Foreboding Future for Chinese Restaurateurs

You know how Hispanic cooks have been replacing Italians in a lot of pizza joints? The same fate could be in store for the city’s Chinese restaurants, as the booming Chinese economy now gives chefs little incentive to take work in a declining America. Many area restaurant owners
are distressed by the trend and blame it on the fact that executive chefs’ salaries in China are matching or even surpassing the U.S. pay grade.

Salaries for chefs in China have risen 30% in the past five years, with a lower cost of living. And it’s not just the feeble dollar that’s at fault, but post-9/11 immigration restrictions as well. According to Michael Tong, owner of the Shun Lee restaurants in Manhattan, it can take as long as a decade for chefs to get a green card in some cases.

According to the Daily News, the shortage also speaks to the familiar dynamics of immigration, as the younger generation that grew up in their parents’ restaurants (or stores) pursue careers in law and medicine. Tim Zagat also points out that until the 80s Chinese food was still the dominant Asian food option in America; now there’s competition from Thai, Malaysian and Vietnamese cuisines.

Chinese restaurateurs are starting to feel the pinch and Peter Xie, manager of the Peking Hunan Park on Park Avenue, seems resigned to the inevitable: “Maybe we should start to train unskilled new immigrants.” General Tso’s Chicken Quesadilla, anyone?

Photo by Benzadrine.

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By John Del Signore in Food on January 8, 2008 3:39 PM

Comments [rss]

brucet

FYI proper term is Latino Chino

foodinmouth

HughGass, they are. I call them Chexican places. Is that un-pc? Not too many places in the world where you can get beef and broccoli + tacos.

The other question to ask is, uh, why not just train new people? What is the big deal about importing chefs from China? Last I recall, Chinese restaurants here in the states are not at the forefront of innovation. It's not iron chef, it is beef and broccoli. And at shun lee, that beef and broc will cost you $16 bucks or something ridiculous, so I guess that money is going towards paying their exec chef.

HughGass

i thought chinese people were opening tex-mex taco places .... like Happy Taco.

Loopus

My favourite ramen joint, Rai Rai Ken in LES has a whole crew of hispanics doling out the ramen with spanish radio blasting out in the background...kinda funny...occasionally a couple of asian dudes will show up to work also but mainly hispanics when I've eaten there. And it doesn;t matter one bit...ramen still kicks ass...who cares where the chef comes from as long as he knows what he's doing...

Bourdain in his kitchen confidential book talks about this too...the lifeblood of NYC restaurants these days is the hispanic sous chef...doesn;t matter what the cuisine is...and the crews of hispanic/latino chefs in the most well known places are some of the best chefs/hardest working dudes in the city...more power to them I say!!

Snoopy

Not funny. Big probrem with ross of chefs. Not get good food from Mexican imitating Chinese worker. Same dark hair but not be confuse. Srip many menus under door.

Spear_Chucker

I've had been waited on by hispanics in many Chinese restaurants. And this trend is not limited to restaurants. In Chinatown, many of the wholesalers employ hispanic laborers who blast spanish music. It's funny watching them cat call or whistle at Chinese ladies, many of whom are taller than their admirers.

tien

i would say that the chinese people opening japanese restaurants could have to do with the fact that there are less japanese people here. but i really think it's because there's no margin in chinese food. think about it - when you think chinese food, you usually think cheap. when you think japanese food, you're usually willing to pay much more.

matty

The chinese food in china is terrible. NYC and SF have by far the best chinese food.

Gothamist_Cynic

No wonder the quality of Asian food in NYC is on a decline.

djwerdna

About 15-20 years ago, many Japanese restaurants, particularly sushi places, are opened by Chinese people from Taiwan. Not too sure of the reason behind this, but I suspect it was because of the lingering Japanese influence in Taiwan after they surrendered Taiwan around 1945.

Jen, I've had a discussion with my friends also. Low-income in the US is still better than being a peasant or factory worker in China. A lot of people from China open restaurants here and send money back to China or save to go back to China and live like emperors when/if they go back.

Jen Chung

I was just talking about this with someone - whether people wanted to immigrate from China to the US to work in the restaurant industry, given China's boom. I think it depends on the chef's skill level at this point. For now, I still think there will be many Chinese immigrants (from villages) who will flock to the U.S. to be servers or deliverymen, because the money, as little as it is here, can go a long way in China.

Peter

Something similar already's happened with Japanese restaurants. There hasn't been much immigration from Japan in many years, and as a result the chefs and other staff members in most Japanese restaurants (except those at the very high end) are predominately Chinese.