As someone who worked in a lot of restaurants in his younger years (I probably either bused your table or was your waiter if you used to dine out at places like the Red Fox, Fireside Inn or Mendenhall Inn in Chester County) I have a tremendous respect for those who toil in the restaurant business.
It's not easy work. For starters, your schedule gets turned upside down. You are going to work as most people are heading home. You work nights and weekends, holidays, too. Kind of like newspapers, when you think of it.
Restaurants come and go, with the landscape littered with discarded menus of eateries that have come - and gone.
That's why it's remarkable to note a restaurant that has excelled for 40 years.
That's part of the reason I found myself at one of the iconic restaurants on the Delco scene last night.
We took our 'Live From the Newsroom' show to Margaret Kuo's Peking Restaurant last night to celebrate the Chinese New Year and Year of the Horse.
Margaret and Chef Huang walked us through the traditions of the celebration, as well as a classic Chinese New Year banquet featuring four courses, including her signature Peking duck.
But that's not the only reason we were there.
While Peking is marking its 40th year in operation, it's also a bit bittersweet because it may very well be the last.
That's because the rumors are no longer rumors.
Peking's home, Granite Run Mall, has been sold, and big plans are in the works for the mall, which may or may not include Peking. The plan calls for keeping the mall's three anchor stores, then demolish the rest for a combination of retail and residential development. Whether or not that includes a new Peking is yet to be seen.
If it does not, it will be the first time since the mall opened its doors in 1974 that Peking has not been part of the mall's operation. While Chik Fil-A also was there on Day One and every day since, Peking remains the only privately owned entity that has been with the mall through thick and thin over the last four decades.
Kuo of course has expanded her restaurant empire well beyond Granite Run, with restaurants now operating on State Street in Media, as well as in Wayne and Frazer. It's now a family operation, with her son and grandchildren now in the business as well.
It was a night to celebrate - both the Chinese New Year, with Kuo offering some fascinating background into the traditions of the celebration, as well as the tips and secrets to success that she has used over the past 40 years.
Our deep thanks for a great night to Margaret Kuo, Chef Huang, and Barbara Zippi of Artemis Productions, who put the evening together.
If you missed the live broadcast, you can catch the replay here.
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