ABSTRACT
The opening first-minute sequence of the cooking show East Meets West shows Chef Ming Tsai, wearing a white martial arts robe, bowing, then immediately switching to playing tennis, flipping vegetables on a fiery wok, and then walking through a local Chinatown. In many ways, he was similar to as we were both raised in the Midwest and in Chinese American restaurants. Ming Tsai worked in his family-owned restaurant called Mandarin Kitchen and this is where, as a child, he learned about the in and out of running a Chinese restaurant. He then went on to graduate from Cornell University with a master’s degree in Hotel Administration and Hospitality Marketing. His first Chinese restaurant, Blue Ginger, opened in 1998 to much acclaim from patrons because of the East–West flavor combinations. One thing that has bothered in the literature about Chinese food is that it often leaves out the females and children who toil in the restaurant who are not paid.
