00:00:00|00:00:07| BRODY OK. I'm restarting the recording now, and I want to go back and
talk a little bit more about your family's involvement in the Chinese Community
Center. Can you tell me, sort of, what were some of the events or celebrations
that that would have happened there?
|00:00:29| KAO Well, my mother actualIy was on the Board of Directors until she
passed on. And so she's very involved in all the activities. Of course, we all
love Chinese New Year. And my mom always made sure, on Chinese New Year Day,
prepare red envelope for all the children that come to the Center. And she
00:01:00would personally give them red envelope, for good luck, to every one of them. And
she's a very spirited person and loves, loved, a good party.
|00:01:35| BRODY That's great. Were there celebrations, speaking of Chinese New
Year, were there celebrations like that at the restaurant as well?
|00:01:47| KAO Well, believe it or not, we had been talking about it, but we
never did it. Because we are just so busy. Yeah.
|00:01:56| BRODY Right. Earlier, you mentioned some of the notable celebrities
00:02:00and whatnot that went to the restaurant. And you mentioned a man who recognized
your dad from the Korean War. Can you talk a little bit more about that?
|00:02:15| KAO Yeah, he was. I always remember him fondly and Colonel Menkin and
he lived in Duncanville back then and he would come regularly to the restaurant.
And always had the best conversation with my dad. And another group that my
father was very proud of and felt very honored to be part of it was the "Flying
00:03:00Tigers." You know, "Flying Tigers" was the, they're the pilots organized by
General Chennault during WWII to fight the Japanese. And surprisingly, there
were quite a few survivors living in the DFW area. So, I remember way back then,
they would come once a week, once a month, for a luncheon get-together. And my
father was always looking forward to seeing them.
00:04:00
|00:04:05| BRODY So they had a reunion once a month at the Royal China?
|00:04:11| KAO Right. And, obviously, over the years, the number was smaller,
and unfortunately, they all passed on.
|00:04:28| BRODY It is too bad. I'm sorry to hear that. What are the
best-sellers at the restaurant over the years.
|00:04:37| KAO Well. I would say General's Chicken. And Dry-Stirred Beef. I
remember for a long time, the Moo Shu Pork. And of course, up to now, people
00:05:00still say, Moo Goo Gai Pan.
|00:05:13| BRODY A lot of some of those are. Unique to Royal China, like the Dry
Stirred Beef, and some are things that you see on a lot of Chinese menus you
know, around the world. That makes me think of this question of the role of a
menu. What, what is when you're running a restaurant, especially a restaurant
that's primary clientele are people who are not part of that tradition, what,
what's important to think about when you're devising the menu and deciding you
know what you're going to serve?
|00:05:56| KAO Well, I think we're always trying to entice and we'll always have
00:06:00some comfort food. And some inspire. So we always want to have a fairly broad,
different meats. We also have to sort of understand the trends. For instance,
"gluten free" or vegetarian, low sodium. Since we are not cooking by formula,
everything is fresh, fresh ingredients. And so, you know, sometime my daughter
00:07:00was helping out, and she said "Oh my God! Somebody ordered Chicken Chow Mein, or
Chicken Lo Mein with no chicken, no vegetables!" She said, "Why can't they just
say 'We want plain noodles?'" So, we can customize everything. So as I said, we
want them to entice, inspire, explore. And also finding comfort and enjoy eating.
00:08:00
|00:08:02| BRODY That's a great answer. When we're talking about restaurants, a
lot of times there's a debate about what is "authentic." Where do you stand on
that question?
|00:08:18| KAO Well, I'm a very big foodie. So, I have a lot of respect for
food. And while I'm not expert or a connoisseur in every cuisine, I feel, if it's
pleasing to your palate, you enjoy it, and if it's from that country, or a
deviation, or a fusion, why not? You know, especially nowadays, there's so many
00:09:00fusion. You know, like Peru, fusion of Japanese, Latin American. India- there's
the Chinese and Indian food. So, who can say, "That's not authentic?" It's
authentic for some people. It may not be you, but we have to respect that.
|00:09:45| BRODY Thank you so much for that. Is there anything that I didn't ask
that I should have or anything that you'd like to say?
|00:09:59| KAO You know, my family has been here for almost 50 years and is tied
00:10:00to Royal China, and I don't know. There's so much wonderful memories. And Royal
China, and Dallas has given us so much that you know, it's like a Giving Tree,
just keep on giving. We feel very blessed, and I can't think of anything
particular. We are just so thankful.
|00:10:58| BRODY Well, thank you so much for sharing your memories and for
00:11:00helping to put the story of Royal China into the record. I appreciate it.
|00:11:09| KAO Thank you for having us.
