Your Chinese Menu Is Really a Time Machine

Sweet and Sour Pork and Chop Suey Aren’t Just Delicious; They Also Tell Stories of Waves of Immigration from China

I grew up in a Chinese restaurant called the Peking Restaurant in rural New England during the 1970s and ’80s. I was that kid you saw running around the tables and through the waiters’ legs, and playing with whatever I could get my hands on. I had access to some cool things—pupu platters for my birthdays, all the fortune cookies I could eat, the pleasure of celebrating two different new year’s days every year with treats like a roasted pig during the Year of the Pig. And, when I was …

by Cedric Yeh | February 19, 2015

Restaurateur Bill Chait

He Wants to Go Where Everybody Knows His Name

December 10, 2014

Bill Chait is a principal and managing partner of restaurants across Los Angeles, including Bestia and the upcoming Vibiana and Redbird downtown, and Sotto and Picca on the Westside. Before …

Last Call at the Cat & Fiddle

Remembering Lazy Sundays at a British Pub That Became a Hollywood Icon

by Patrick Quinn | November 10, 2014

Los Angeles is not a city known for dwelling on the past. So if a restaurant or bar can last more than 10 years, it’s automatically designated as a “local …

Is Downtown L.A.’s New Center?

It’s Got the Hype, the Hot New Restaurants, Growing Political Clout, and More and More People on the Streets—and Its Growth Shows No Sign of Slowing Down

by Sarah Rothbard | October 15, 2014

This year, GQ called downtown Los Angeles “America’s next great city” and “the cool capital of America,” and The New York Times included downtown on its list of “52 Places …

Breakfast on the Beach with Dad

The Joys of Early Mornings at Perry’s Café, Before Work

by Kelsey Hess | August 25, 2014

Perry’s at the Beach Café has nine locations throughout Santa Monica and Venice, but I only really like one—and won’t bother going after 10 a.m.

My dad first introduced me …

L.A. Greats of Film and Food Jon Favreau and Roy Choi Screen ‘Chef’

The ‘My Favorite Movie’ Series Launches With a Love and Laugh Fest

by Sarah Rothbard | June 20, 2014

In 2009, Zócalo was the first L.A. organization to invite Roy Choi—then a restaurant-chef-turned-food-truck-operator who was selling Korean barbecue-filled tacos on the streets of Southern California—to speak on a panel …

Nixon Goes to China (to Eat)

How the President Brought Chinese Food to the U.S.

Chinese Immigrants Now Make Up the Largest Group of New Arrivals to the U.S.

Once Excluded and Now Admired, Their Families Could See a Newfound Status in America Complicated by China's Rise

How Will China’s Rise Change the Chinese-American Experience?

How Mahjong Laid Tiles for Chinese America

The Popular Game Helped Forge a New Identity as it Crossed Classes, Genders, and Generations

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