Written as a human interest feature story, this article was quickly promoted to the cover spot of regional weekly magazine Long Island Press after the first draft was reviewed, resulting in my being awarded more words and relatively free rein. A deeply personal piece that readers called “immensely powerful” and “moving,” this fair but stark portrayal of one of the area’s most invisible minorities and their lifestyle was actually very difficult to write, due to the closeness of the subject — but consequently is one of my best works.

Scenes from a Chinese Restaurant: Behind the Counter of an Accidental L.I. Icon

(End anecdotal introduction; begin excerpt …)

… He storms out, presumably to visit another takeout just one shopping center over. Because Chinese takeouts…they’re all pretty much the same on Long Island, right? So similar and virtually interchangeable, they’ve become as much a Long Island icon as pizza places and bagel shops. Entering one takeout is nearly like entering any other: through a shopping center parking lot, past the sign on the plaza directory simply labeled “CHINESE,” as though the restaurants barely warrant a name.

After all, growing up as one of many Chinese on Long Island, it’s an unspoken philosophy that sameness is embraced, a deduction made just by looking at restaurant décor and design. It’s safe, formulaic, and time-tested, proven to endure.

One of the last true mom-and-pops in this ever-franchising world, the Chinese of the takeout industry gather unto themselves, staying under the radar and making it no wonder that this sub-community, iconic to Long Island’s culture as it is, still remains an enigma—even generations after the first Chinese became American. It’s why, after many years, I still remember the names of many of our clients, but they have never known the family behind the counter of
their favorite takeout.

New Lease on Life
Behind the carefully placed façade of the restaurant storefront and the seemingly carbon-copied people, are the stories of different lives and different experiences… yet at the core, these stories are often much the same.

“It’s a hard life,” is the simple consensus of the many takeout owners I’ve known and spoken to throughout my years of interaction with people in the industry.

So why is it the life chosen by so many recent Chinese immigrants? …

(… End excerpt)

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