The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food
Language: English
Pages: 332
ISBN: B00FORZNVA
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
If you think McDonald's is the most ubiquitous restaurant experience in America, consider that there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. New York Times reporter and Chinese-American (or American-born Chinese). In her search, Jennifer 8 Lee traces the history of Chinese-American experience through the lens of the food. In a compelling blend of sociology and history, Jenny Lee exposes the indentured servitude Chinese restaurants expect from illegal immigrant chefs, investigates the relationship between Jews and Chinese food, and weaves a personal narrative about her own relationship with Chinese food. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles speaks to the immigrant experience as a whole, and the way it has shaped our country.
restaurants were nothing special. Other places, like the Vietnamese Saigon Grill, had intoxicated Upper West Siders with their exotic new cuisine. Over time, it became clear that the 100th Street restaurant didn’t have the same visibility and traffic as the original location, which had been just a block away from a major crosstown bus line and an express subway stop. Business slowed. Today, nearly every self-respecting restaurant in Manhattan, from neighborhood diners to high-end
Moshe Dragon, the first kosher Chinese restaurant in the Washington, D.C., area. He had been hired by the Rabbinical Council of Greater Washington to oversee Moshe Dragon, which had opened during Rosh Hashanah in September 1988 in Rockville, Maryland, with much aplomb. Washington, unlike Baltimore, to the north, did not have a deeply rooted Orthodox community. The population was too new and too transient, made up largely of transplants who worked in, influenced, or wrote about government. In the
dominated by foods from European and North American countries. “We feel sort of isolated. Many Asian countries felt we need some standards for Asian food. We thought of some Asian foods and we thought of soy sauce,” she said. After all, what could be more quintessentially Asian than soy sauce? The dark seasoning’s history stretches back over several millennia. By legend it began to spread internationally when a Japanese Zen Buddhist monk discovered it during his studies in China. He brought a
whatever it is telling you to do, but you trust that it will get you to your final destination. Like religion. If you don’t own a Chinese restaurant, you can get in on the action by investing in the stock PFCB—P. F. Chang’s China Bistro, a publicly traded Chinese restaurant chain. The Chinese chain Panda Express may have more restaurants nationwide, but it is privately held. P. F. Chang’s, which brings in an astounding $5 million each year per restaurant, is headquartered in the expansive
food into the upscale London restaurant mix when he opened Hakkasan in 2001 to fawning reviews and a coveted Michelin star. Three years later, Yau followed up with Yauatcha, a nouvelle dim sum parlor. Alan Yau made it possible to once again say “sexy” and “Chinese restaurant” in the same sentence without snorting. Once upon a time, Chinese food in England could still be considered exotic and chic. Men impressed their dates with their sophistication by taking them out to Chinese restaurants.