On this brisk Saturday afternoon in Chinatown, I'm having dim sum at Jing Fong with Chef Martin Yan and a few of his very dear friends from childhood, all of whom are in the restaurant business.
In New York to co-host the 100 Top Chinese Restaurants in the USA awards ceremony with Chef Lee Anne Wong at the Cultural Food Expo at the Jacob Javits Center tomorrow, he'll attend the banquet and then head to Kennedy airport to catch a night flight to Hong Kong.
Passion and his love to share are the simple ingredients that fuel his successful empire. This ambassador of Chinese cuisine, cooking, culture carved out some time in his busy schedule to discuss his latest projects - the Martin Yan's Culinary Arts Center in Shenzhen slated to open in mid-December, his PBS show, "Martin Yan's China" set to air at the end of January and the companion book of the same title.
What are you doing in Hong Kong?
I'm going to Hong Kong because I'm developing a platform for the Martin Yan's Culinary Arts Center in Shenzhen, China, to promote Chinese cuisine, cooking and culture which will open in mid-December, and has been in development for one year. Most of the people involved are all in the same business. We have cooking school founders, owners, chefs, television personalities, cooking teachers, restaurateurs, a lot of people are involved.
Has this been a dream of yours?
This is something I've wanted to do for 8 years, except I've never found the right place or right group of people who really shared the same vision and the same objective. Not only the vision but also passion.
Why Shenzhen?
Shenzhen is good because it is part of China. This is a cultural culinary experience. People from around the world will come to Shenzhen and learn, take classes for a few days, and the rest of time they will travel all over China.
What are your latest projects?
Our new show for PBS, "Martin Yan's China", begins airing at the end of January and there is a companion book as well. For the show, I traveled to 14 provinces, 35 cities, counties and villages in different parts of China. I came up with home chefs, master chefs for hotels and restaurants, and put them all together to give a very broad picture about how China's food is created, its origins, lifestyle and customs. Everything about Chinese food, regional Chinese food. This will be my 27th
year in television on PBS and my 28th cookbook.
What drives you?
Passion. Love and passion. Nobody in any profession would be successful unless he or she is passionate about what they are doing. And I am passionate about what I do. And just like Tiger Woods, he's doing it not because of money, not because of fame and fortune, but because he loves to do it. And a lot of people, like a musician, like an artist, they get involved not because it's more money, they don't need the money. I don't need the money. I'm into it not because of fame and fortune, but because of passion and my love to share. My goal is to promote Chinese culture and Chinese cuisine.
How did you get started?
There's a Chinese saying, - The right place, the right time, the right opportunity. This could happen to anybody in any profession. If you have the right opportunity, if you don't grab the opportunity, you don't take advantage of the opportunity, it doesn't make any sense.
In 1979, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I've been very fortunate. I've been doing this for so long, it makes it very exciting. I think the idea is that 45 years ago, there were very few cooking shows on television. During that time, Nixon, Ping Pong Diplomacy, I was in school. I told my friends, "Hey, I was watching Julia Child, and I hope I would one day be on television too."
A couple of years later I had the opportunity to open a restaurant for a friend in Canada, in Alberta. Then I was invited to a local television program. It happened they liked the way I do things, so I did 130 shows. Since 1979, I've done 2700 cooking shows worldwide. Probably more than anybody else on earth.
When did you first come to North America?
I came to the U.S. when I was 19 to go to school at the University of California in Davis. I studied food science. All these years, my background is about food, cooking, everything is about food and cooking.
What did your parents do?
Before I was born, my father had a restaurant in China. My mother ran a grocery store. When I was growing up, I had a pretty good understanding about Chinese food, Chinese cuisine and Chinese ingredients.
How do your parents feel about what you do?
I never told my mom I was a cook. I always tell them I have a degree in nutrition. A lot of Chinese families never really encourage their children to get into the cooking profession-long hours, hard work. They don't think it is a very honorable profession. Even today. But in the Western world, there are a lot of chefs and cooks that are good, and also celebrities. A lot of them are doing much better than college professors these days. It doesn't mean I'm doing better than anybody else. When you are passionate about what you do, you're good at what you're doing, success will come, and money will come, wealth will come. I've been doing a lot of lectures all over the world- at universities and cooking schools. I always tell them, be passionate. Get into something you're passionate about. Follow your instinct. Follow your heart. The most important thing is you love what you do.
Let's talk about the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA
A lot of Chinese restaurants have been getting a bad rap the last few years. Like recently in New York, "Oh, they’re serving rats!" That's ridiculous. Recently some of the radio stations in New York said some of the Chinese restaurants are serving rats. Sometimes it has to do a lot with ignorance. A lot to do with education. For example, they served some Chinese pressed duck and the customer doesn't know what it is. Most of the waiters aren't educated enough to communicate with them. So they don't know what it is. And they look at it and say it looks like this, it looks like that. They dream it up. Probably as a joke. They don't intend to do it. Somehow it hurts the Chinese restaurants. So the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA exists to educate the people, and let all of the Chinese restaurants share strategies and knowledge about Chinese cuisine and how to promote it. It is an attempt to really show people how Chinese restaurateurs can be united and put all the resources together to promote Chinese food and Chinese culture.
How long have you been involved?
This is my fourth year. I feel it is a mission and a responsibility for people like us to contribute something to the profession. I feel very fortunate to be Chinese and Asian, and to have the opportunity to be in the mainstream media for many years. It's still going strong as I continue to do new shows and new books. I have more friends that are participating in what I do and believing in what I do. I feel very fortunate that I have such a group of friends that share the same vision.
What does your travel schedule look like?
I'll be in Hong Kong for 3 days. I have a group of chefs currently on a gourmet tour. I'll go and teach a cooking class for about 60 people. Then I'll come back and go to Charlotte and Kansas City. I'm on a tour to promote Chinese food and Chinese culture. I'm constantly on the move. I travel about 255 days a year. And then it will be time for the new show and the new book and promoting them on The Today Show and the other talk shows.
What do you think tomorrow is going to be like?
Every day is an exciting day. Every day is different; to me it is a challenge. My goal-if I can do something I feel is meaningful, not only professional success, it is a personal success. If I can make a few people understand more about Chinese food, Asian food, Asian culture. To me, that is mission accomplished. Personally, if I can make one person happy, that day to me is a very good day. If I can make millions of people (and I do reach millions of people), if I can make millions of people
happy and smile, that is a great day. To me, every day is a great day.
