I have to admit I went into last night’s ‘Live From the Newsroom’ a bit sheepishly.
Or maybe I should just say I felt like a snake.
The Year of the Snake, that is.
We had planned to do a show celebrating the Chinese New Year back in the beginning of February. The official holiday actually fell on Feb. 10. But as often happens in this racket, news got in the way.
Last night we finally had a chance to do the show, and I learned several important things.
We took the show on the road to meet Margaret Kuo and her family at their restaurant in the Wayne section of Radnor Township. If you missed it you can catch the replay here.
If the name is familiar, it is not by accident.
Margaret Kuo may very well be the pre-eminent ‘first lady’ of the Delco restaurant scene. In partnership with her husband, Warren, their Chinese restaurants form something of her very own empire here in Delaware County. Later this summer Kuo will mark 40 years - that’s four decades - with her original Peking restaurant in Granite Run Mall. Owners have come and gone at Granite Run, but Peking remains. Kuo proudly points out they were there on Day 1 when the mall opened, and are still there today, despite some very tough times at the shopping mecca. The restaurant remains the sole family-owned business that was there from the start.
In those 40 years they have added another restaurant in Media, becoming part of the renaissance in the county seat focused on State Street restaurants, as well as the facility in Wayne we visited last night, along with Wayne Mandarin, which is a bit farther out on Lancaster Pike.
I learned several important things last night.
First and foremost, the Kuos’ reputation is richly deserved. I got to meet most of the Kuo family, including her husband Warren, their son Mark, a chef himself who now runs Mandarin, and his lovely daughter Hui-Yi.
After correcting my mangled attempt at wishing everyone a Happy New Year in Chinese, Margaret Kuo assured me we really weren’t late at all, that the traditions associated with this very important holiday are celebrated for weeks and months.
Again and again, Margaret Kuo stressed the importance of family in the Chinese New Year tradition, and it was obvious in the comments of both her son and her granddaughter that the respect for family and tradition clearly is being carried on.
Warren, a noted wine expert, pointed out that in China, all business actually comes to a halt while families gather to ring in the new year.
“It’s kind of like New Year’s, Christmas and Thanksgiving all wrapped up in one,” he said.
Of course, a huge part of the celebration is food. And the Kuos did not disappoint. They walked us through the traditional Chinese Royal Banquet, with a dazzling display of dishes featuring everything you could imagine, from a full roast duck, to pork to dumplings and pork. It was exquisite.
My thanks to the Kuo family for their enormous hospitality.
And also for reassuring us that we really were not late to the party for the Chinese New Year, that the Year of the Snake is celebrated all year long.
And, most of all, for reminding me of the importance of family.
Comments