idea that waiting for your bagel makes it taste better divides opinion. “When you wait a long time for something, you have to hope [it meets expectations],” says Freddie Phelops, who is queueing for his first It’s Bagels experience. Another punter, Jack Bergman, welcomes the anticipation. “If you’re waiting 30 minutes for a bagel, it’s always going to taste better.”
itsbagels.com
