Chandavkl's Menuism Blog

Referring to a restaurant as a hole-in-the-wall may bring a mixed message.  While it often is associated with surprisingly good food, it also often carries a connotation of the premises being dingy and less than high class.  And indeed, the latter is likely the case when used in the description of a Chinese restaurant, particularly since so many Chinese restaurants have been family operated basis, historically operated on a shoestring, with no available budget for ambiance.   But indeed, the times one again seem to be changing, as there is a growing parade of good hole-in-the-wall restaurants that are bright and cheery, and which ups the enjoyment. The catalyst appears to be the muralization of restaurant walls in Mainland China, which has particularly spread to in the past couple of years led to newly opened and refurbished small Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley and other parts of Los Angeles, and which presumably is also occurring in the rest of the Un...

Nowadays we take it for granted that May is Asian Pacific Heritage Month in the United States.  Netflix and all the television streaming services have their special selection of Asian American programming, and reminders of the celebratory nature of the month are everywhere.  But in the beginning, there was only an Asian Pacific American Heritage WEEK, and since this was a new event that nobody had ever heard of, I was grabbed to give the keynote speech at the very first commemoration of the occasion in Los Angeles Chinatown at the Golden Dragon Restaurant on August 9, 1979.   Recently, I found my hand drafted copy of my speech (this before home computers were invented and years before anybody would hear of the Internet (which used to be capitalized)).  So I thought this would be a good time to add that presentation to today's internet.     It’s a pleasure being part of this gathering commemorating Asian Pacific American Heritage Week.   I though...

 Based on presentation to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.   I am David R. Chan and it’s a pleasure being back to give another monthly presentation to the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.    Now if you don’t remember my last presentation I don’t mind, since that was in 1980 when I gave an in-person presentation at the Castelar Street school meeting room entitled “A Post Card View of Chinatown,” showing old historic postcards of Los Angeles and other Chinatowns.      I am one of the charter members of CHSSC from 1975, in fact member number 8, previously served on the society’s the Society Board of Directors.   Also for several years I represented CHSSC in numerous public appearances on historical and contemporary aspects of Chinese Americans, including on CBS 2 television, then known as KNXT.     I also gave the keynote speech at the very first Asian Pacific American Heritage Week commemorati...