Cecilia Chiang, grand dame of Chinese cooking in America, dies at 100

Cecilia Chiang, the elegant San Francisco restaurateur who introduced generations of Americans to the authentic provincial cooking of her native country, earning the title the “Julia Child of Chinese food,” died Oct. 28 at her home in San Francisco. She was 100.

A granddaughter, Siena Chiang, confirmed her death. She did not cite a specific cause but said it was not related to the novel coronavirus.

The seventh daughter in an elite family in Beijing, Chiang was a child of privilege, living in a 52room mansion with servants and cooks. Her upbringing could not have prepared her for the hardships ahead: a 1,000-mile journey across China to avoid Japanese invaders; a hasty flight off the mainland during the Communist revolution; and an unlikely entry into the hospitality business, first in Tokyo and later in San Francisco, with no experience running restaurants.

Her son, Philip, would later co-found one of the most recognizable names in Chinese dining, P. F. Chang’s.

Chiang established herself as owner at the Mandarin in San Francisco. From 1961 to 1991, at two incarnations of the restaurant, she greeted customers and watched over every detail of the establishment that redefined Chinese cuisine for many Western diners, chefs and celebrities.

Under her guidance, the Mandarin rejected the orthodoxy of Chinese restaurants in mid-20th- century America: It didn’t serve chop suey or watereddown Cantonese dishes. It wasn’t located in Chinatown, and it didn’t deal in cultural stereotypes. ( No red, no gold, no dragons, no lanterns, Chiang insisted.)

The Mandarin’s second location - a million- dollar project that opened in 1968 in a mid-19th-century building where Ghirardelli chocolates were once produced - grafted Westernstyle service on Chinese regional cooking in a setting that rivaled the finest French restaurants.