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"It felt like someone snatched these rose-tinted glasses from me, and I'm seeing everything in full HD now," Salim says. "It really changed me, man. It was something that I just needed to express in some way, shape, or form." There's a new video game out this week and it hails from a new addition to the "Game of Thrones" family, Abubakar Salim. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks.
The Family Behind Chinatown’s Iconic House of Nanking Is SF’s Latest Food Network Star
The sesame chicken was fine, with lightly breaded pieces of white and dark meat, and the sweet potatoes that accompanied them were definitely the hit of the evening for all of us. They were beautifully caramelized from the sesame sauce, and there were plenty for me to take a turn and share. However, the restaurant is, without questions, a San Francisco experience. It’s one of those restaurants that once-a-year visitors look forward to, reveling in the sometimes abrupt treatment received from the wait staff. Whether you are a staunch foodie—someone who lives to eat—or an everyday Joe or Jane who simply eats to live (no disrespect intended), everyone knows that San Francisco is an incredible gastronomic playground for the palate.
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They came up with the name House of Nanking by honoring Lily’s dad who is from Nanking, China. Peter helped scout the location and coordinated the blessing for the two to start their own business, so it felt appropriate to name it after their hometown. Although the restaurant is called House of Nanking, the cuisine served is not from that region, but is rather authentic Shanghainese home cooking. However, shortly upon opening Peter began to put his own creative spin on traditional Chinese fare making dishes that were pleasantly new. As a self-proclaimed geek with a deep love for this kind of genre title, he likens it to walking into Disneyland.
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He's wary of talking about his House of the Dragon character. "It is weird because I always said if I was going to ever have the chance to tell a story that I have control over, I really want to make it big." Abubakar Salim is still dealing with the fact that his life right now is a fantasy come true.
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The wok/burner faced the front windows which made it fun for customers waiting in line to watch the flames from Peter’s wok, but ultimately the space was too small to accommodate the crowds. Chef Peter Fang opened the now iconic House of Nanking in 1988 with a modest short order counter, limited seating and, soon after, lines down San Francisco’s Kearny Street that never dissipated. The restaurant caused a sensation upon opening with rave reviews that later allowed for Chef Peter to expand the restaurant’s footprint. Over the past 30 years, House of Nanking has become a landmark dining destination for locals, travelers and celebrities alike. "I know this trajectory that my character goes through, so it's really exciting to know the end goal," he says. "It's almost like, as an actor, reading a play because you know how it ends and you have fun with the journey of how you get to where you want to get to. I'm really enjoying that."
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Chef Kathy Fang never set out to star in a reality TV show, let alone one centered around the intricacies of running her family’s popular restaurants House of Nanking and Fang. If anything, she says, she was a fan of early food TV shows, made in the “stand and stir” format of Giada at Home with chef Giada De Laurentiis, for instance. But when she pitched a show like that to TV producers, they told her that wasn’t the hot format anymore. So Fang wound up doing the circuit, becoming a two-time Chopped winner, along with making a number of appearances on Beat Bobby Flay, Guy’s Grocery Games, and Alex vs. America. In between, producers approached her about doing other reality shows, but nothing panned out.
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No matter what type of food you have a hankering for, you will find it here – in spades. But when it comes to authentic Shanghainese cooking, people drive from all over the state to dine at the House of Nanking. Chef Kathy Fang grew up in the kitchen of House of Nanking where she discovered her own passion for cooking. She has emerged from her renowned culinary heritage to blaze her own trail in the industry. After receiving her formal training at the esteemed Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School, Kathy went on to open Fang restaurant with her father in the SoMa district of San Francisco in 2009.Looking to order from House of Nanking? Salim's father was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer when the actor was in his late teens, just as he was entering drama school.
They started out in the restaurant industry working in various restaurants as servers to make ends meet. Before Peter immigrated to the U.S., he had a passion for cooking and would spend hours watching chefs cook at his favorite food stalls mesmerized by their methods of preparing simple and delicious comfort food. Cooking and entertaining back at home in Shanghai were some of his most fond memories, and he wanted to recreate that feeling by opening his own restaurant one day. Chef Peter Fang’s cooking started to evolve when he began experimenting with traditional dishes and fusing them with local ingredients that he loved.
The action you just performed triggered the security solution. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Well, believe him on the “good,” but I’m not so sure about the local part. While standing in line to get into House of Nanking, everyone appeared to be a visitor, and all of them had heard about it from a touristy-source—a cab driver, hotel concierge, online recommendation. The locals know better than to stand in line, or at least know enough not to stand outside in the January chill.
The food is Hunan style, with a little heat and a nice presentation. The hot tea was a flowering jasmine variety complete with the bloom left in the bottom of the large, glass cup, ready to remind you of all its herbal and antioxidant health benefits. Steamed rice was available on the side, but, interestingly, chop sticks were not readily available—lending credence to the idea of this being a place more suited to the tourists than to the authentic locals in the heart of Chinatown. House of Nanking has been open for over three decades now and Peter and Lily still run the business as husband and wife with the addition of their daughter, Chef Kathy Fang.
After spending close to 15 years in the House of Nanking kitchen, as a child and teenager in between school, Kathy naturally developed a passion for her family’s business and most importantly, for cooking. She now helps manage the restaurant while her mother Lily at the age of 71 still works every single day. Peter now splits his time between running House of Nanking and Fang, the sister restaurant he opened in San Francisco with Kathy in 2009 who serves as Executive Chef. Together they moved from Shanghai to San Francisco in 1980 with little money and knowing minimal English.
If you’re looking for another legendary restaurant in San Francisco, be sure to head on over to Tadich Grill. If so, we’d love to see your photos and hear about your experience there. You can also see more delicious food pics on their Facebook page. In 1997, Peter and Lily expanded the restaurant moving the kitchen to the back and added 25 more seats to meet the high demand. Before the kitchen was in the front of the restaurant and made of glass -- it still is today.
Just put yourself it their hands and let them order for you. It started, as many good restaurant recommendations do, with advice from a taxi driver. But for those who are weary of handing over control and want to do the picking themselves, we are happy to recommend a few must haves. Below are a few of our most popular dishes, ranging from old school hits (30 years and counting) to new heavy hitters.
Kathy has followed in the footsteps of her father and has become a notable chef in her own right, appearing on various television shows and won the title of Chopped Champion twice on the Food Network. Peter also hired more employees and a sous chef to help him crank out more dishes. To this day, we are the same size as we were when we expanded and have maintained lines outside of the restaurant for over 30 years, which is really incredible in a city where restaurant competition is notoriously high.
Restaurants close faster than they can open, and yet new ones pop up relentlessly, constantly challenging the old places that have been holding on since the beginning. Thankfully, the restaurant seats you family style; the other group at my table had been successful in ordering their noodles, and, with amusement, offered to share. The noodles were, indeed, worth ordering, with full garlic flavor and just the right texture.
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