I'm Francis Lamb and this is The Splendid Table from APM.

Hey, it's Francis. You know, for years, I've been wanting to do a whole series of shows on

Chinese food in America because there's so much history, there's so many stories, so many dishes,

and so many characters to talk about. This episode would have fallen into that series.

It's a whole show with Grace Young, one of our greatest Chinese cookbook authors and food writers. And we talked about her

passion for walk cooking and got tips from her on it, but what actually brought us together

was something we could have never planned for, right? We talked last year in the middle of the

pandemic about the

existential crisis facing Chinatowns and Chinese restaurants across the country. And, you know,

we talked mostly about Chinatown and Manhattan, New York City, where we both have a deep connection.

But what played out there during COVID has played out anywhere.

There are Chinese small businesses in our country.

So it's a subject very near and dear to our hearts.

Thanks for listening.

I am so excited for this show because we have Grace Young-A.

She's a Chinese culinary historian,

and I've wanted to have her on for a long time. That's because she's someone I've been reading

for decades. You know, when I first came out to culinary school, my head was full of French

cooking techniques and terminology. And you know, the official line of the school was they taught everything through the French model

because, you know, you can learn all the cuisines of the world through French ideas.

And, you know, I bought it.

But not long after I graduated, Grace released a cookbook called The Breath of a Walk.

...