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The restaurant was a hit with the Hollywood in-crowd, charmed by Sylvia's impeccable manners and discreet, reverential treatment of them. The Past, Present, and Future of Chinatown’s Changing Culinary Landscape 'We sold out the first night and people were lined up outside for six months.' 'That letter really brought the customers,' Sylvia recalled. 'In the beginning, the chef did all the buying because I didn't even know how.' A friend, who was president of NBC, helped her write a letter promoting the opening, which she sent to the membership of her church and her daughter's exclusive school.

'We had two cooks, two waiters and a dishwasher,' Sylvia said. The intimate space seated fewer than 50 people. In 1959, Wu's Garden opened at 2628 Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. At least we have common sense, a cultured background and education. 'My husband was worried,' she said, 'but I told him 'Look, most people who open a Chinese restaurant are waiters with no common sense. He made no objections, thinking I wasn't serious, so I drove around and found a location in West Los Angeles.' When King realized she meant business, he tried to talk her out of it. One day I told King I wanted to open a Chinese restaurant. 'When the children were in their teens and didn't need me much, I began to think about getting a job, but it was impossible because my English was so poor. 'I liked the climate but was lonely here,' she explained. This was preferable to the Chinese restaurants in New York, which often 'left her disappointed.' She was appalled by the manner of the waiters and the heavy faux-Cantonese dishes.īy 1959, the Wus were living in Los Angeles.

Eventually, Sylvia began to cook more herself and claimed she could prepare a full Chinese dinner for her family in under an hour. A personal chef, provided by her mother-in-law, assisted her. Sylvia settled into the role of sophisticated housewife and hostess. They were soon married and had three children, who she touchingly referred to as her 'good friends.' While perusing an education degree at Columbia University, she became reacquainted with King Yan Wu, a successful engineer from a distinguished Chinese family (both his father and grandfather served as China's ambassador to the U.S.). The trip took 40 days from Bombay, and because of the war there was a blackout all the way'. 'I don't know how I had the courage,' Sylvia recalled. He said she could come along, as long as she agreed to go to college there. A friend in India was about to join his wife in the U.S.

A free flight to Calcutta resulted in an offer that would change Sylvia's life.

As she wrote in her book Cooking with Madame Wu, she learned that 'eating well balanced meals containing selected herbs and spices would improve health, beauty, sexual vitality and longevity.'Īfter her beloved grandfather's death and the outbreak of World War II, Sylvia and her extended family moved to Shanghai and then to Hong Kong.

I was brought up in the traditional fashion, learning respect and good manners.' When not away at boarding school, mooning over photos of Cary Grant, she would spend many hours covertly watching her grandfather's servants preparing delicious delicacies in the off-limits kitchen. 'He was good to me,' she said, '.showering me with gifts and special treats, but he was also wise and taught me discipline. Sylvia was raised by her grandfather, who owned a bank and a department store. Sylvia Cheng was born into a wealthy, cultured family in Jiujiang, China in 1915. One of the dearest, sweetest, most elegant women I've ever known.' - Merv Griffin (USA Today, Jan 29, 1998, Closing time at Madame Wu's)

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