This story is part of Heads of the Table, our celebration of 12 restaurants, people, and organizations that led the industry through the pandemic and beyond. Meet all the winners here.
When I first came to the U.S. in 1994, I always worked in restaurants. English was a barrier, so this was one way of making a living. The village I lived in, Ting Jiang [in China’s Fuzhou province], didn’t have many opportunities. I saw a brighter future in the States. First I worked at a take-out restaurant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, then I ran my own take-out place in