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Georgia has Chang on its mind

by Dave McNair
published 2:38pm Monday Mar 29, 2010
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cover-chang-frying0912Media reports had Georgia foodies reclaiming Chang, but it was not to be.
PHOTO BY JEN FARIELLO

It seems that chef Peter Chang, the subject of the Hook’s March 25 cover story, can’t even go on a vacation without foodies getting into a tizzy. On Friday, March 26 an Atlanta food magazine boasted that Chang had returned to a restaurant called Tasty China in Marietta, whose owner reportedly planned to open a restaurant together in the area. But by Sunday, March 28, the magazine decided to retract the announcement and apologize to Changians who had flocked to the restaurant over the weekend.

“If you were one of the many who ate at Tasty China over the weekend,” writes Tom Maicon, “it’s highly unlikely your food was prepared by Chang.”

Indeed, according to Chang’s friend and consultant Gen Lee, while Chang and his wife were vacationing in Georgia, the chef agreed to cook for a special function at the restaurant. Suddenly, word spread that he had moved back to Georgia.

In fact, Lee says that food writers from as far away as New York traveled down there when they heard the news.

“He’s starting to be very uncomfortable with people chasing him,” says Lee.

Lee says Chang is returning to Charlottesville this week to continue working on his plans to develop a Peter Chang-themed restaurant somewhere in the greater Charlottesville area.

10 comments

  • Tim Brown March 29th, 2010 | 3:19 pm

    People have lost they damn minds

  • confused March 29th, 2010 | 3:28 pm

    I bet the people who thought they ate Chang’s food raved about it to their friends.

  • Hoolarious March 29th, 2010 | 3:54 pm

    I bet someone files a lawsuit against the restaurant.

  • log March 29th, 2010 | 4:18 pm

    What say we all chip in and get Mr. Chang one of these:
    http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/child-locators-personal-gps-tracking-device.html

  • Voted wrong in 2008 March 29th, 2010 | 6:10 pm

    I am so sick of this. I thought it was OK food. It certainly isn’t worth talking about anymore, Atlanta can have him or he can go back to China for all I care.

  • Austro March 30th, 2010 | 11:29 pm

    Can his cooking really be that much better than a lunch combo at Asian Express? Hit me with that chicken and broccoli combo with an orange drink and I’m good. Tank You…bye-bye.

  • Cripsy Duck March 31st, 2010 | 10:02 am

    Yes, oh my yes, it’s the best Chinese food I’ve ever tasted. Scratch that, it’s the ONLY Chinese food I’ve ever tasted. Everything else seems like kind of a joke now. They make ordinary American-style Chinese food, too, so you can always get the same old same old.

    They’re still making a bunch of his dishes at Taste of China. If you can take the heat, try the eggplant or the crispy beef with scallions. Both have that ma la thing (slight numbing of the mouth - really cool and incredibly delicious). Unfortunately, after his departure, the famous scallion pancakes were coming out looking half-inflated. Chef Chang would not approve.

  • WBF March 31st, 2010 | 11:23 am

    Here’s some press release that began Tom S.’s WashPo food chat:

    Tom Sietsema: GET READY FOR FIVE-SPICE CHICKEN, CURRY SHRIMP IN BANANA leaves, sushi — and a major scene. The highly-anticipated Buddha Bar (455 Massachusetts Ave. NW) is expected to open May 3, announces a licensee of the famous Paris-based concept, Eran Gorev.

    Heading up the pan-Asian kitchen will be Chul Kee Ko, 38. He’s a Korean native who comes to Washington from the modern Japanese TEN in Charlottesville but has also cooked at the four-star Jean-George in New York.

    In search of a “star,” says Gorev, he and his business partners in the Potomac-based Washington Restaurants “went out and dined in, gosh, easily 30 or so different restaurants here and on the West Coast,” including San Francisco and Vancouver.

    When they encountered Ko in Virginia, the chef impressed the group both with his food and his story. The son of parents who both owned restaurants in Korea, Ko told them he “woke up smelling spices” and began cooking at age 14. In 1994, he moved to Vancouver to study English and hone his culinary skills.

  • Yongxin Tang March 31st, 2010 | 3:01 pm

    Crispy Duck don’t even know what real Chinese food taste like. You hillbilly who take one luscious dump in bowl and serve to others.

  • Jim March 31st, 2010 | 5:27 pm

    ^^^^

    Please do not moderate.

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