An American Success Story

Chan Pheng’s Mandarin Cuisine

l        Location: 1140 Mangrove Ave Ste E, Chico, CA 95926

l        Cuisine: Mandarin, Szechuan, Chinese-American cuisine

l        Capacity: 75

l        Offers: dine-in, take-out, delivery

l        Signature Dish: House Special Dry Braised Chicken, Chow Mein, Shrimp or Sauteed Chicken Breast with Hot Ginger and Garlic Sauce

l        Year of establishment: 1990

l        Phone: 530-894-6888

Owners Chanpheng and Cindy Siameng have a unique story to tell. In fact it's a success story of coming to America and making it in this hard boiled country. It's a story that president elect Obama would herald as proof of the beautiful opportunities this land has to offer. Interviewer Elise Krentzel spoke with their daughter Suing at length who is a student at Yale University School of Nursing and is fluent in English. She was eager to impart her experience as the daughter of two parents in the restaurant business.

The Story of the Owner

Chanpheng's Mandarin Cuisine was established in 1990 by this couple who emigrated from Laos and Thailand without speaking a word of English. Chanpheng has been cooking for most of his life as his family had a food business. The couple arrived in 1980 with one child who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. Two other children were born on American soil later on. The family including extended relatives all went to a community college in Chico to learn English. A hardship during the first year led them to collect welfare. Yet amazingly enough, on the second year they were earning enough to get off state support. By the third year they had bought their own home. Through hard work by the tenth year, they had their own business, and by this 28^th year since immigrating to the United States, Chanpheng and Cindy have extended their extraordinary work ethics to their children who are now a physician, a pediatric nurse practitioner, and a California fire fighter. Basically Chanpheng's philosophy was simple: work hard and work harder until you achieve success.

Location

Suing began by describing the area where the restaurant is located. The restaurant is located on a main business street in what is commonly called a plaza in California. There are no stores and it's not large. Some professional service businesses like doctors offices are in the plaza yet it is hard to find as it's in the back. The main signpost is a KFC across the street. The restaurant's signage is small and unlit most of the time. “Customers know us and hear about us through word of mouth.”

How was this location chosen we asked her.

“There's no rhyme or reason for this location.” she answered. “My parents took over this restaurant in 1990 from family friends who had another business here. There is only one big room for dining and nothing is separated.”

The mainly Mandarin and Szechwan styled dine-in facility seats 75 in a space of approximately 1,000 square feet. There's plenty of take-out and delivery she added. Since it's located pretty close to Cal State University lots of parties are given by students. Her mom and dad cater large dishes for such occasions. It's a casual family-friendly dining emporium yet couples do go on dates here.

Interior Design

We discussed the interior design and decor and how her parents set themselves apart from the competition. Suing laughed, “We change the colors and interior so often to keep it fresh that I can only say now it's yellow and blue. What about tomorrow, who knows?”

She explained that the walls are simple plaster yet two have wall-to-wall mirrors facing one another to give a sense of spaciousness. This was done on the advice of a Feng Shui expert who her parents consult from time to time. For example, the Siameng's were advised to change the direction of one of the doors as the front door had a straight line to the back door. That meant that money would fly out of the restaurant. So the door's direction was changed.

Traditional hand-painted wall hangings such as water lilies, fish or Chinese characters adorn the walls. The floors are done up in institutional carpeting for the dining room while the entrance or hallway has hard wood. The kitchen uses professional kitchen linoleum.

The tables are intimate, simple and small. Condiments such as salt and pepper without adornment sit atop the tables. On holidays such as Mother's Day, Christmas, Valentine's Day etc.  lots of fresh flowers adorning each table. Of course Chinese New Year is one of the biggest events. In December the windows are painted with scenes of skating or snowmen in white frost. The winter holidays are celebrated in a generic manner such as “Happy Holidays” or “Season's Greetings” without too much attention to religion. There is also signage for the other holidays.

Halogen lighting is used throughout the one and only dining room. Suing mentioned that it is a big energy saver, money wise. Dimmers are used on all the lights. She chuckled when mentioning the type of music played. From local pop radio to traditional Chinese instrumental. She said the radio goes on when her mom, who works front of the house, forgets to put in the CD due to too many customers.

She couldn't tell ARN about the Feng Shui meaning of having an open window to see the kitchen though. It takes up nearly one half of an entire wall so all customers have a great view of what's happening at the center of gravity.

The Cuisine

Chico, California Suing explained is predominately caucasian, “so my dad adjusted the taste to fit his audience meaning he cooks Mandarin and Szechwan in an Americanized style”.

“Yet he won't compromise on taste. That's why there is a distinct fresh garlic taste. That's a trademark of Chinese cuisine” she pointed out.

Their method of cooking is mixed although the focus is surely on steaming then quickly stir frying giving food that crispy touch. Some fried appetizers are also served. Her dad is a health conscious chef and uses olive oil and canola oil. What is truly unique here is the separate Healthy Dishes Menu. Some of the signature dishes include chopped garlic with sautéed spinach and steamed tofu cooked in olive oil or the mixed vegetable plate using corn or canola oil with sauce on the side. Suing admitted that their elder customers appreciated this menu especially as they were conscious of their weight, caloric and sodium intake.

Another feature is their use of white chicken meat. We learned that most restaurants according to Suing use dark chicken meat as it is cheaper. While the white chicken meat is not organic it is of good grade. On the progressive side of healthful eating, Chanpheng's serves up a fried rice using egg whites only and is now even considering adopting an egg white substitute. This dish is made with olive oil.

The signature dishes of the house are Special Dry Braised Chicken which is spicy and Shrimp with Hot Ginger and Garlic sauce which is rather savory and spicy with a real kick. Their customers enjoy a bit of spice and many of the dishes lean towards the savory side although sweet and sour all time favorites can be found on the menu. General Tso's Chicken and Chow Mein are other house specialities which are all best sellers.

The main ingredients used are soy sauce, sesame oil, canola oil, an abundance of garlic and ginger, hot chili oil, rice wine vinegar, black bean paste and sugar.  The drinks that are served include wine, beer (domestic and imported) and soda.

Service

The staff are all family members or related to the mom and pop operation. There are hardly any outsiders. So naturally there's an inborn trust amongst the clan. Suing's uncle acts as a second chef when it's very busy. Mom does all the training for the front of the room staff, ie: waiters and waitresses. It's hard to train family members says Suing and disciplining them is another story.

The dining room is clean and Suing's father takes pride in the fact that the open area kitchen is exhibiting just how clean the restaurant is. She used this example, “if they dropped a utensil on the floor they wouldn't reuse it.”

Many of the customers are family members. Each of Suing's parents has around 12 siblings, counting over fifty first cousins and countless other cousins. The restaurant is like one huge family. Of course there are non-family customers yet they too are treated like part of the family. 

Some customers even came to Suing's graduation. For years Mr. Siameng could prepare a meal for a customer without an order. He knows what they want.

Promotions

Very few promotions are done because the Siameng's advertise in the two local newspapers. One for the younger university students, the other a local paper. They do not offer coupons or discounts.