Peak Performance

WHAT'S THAT EGG ALL ABOUT?

When you walk into a restaurant there is only so much you can see and hear and learn in the short time you will eat and drink there. Some will see more than others. But there is a character and a culture and a personality to the Hunan Inn that should be revealed to the readers of the Suburban Journals.

There is no doubt that the new owners of the Hunan Inn, near the Barn of Lucerne at Kehrs Mill and Clayton Rd, are flipping some mighty fine, delicious and somewhat different meals out of their woks. You will also see that restaurant itself is spotless and newly renovated. But there is much more to this place than just what meets the palate or the eye at first glance.

Frank Chang and his brother, Bruce, took over the Hunan Inn in October 2006. Frank has cooked all over America, even in Alaska. He has cooked in some of the finest Chinese restaurants, learning the fine art of his craft. In Palm Springs, California Frank worked at a gourmet Chinese restaurant where he cooked for Kirk Douglas. In Los Angeles he worked for a restaurant where he cooked for Jackie Chan.

"You don't just expect the boss to pay you big money," says the sinewy-muscled Frank. "I was supposed to be at the restaurant at 10:30. I would get there at 9:00 and call the boss and say 'I can't get in; where are the keys.'"

Frank has also run catering operations and upscale, gourmet Chinese food kitchens.

"I worked for one place that had ten cooks. I tried to get the head chef to teach me but he didn't want to. So one day I brought him a bottle of whiskey and then he told me what he knows," Frank says.

Frank's specialties include House Chicken, House Beef and Salt and Pepper Shrimp.

In one of Frank's previous jobs as head chef, a co-worker pointed out to Frank that a lot of new Chinese restaurants were popping up nearby and the competition was intense. Frank responded by making a motion like he was flipping a wok: "Then we will go to war."

Frank has high expectations for those who work for him and he even expects a lot from his brother and sister who work with him almost every day at the Hunan Inn.

His brother and co-owner, Bruce Chang, may even have higher expectations of himself and others than Frank has, as hard as that is for some to believe.

The Changs come from a family that owned a successful Chinese restaurant in Taiwan. Bruce himself has been a waiter, bartender and second and third chef. The only thing he has not done in the restaurant business is head chef. He also has taken business management classes and is majoring in college in java software. In a previous job he did tech support for a small corporation.

Bruce used his computer skills and his laptop to design the Hunan Inn's new logo, which looks like a digital egg.

"The egg is not meant to symbolize cholesterol," jokes Bruce, who is and looks like he is in perfect health; like his brother, no fat, all muscle and not somebody who you want to get riled, although it is very hard to get him riled, thank God....just kidding...sort of. Bruce explains: "The egg is meant to symbolize newness, rebirth. We don't forget our family's restaurant traditions but we want to build a new foundation on them. We have and excel in the traditional Hunan dishes but we offer lots of new and different stuff that most Americans may not be as familiar with but which I am sure they will love." Bruce says he would also like to gradually bring in some Peking style dishes.

Bruce correctly points out that there are quite a few Chinese restaurants in the Chesterfield and West County areas. The competition is fierce. In order to win that war the Hunan Inn has to be a bit different in it's menu offerings, not the same old same old.

The third foundation holding the Hunan Inn up strongly is Judy Sze, the sister of Frank and Bruce.

Judy mainly works in the kitchen as both the second and third cook but sometimes she waits on tables. And sometimes she comes out of the kitchen to peek through the ornate divider decorated with meticulous and flowing Chinese art. That way she can see the people up front without them knowing they are being watched. Although sometimes they notice her watching and they walk back there and giggle at her. And she smiles back mischeviously when they do.

The workers know they can joke around with Judy to a certain extent because she is one of the warmest, generous and genuine people anyone will ever meet.

One waitress at Hunan Inn that has worked with Judy for a long time in other restaurants says Judy "has a very big heart."

The customers certainly realize this. Her light shines brightly and sincerely. Hunan Inn has many regular customers who always ask if she is there and want to see her and listen to her infectious laugh.

Here is a story that kind of shows Judy's character: She was shopping at the Korean grocery store. She bought some sort of Korean cake that is very popular to those who know about it. It was the last of these types of cakes that the store had. She bought five of them, all of them. She wasn't paying close attention but she did notice two gentlemen playing with her kids. One was older, perhaps in his seventies but in very good shape for his age, and bald. As she was getting ready to gather her children and leave the store she overheard the two gentlemen asking the store clerk for the same cakes that she had just cleaned them out of. The clerk told them they were all out of those cakes.

"I felt kind of bad," Judy says. So as she was packing her car with the cakes the two gentlemen walked by her. She stopped them and offered them two of the cakes. They insisted on paying her for them but she just as insistently told them not to pay her.

Finally, the younger man said to her: "Do you know who Joe Garagiola is?"

Judy shook her head no. "Who is he?"

The young man tried to explain who is uncle was although Judy knows as much about sports as she does about politics, which is very little. "Joe Garagiola is that guy over there by the car." He pointed to the bald, older man.

Joe brought over a bunch of sports memorabilia that he personally signed and gave them to Judy. He also gave her some toys for her kids.

"Call me if you need anything," Joe said as he gave Judy his card.

Later on at the restaurant Judy says, "Bruce told me I should invite him and his family to the restaurant." She then laughed mischeviously. I don't think though that she will do that because it might make her "feel bad." Like she was using Joe and his family.

So these three people are the bedrock of the new Hunan Inn. But more than that they are three very decent human beings doing their best to make money but to make money as the best and most moral people they can possibly be. It's quite a story isn't it, and most people will not know that story because all Frank, Bruce and Judy do is work very hard in a very small, relatively unknown and unfortunately- hidden restaurant in the middle of West County.

But that just shows what you can find when you open up a new egg.