Photo Essay: The Grand Opening of The Original SOUPMAN in Raleigh, NC

OK, you are playing some trivia game with your friends, and the question is, "What was the flavor of soup made famous on the "Soup Nazi" episode of Seinfeld? (Hear the Jeopardy music in the background....) Just in time, you triumphantly remember, "Lobster Bisque," and you win the game. This episode was filmed way back in 1995, not long after the real Soup Man, Al Yeganeh, opened his infamous and also famous soup take out storefront on West 55th St. in New York City. Apparently, Yeganeh had no idea in advance Seinfeld was going to have a show built around his surly reputation. He already had Zagat's food critics' ratings that other top restaurants in NYC coveted. How would you feel? Would you react with hatred for the star of the show, Jerry Seinfeld, or would you delight in the fabulous business the free publicity would bring you? According to the Wall Street Journal of September 10, 2004,Yeganeh hates Seinfeld for the show that featured him, and especially for calling him the "Soup Man" which Yeganev says in a New York Times article is "A horrible term which should never be used--ever." Yeganev says he brought success to Seinfeld instead of the usual opposite interpretation. He says Jerry's term is "offensive" and that the show ruined his life, and he eschews any overt association with Seinfeld. OK, so I get that he already was making money without Jerry's help, but I don't get (maybe I am dense) that he abhors the name "Soup Man" as opposed to his chosen nomenclature "SoupMan." (Please skip the rest of this paragraph if you hate grammar.) I did notice that in Raleigh, all upper case letters were used to spell it, but the 'S' and 'M' were larger, where previously he had only capitalized the 'S' and the 'M' and the other letters were lower case with the two words written as one. I am sure that must be an important political statement for him. There may well be a cultural explanation for his distinction. However, on a promotional folder I was given at he store, it says, "The Soup Man" in quotes. Isn't that using Seinfeld's 'horrid' term? I know that is way too much information for some, but it is apparently a hot topic in Yeganev-Seinfeld circles.

In 2004, Yeganev closed his original location (he always was only open for six months a year) to work on franchising his famous soup and also to open a new location at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street which was a major coup for the neighborhood, although apparently the new policy is no yelling at customers. He planned to have 150 franchises in the 'near future' and have 1,000 new locations open by 2009-2010. I asked at the opening in Raleigh and was told this is the 32nd location, so I guess it has not been a "souperlative" success, although food critics have said that he has done a remarkable job of transferring his "worth standing in line for an hour" taste to the now mass produced product, a feat in itself. He denies an iota of connection to the show, saying, "I don't need the money. I am already rich. I was rich before Seinfeld."

Harper Collins and Crown Publishers had reportedly offered him $150,000 advances to write a cookbook, but Yeganev was entirely disintersted in the promotional tours expected for the potential book. He is quoted as saying, "But, I ask you, how could I leave my soup?" After all, "Soup is my passion."

The Journal also reported that none of his form letters sent out to potential franchise owners would be polite, not the corporate image, you know. In his letter, you will not be addressed as "Dear," no one will tell you "Thank you,"or "We look forward to speaking with you soon." Forget what your mama told you about courtesy; here, all gloves are off. It is true that Yeganeh really did 'punish' imperfect customers in his original restaurant. His idea of a smooth line for his soup was that each customer was allotted seven seconds, preferably fewer. Whether or not you received free bread and fruit for no extra charge depended on your not holding up the line. Don't dare change your order or hesitate or fumble for your money, or you could be told, "No soup for you." I did ask to what extent this location would be modeled on the infamous rudeness and was told personally, "No one will yell at you." That was a relief because I remember how much trouble Elaine got into on Seinfeld.

When I heard the Original SOUPMAN was opening in Raleigh, of course, I went. What's not to love? Good soup combined with funny memories of Seinfeld's show trying not to annoy the "Soup Nazi," so the characters can still buy their addictive lobster bisque soup. This Grand Opening in Raleigh included a raffle for a Soup Combo every day for LIFE (No, I did not win.) The first 100 people in line received a gift bag. My friend had an advertising tee shirt, a magnet, and a pen in hers, but I lucked out on a later version of the bag (even though we were together) and got a for real SoupMan tee shirt, a soup bowl, a magnet and a pen.

