By Assunta Ng
Northwest Asian Weekly
I have never seen Tony Wu, owner of Duk Li Dim Sum Restaurant, happier than he was after Mayor Mike McGinn visited his restaurant on the morning of Sept 15.
“The mayor stayed for three hours,” he said repeatedly. “He also enjoyed my food,” said Tony, who is also the chef. “He liked the egg tart. I served him a cup of Hong-Kong style tea, and he drank it all.” Tony might have been even be more thrilled had he known that McGinn stayed only five minutes at Fuji Bakery and the American Hotel.
A mom-and-pop business, the restaurant is run by Tony, his wife, son, and several relatives. It doubled in size this year when its next door neighbor moved out.
Joyce Pisnanont, manager of IDEA Space recommended Duk Li to the mayor’s office because it “was able to expand despite a bad economy. He (Tony) must have done something right.”
“I told the mayor that I rely on volume to make my slim profit,” Tony said in Chinese.
Although Tony doesn’t speak English, he felt the mayor was down-to-earth and showed no arrogance.
Four days later, the mayor’s presence still dazzled Tony. For a humble immigrant from China, who toils 15 to 16 hours a day in the kitchen, seven days a week, to have an opportunity to cook for a boss who runs the largest city in Washington state, it is a moment he will savor for the rest of his life. (end)