The Changing Chinese Presence in the U.S.

House of Cheung Cantonese Shrimp Vegetable Stir-fry

At Sichuan last Friday, my Chinese friends Allan and Helen urged me to check out the Sunday buffet at Mandarin House, Carmel. They'd been urging me to try the food there on Sunday as they had also urged the Thai Taste buffet on Thursday night and The Journey, Carmel, buffet Saturday noon. Today I decided to see for myself what the brother-and-sister Chinese gourmets were so excited about.

Mandarin House is just across the street from Sichuan, both of them on South Rangeline Road.  When I got there at 1:45 this afternoon, there were two cars in front of Sichuan. The parking lot in front of Mandarin House was packed with more than twenty. Groups of Chinese diners were oozing out the door, many in a hurry to get back home to watch the Colts game scheduled at 3. While waiting for a table, Allan and Helen come out. Allan insisted on showing me the buffet. He walked me past the maître d’ and pointed out the day's highlights. He told me the restaurant periodically changed their spread. He introduced me to the "boss lady," Lilly, who later told me the regional provenance of my favorite dishes. The noodle dish was from Shanghai, the bean cured Sichuan, the ribs Cantonese, etc

Last week I took photos of the food at the House of Cheung on Keystone Avenue. Peter's restaurant opened 20 years ago. Back then he told me there were seven Chinese restaurants in the city. They all more or less had the same menu, mostly Cantonese specialties the owners had modified to American tastes, what came to be called "Chinese American." Unfortunately I shot the food at the steam table with just the existing light. The pictures did not have good contrast.

I want to make a video about Chinese-American restaurants. These are cultural dinosaurs. I would also love to make a small documentary about Peter and his family and the story of how they came to America in tandem with the story of Cantonese American restaurants. More Chinese now are coming directly from what used to be called "Mainland China." Chinese restaurants in the U.S. are changing because the Chinese who are creating them are different, and the American diners, too, are savvier. Many are now open to food traditions their parents could not stomach before.

Posted via email from Duende Arts