Cool tee shirts are definitely part of the mystique here; I received a free one with the SoupMan logo on the front and the famous rules on the reverse. There were other shirts worn by staff reminding us of such basic maxims as "So you think my soup is too expensive? Too bad. Life is tough and you get what you pay for," or "Tired of Waiting in line? Hit the other soup place. No one is there." There were also tee shirts with the basic moral injunctions for success emblazoned on the back. Al Yeganeh prohibits any reference to the "Soup Nazi" in any advertising (see poster pictured) which I do think is understandable. However, in spite of the considerable tension between the two factions of soup maker and story teller, the tee shirts and other promotional materials do cheerfully remind us of descriptive behaviors of the intimidating TV soup dictator who will refuse to sell you soup if you hold up the line or annoy him. There are a dozen or so enlarged posters of newspaper articles from The New York Times, New York Post, or The Wallstreet Journal, and they all reference the Seinfeld episode.

The prices seem high for soup. I struggled with the notion that I really should ty the lobster bisque, since that is the soup that so entranced the characters on Seinfeld, but, whoa, the price was high for this budget diner. The lobster bisque is the most expensive soup on the menu at $8.95 for a cup of soup, a piece of sour dough or Italian bread, an apple or orange, and a small (read tiny) piece of their premium chocolate. The usual combo was to fill your meal out with a half sandwich, panini or side salad,but that would have set me back $11.95, or $13.95 to make it a bowl of soup. My same order with a simple vegetable soup would have been $4.95, or $6.95 for a bowl instead of a cup. There are also salads, rice bowls, sandwiches and panini for $5.95 to $9.95. There are a total of 50 classic soups which are rotated daily, although his classics are always available.

I splurged and also got a smoothie (remember, it was hot). My smoothie was "Very Berry" with seasonal berries, banana and yogurt for an additional $4.95. It was billed as the 'anti-oxidant,' but there is also the "Buff Monkey" ('The Workout'), the "Maui Paui" ( 'The Lucky Charm') and , get this, the "Holy Moly" which is 'The Aphrodisiac.' The magical Holy Moly is made from "our own blend of aphrodisiac fruits and juices that is sure to make the blood flow."

So how was the lobster bisque? Delicious. It did have generous sized and many pieces of lobster in the bisque, so that was a strong plus. It seemed slightly bland to me, but I tend to like more seasoning than most, so I suspect that is about me and not the soup. Another aspect that I think effected my ability to judge the soup absolutely fairly was that I had just stood in a hot line for an hour, and soup was not what I was craving. It had been about 95 degrees outside, and I was hot and my back was aching. It was great soup, but I am not like the Seinfeld characters who will crave it for the rest of my life. I would have preferred a bowl, but I didn't want to pay for a bowl. I got a little drip of soup on my shirt, and I said to my friend, "Well, there's $.35 wasted." I almost got the seafood bisque because the bowl was two dollars cheaper, and I was told it was identical except it just has other seafood instead of lobster, but I knew if I were going to try this place out, I needed to throw fiscal caution to the wind and go all the way to the exalted lobster bisque.

I did like that Al made a donation of $1,500 to "Stop Hunger Now" for this Grand Opening, and I think for each Grand Opening of his franchises. I guess in spite of his dedication to rude correspondence, he is trying to soften his image somewhat.

It all sounds a little schizophrenic to me (clearly not a medical term here). Yeganev says he hates Seinfeld and that the show ruined his life; however, I don't think anybody would have come out in NC for the opening of some great local soup place in NYC without the show. He says no reference to Seinfeld is to exist in the advertising, but the store is decorated with a dozen newspaper articles about his soup, but all in the context of the Seinfeld show he detests so much. They definitely make an effort to claim the NYC ambience because the guy who greeted me and everybody else, whom I thought was the owner at first, and whose picture appears here in the photograph with the cutout of Al Yeganev himself was a NYC implant brought in for the occasion. He definitely was a Yeganev look a like, but he acted surprised I thought so when I mentioned it. Yeah, right. There is a poster on the wall from The New York Post in 2005 claiming a visit for soup was "the ultimate New York experience." Other articles posted on the wall (conveniently) said that now when you go to NYC, the must-sees are the Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, the UN, and Al Yeganev's soup place. Huh? That puts a whole new spin on history, doesn't it?

There were posters all over which I photographed to read later and which are my sources here. There is a New York Times article of March 6, 1996, which reports that he emigrated to the US from an unspecified location in the Mideast to study physics -- an apparently vast amount of personal information from this very private man who chooses not to be more specific about his home in the Middle East. A large statement painted on the wall in the most prominent location declares proudly, "Even the New York Times referred to Al's masterpieces as "Art, not soup." In truth, there is a New York Times article that quotes a Wall Street analyst, Steve Melnick, who says, " This is Art, not soup." Isn't that rather like saying Everywhere Magazine said your photograph was "perfect," when really some one else appeared on the web site and called your photo "perfect"? Either is nice, but one carries more weight than the other. So, y'all come to Raleigh and have the ultimate New York experience.