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His seemingly boundless energy is the
driving force behind Chang’s restaurant empire — which is growing in both scope and
culinary world recognition.
Earlier this year, Chang was one of just five
chefs across the U.S. to be named a finalist
for the James Beard award in the category of
“outstanding chef.” He beat out the likes of
Baltimore chef Cindy Wolf, who was named a
semifinalist but not a finalist.
Chang, who is originally from Wuhan, China, moved to the U.S. with his wife, a pastry
chef named Lisa, two decades ago as a chef
for the Chinese embassy. He later branched
out to work at various restaurants, laboring in relative anonymity in the kitchens of
restaurants with names like China Star and
TemptAsian, according to a 2010 New Yorker
profile. Through Chen, he said, his lack of
English made it hard to know whether customers liked the food or not.
Over time, he acquired a coterie of hyperfans who began seeking out the intense
Sichuan flavors that stood out in his cooking.
The New Yorker profile dubbed his followers
“Changians,” who tracked his whereabouts
obsessively as he moved from restaurant
to restaurant. He also found audiences in
Chinese expatriates to the United States
Flames lick the iron wok while Chang prepares a
dish at his Bethesda restaurant.
who were craving authentic flavors of their
homeland.
Today, his presence is felt across his
growing restaurant group, which includes
concepts in Maryland, Virginia and Connecticut. This fall, he’ll open a 10th location
of his eponymous restaurant, Peter Chang, in
Columbia, in the Merriweather District.
The restaurant was actually planned as
early as 2018, but its opening was pushed
back during the pandemic. On the menu
will be the spicy, intense Sichuan specialties
that have become Chang’s signature, along
with an upgraded bar program designed to
complement the food.
When asked if he could have ever imagined achieving this level of success when
he first left China two decades ago, Chang
smiled and shakes his head.
“Chinese cuisine is still a pretty minor
type of food in the United States,” Chang said
through a translator, friend and business
partner Lawrence Chen. Though Chang has
won many awards in his homeland of China,
the Beard is a new level of recognition for
him, one that signifies his impact in getting
American diners to understand the nuances
of Chinese cuisine.
People in the West tend to “undervalue
Chinese food while finding it delicious,”
said Fuchsia Dunlop, a London-based cook
and food-writer who specializes in Chinese
cuisine. Aspects of Chinese cooking like wok
cookery might seem simple to Americans,
but in fact require deep focus and skill.
“It’s about time that the gastronomic establishment in the West gave Chinese cuisine
its due,” she said. Dunlop, who has eaten at
Chang’s restaurant, Mama Chang, in Virginia,
hopes that Chang’s Beard nomination “opens
a path for greater recognition in the West,
not just of the tastiness of Chinese cuisine,
but its sophistication as an artform.”
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