Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Eddie Zhao, co-owner of Saratoga Bagels, offers warm and tender bagels.

Family and work ethic built Saratoga Bagels

By Suzanne Cristallo

Last month, Ted Lam and Eddie Zhao realized the American Dream. They opened their own business--Saratoga Bagels--and, in so doing, have made a statement about the ethic of hard work and the importance of family.

Lam was born in Cambodia in a province next to Phnom Penh. During the purge by the communist Khmer Rouge in the early 1970s, he and his family escaped on foot to Vietnam.

When they realized Vietnam was also falling to the Communists, they traveled to Thailand, where they lived for a while in a refugee camp, then moved on to another camp in the Philippines where they waited for their visas to America.

Two years after their country fell to Communist control, 19-year-old Lam, with his sister and brother, speaking some English learned in the Philippines, arrived in Los Angeles.

Zhao was born in Canton, China. It took him four years to obtain a visa to the United States. His country, burdened by overpopulation, put no restriction on his departure, but the U.S., overwhelmed by immigrants seeking asylum, made him wait.

At 15, he arrived in San Francisco, speaking no English and dependent on his "auntie" as a sponsor. For a year, he was paralyzed by fear and spoke to no one beyond his extended family.

Today, a smiling, suntanned Zhao, 26, is a mail carrier from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. The remainder of his 12-hour working day is spent in his new bagel shop.

Lam, 33, came to San Jose to visit his sister. He soon married and at the urging of his new wife and sister, bought a donut shop in San Jose, where the two women now spend 12-hour days. Zhao met Lam because his fiancée is the sister of Lam's wife.

The bagels the two men bake before 6 a.m., seven days a week, are warm and tender, they say, for the people who travel from as far away as the mountain area and Cupertino for the special taste their unique recipe offers.

Zhao and Lam are in the midst of remodeling. A new espresso machine provides a full array of cappuccino and latte creations to go with a variety of bagels.

Saratoga Bagels, 12840 Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road, Saratoga. Hours: 6 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. 867-6834.