“Old-Fashioned and Elegant”
China Palace
Address: 5210 Garrett Rd, Durham, NC 27707
Phone: 919-493-3088, 493-2166
Website: http://www.mychinapalace.com/index.html
Interviewee: Alice Huang
Interviewer: Deanna Fayed
“I wanted it to sound old fashioned and elegant like the restaurant is,” Alice Huang told me when I asked the origins of her restaurant name. Ms. Huang and her husband have owned China Palace since the 1980s. Their restaurant was located in Woodbridge until the late 90s, when they moved to their current location off of Garrett Road in Durham.
Upon entering China Palace, I found myself surrounded by lush green plants and red decorations. I was warmly welcomed and seated in the far corner of the dining area providing a lovely view of the expanse of the restaurant.
I asked for the waitress’ recommendation based on what people usually order. Instead, she wanted to help me find the best dish for me personally. At this point, our conversation occurred before I had even asked to interview the restaurant. The personalized service demonstrated one of many high standards China Palace prides itself upon. From the front of the restaurant I could hear Ms. Huang greeting a customer, “Mr. Robinson! Good to see you today! Chicken lo mein with less oil and wonton soup, yes? Good.” As indecisive as I am, and at the wide variety of the menu seen below, I was thankful for this quality of service.
While waiting for Ms. Huang, I was served an egg roll on a beautiful blue and white plate. This attention to detail really highlighted the refined elegance that Ms. Huang wanted to showcase in her restaurant as I would later find out when I had the opportunity to speak with her.
Ms. Huang came and sat with me in between the arrival of customers. Given that I had received my food, she was happy to share with me the best selling dishes:
“Shredded pork – it is very traditional but people love it, sesame chicken, and General Ching’s chicken – it is like General Tso’s but it is a bit different. My favorite that we make here is the Sichuan eggplant.”
I noted that when flipping through the menu, I saw dishes rooted in Sichuanese, Hunanese, and Cantonese origin. Ms. Huang explained the nature of this wide variety of offerings:
“I cook what I know. I first learned to cook from my mom in Hong Kong when I was six and I loved cooking. I travel to China and try to make the same dishes. Actually, I just flew in from China this morning at 5AM. Then I change the recipes a little. Recipes come from customer taste.”
It was interesting to hear about her perspective on Chinese regional cuisine. Ms. Huang stressed the importance enjoyment of Chinese food over highlighting regional differences. This was unexpected, as I thought she, a self-identified Chinese woman, would take pride in regionality in cooking. It made a lot of sense, though, given her passion for cooking and eating.
Ms.Huang briefly stepped away to help a customer and encouraged me to eat before my food got cold.
(Hunan Chicken)
Ms. Huang is originally from Hong Kong and her husband is from Taiwan. She came to the United States at the age of twenty in 1976 in the pursuit of an education. She had just a 6th grade level education when she left China. She has worked very hard since arriving and sustained a business for herself and her family.
“I was 20 when I first came. I was in New York. I didn’t like it… Too many people and too many cars, like Hong Kong. I never went to college, but then I came to North Carolina for work. I love it here because it is peaceful and quiet and the people are so nice.”
She also shared the struggle of her life after immigration to the United States.
“The hardest thing [about coming to the United States] was knowing no English and working. There was no opportunity to learn English in Hong Kong. But the customers here were never rude. They would always be patient and try to help me. I love learning the business.”
In China, her parents owned a “building materials business,” but Ms. Huang wanted to branch out. Some of Ms. Huang’s siblings moved to the United States for similar sentiments, but none of them live in the same state. She has two children:
“My son and daughter helped in the restaurant from 9 years old. But I don’t want them to continue.”
Ms. Huang explained that there were little job opportunities for her in Canton aside from her parents’ business, and she doesn’t want her children to be stuck without a choice. She has encouraged them to pursue higher education and work in fields they are interested in.
Ms. and Mr. Huang visit China every 3-4 years, however they never go together because someone must always stay and manage the restaurant. Ms. Huang described her most recent trip:
“I visit Hong Kong and Taiwan to see relatives and friends. I love seeing how dishes are prepared so I can copy them.”
When I asked her favorite food in China, she simply told me there are just too many. I broke down the question to ask about regions, and her eyes lit up.
“In Taiwan, I love pork blood and chitlings. In Hong Kong, I love to eat roast mini pork – the very small pork, pigeon that my mom made when I was a girl, and roast goose. Chicken in China is tougher than it is here – I think it’s because of the food the birds eat. So other meats are really nice.”
Ms. Huang explained that there is much more food variety in Hong Kong, “I love to go to the market in Hong Kong. They have so much more than here. Sometimes here I cannot find some ingredients that I want to use, but I try my best.”
We shifted our conversation to talk about the nature of the Chinese restaurant business in North Carolina. In a discussion on the competitive landscape and market saturation:
“By the 80s, there was already a lot of Chinese restaurants. A good business time was 1978 – there were not many then. It was very hard for me to start because there were so many competitors. There are so many now.. I used to know a lot of the Chinese restaurant owners in the area, but there are too many now. There are new people from China I have never met.”
I mentioned to her that I had previously worked at a Chinese restaurant in another North Carolina city. I shared the name of the restaurant and she knew exactly who the owners were. It is clear that Ms. Alice Huang is a well-established Chinese restaurant owner in the area. It is possible that her high level of experience in the business has allowed her the flexibility to present the foods that she enjoys alongside a competitive market of typical Chinese-American dishes.
I asked if she has witnessed any trends that might correspond to this growth in Chinese restaurant numbers, and she offered intriguing insight which I had never considered:
“In the past, people didn’t really know about Chinese food. Used to be that they didn’t know how to eat Sichuan foods. After the Olympics in Beijing, people started learning a lot about Chinese food and eating a lot more of it. Their tastes changed. They ask to make things spicy. They want to try different things.”
In my personal research and class discussion on this phenomenon, I had never considered this event having any impact on our scope of study. It was very valuable to get this insight from an individual who is removed from the academic approach to studying NC Chinese restaurants. Ms. Huang’s hypothesis comes from actual observations that affected her restaurant and people that she knows. She left me with this to think about, and it prompted a thought of broader recent history events and their implications. What does the future hold for the significance in Chinese food outside of China? How impactful are these types of global events on individual restaurants? On the reception of Chinese food as a whole? Have they caused waves in other countries across the globe as well?
“See you soon!” she waved.
