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Susanna Foo Chinese
Cuisine, Philadelphia
Susanna Foo Gourmet Kitchen, Radnor
Cooking has always been a family affair for Susanna
Foo. Born in
Inner Mongolia, China and raised in Taipei, Taiwan, Foo
became
well acquainted with the spices, grains, and produce indigenous
to
the region. She has fond memories of learning to wrap dumplings
with
her grandmother, and owes her mother-in-law and cousin for
teaching
her about Hunan style cuisine and Chinese Northern-style
pasta making.
Although Chef Foo has always had a
passion for food, when she
came to the United States in 1967 it was
to pursue a degree in library
science at the University of Pittsburgh,
not a career in the culinary arts.
But fate had its way and in 1979,
she and her husband, E-Hsin, moved
to Philadelphia to join his family's
business. Together they opened the
Foo’s family restaurant,
Hu-Nan in Center City, Philadelphia.
While cooking at Hu-Nan, Foo met her
mentor and teacher, the late
Jacob Rosenthal, founder of the Culinary
Institute of America. Rosenthal
admired
Susanna's unique cooking style and encouraged her to take
a course
at the CIA. She quickly mastered French techniques and by
1987,
the Foos had opened their own Center City Philadelphia
restaurant,
Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine.
Foo's blend of fresh, seasonal ingredients,
classical culinary techniques
and authentic Chinese cooking quickly
captured the attention of the
culinary world. She has authored two
cookbooks that have received
critical acclaim, and has been honored
with dozens of culinary awards,
including being named to the first
group of Food & Wine Magazine’s
“10
Best New Chefs,” the coveted Robert Mondavi Culinary Award
of
Excellence in 1999, and two James Beard awards.
In 2003, Foo opened her second restaurant,
Suilan by Susanna Foo,
in the billion-dollar Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa
in Atlantic City. Suilan,
named for Susanna’s full Chinese
name, offers both her French-
nfluenced dishes and a menu written
in Chinese. In November of that
year, Esquire magazine named Suilan
one of the country's best new
restaurants.
In the Fall of 2006, Susanna Foo Gourmet
Kitchen opened in Radnor,
Pennsylvania. The farm-fresh, family-friendly
cuisine is inspired by the
simple, flavorful dishes reminiscent of
the Chinese dumpling houses
Susanna loved to eat in when she was
growing up in the Northern
Chinese province of Shaanxi.
Now, nearly two decades after launching
her culinary career, Chef Foo
is regarded as one of the country’s
top Chinese chefs. Every year, she
returns to her homeland,
spending time in Inner Mongolia, Shanghai,
and Taiwan with the friends
and family who were integral in her culinary
education. |
Stop
in or call to
purchase your
personalized copy
of Susanna's award
winning cookbook.
Food
Arts Presents
the July/August
2006 Silver Spoon
Award for Sterling
Performance to
Susanna Foo.
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