Feeding the Notables

Feeding the Notables

A squadron of shiny black limousines stopped in front of a Chinese restaurant in Falls Church, Va., (pop. 10,377) not long ago. Tall men dressed in black leapt from the cars, whispering into their cufflinks as they opened the limo doors.

Inside the restaurant, the Tsui (pronounced “choy”) family knew it was just another visit by one of their regular customers from across the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. And this time the man asking about the daily special was President George W. Bush.

Peking Gourmet Inn has long been a favorite of Washington’s notables. Secretary of State Colin Powell visits often, as do National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Tipper Gore, the wife of former Vice President Al Gore.

“But actually,” says Robert Tsui, who runs the restaurant with siblings George, Lily, and Nina, “we consider all our customers VIPs. Over the years, many have become personal friends.”

The Tsuis, who immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong in the 1970s, are living examples of the American dream, one realized not long after their father, Eddie, opened the family’s first eatery in Hong Kong in the 1950s.

“My father was a gregarious guy, and he got to know lots of Americans in Hong Kong,” Robert says. “Many of them were originally from the Washington area. They told him it was a great place to live, the weather was mild, and the air clean. He knew it was a new opportunity, and off we went.”

In its first years, the new restaurant lost money. But through determination and old-fashioned hard work, its reputation for authentic northern Chinese cuisine spread.

And one by one, Eddie’s children followed in his footsteps. George became a professional chef and joined the business early on. Robert earned a doctorate in organic chemistry and joined the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but when their father became ill and could no longer run the restaurant, Robert stepped in.

“In some ways,” Robert says, “I’ve been a traditional Chinese son—when my father needed help, I wanted to be there for him, because he was there for all of us when we were growing up.”

When they first arrived in America, the siblings confronted varying degrees of adjustment. Robert already was in college, so the change went smoothly. But Lily was only 13 when she enrolled in Thomas Jefferson High School.

“This was in the early 1970s, and I was the only Chinese kid in the whole school,” Lily recalls. “I had long, black shiny hair, and oftentimes the other girls would come up and touch it, as they hadn’t seen anything like this before.”

Lily soon made lasting friendships, though, and after earning a college degree in nutrition, she joined the family business and soon was followed by Nina.

Through it all, they’ve been each other’s greatest supporters.

“In many ways I think that we are like any other extended American family . . . when we as a family face a crisis, we’re all in it together, all in the firing line,” Robert says. “Here everyone rolls up their sleeves and gets involved, whether it’s creating a new dish or handling a funding problem.”

Eddie Tsui died several years ago, but his wife, Yuk Yung Cheung, now 84 and the family matriarch, “still calls up every day and gives us orders,” Robert says, laughing.

“My mom has come a long way,” Lily adds. “She and Dad had an arranged marriage; they never even saw each other until the day they got married.”

Lily and Robert know their own children will make choices for themselves.

“This new generation of ours, born and raised here, are typical Americans,” Robert says. “But I think eventually . . . the Asian traits may surface when they’re dealing with their kids, and they’ll be true examples of the blending of two cultures.”

And as for those famous patrons—they’ve come through in a pinch. Lily recalls the first time the elder George Bush visited the restaurant. After finishing his meal, the then-vice president pulled out his American Express card, and Lily had to inform the second-most powerful man in the world that they didn’t take American Express.

“He then pulled out from his wallet this very old check,” Lily says. “I don’t know how long it had been there, but you could tell that it must have been ages . . . he was laughing, but it was so embarrassing for me.” First thing the next morning, Lily phoned American Express.

Steven Knipp is a writer from Arlington, Va.

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