The mother of Chinese food in America and one of the most influential figures in the Bay Area’s rich culinary history has died.
Cecilia Chiang was 100 years old.
She’s reportedly given different birth dates to various reporters over the years.
The food pioneer’s death was confirmed by multiple friends. However, the exact time and cause of death is unknown. She is believed to have died Tuesday or Wednesday.
Chiang made her name as the owner of Mandarin, a departed San Francisco restaurant on Ghirardelli Square that broke the mold in the late 1950s by bringing new levels of sophistication to Chinese cuisine in America. It was there the San Francisco Chronicle said Chiang "rubbed elbows with rock stars and royalty, while embracing the role of grande dame of not only San Francisco Chinese food, but of gracious mentor of the restaurant industry as whole, even well into her nineties."
She served everyone from Elton John to The Beatles.
"The experience that Cecilia Chiang gave people was one that you previously did not get with Chinese food cuisine," Eater SF Editor Eve Batey told KCBS Radio.
Her groundbreaking restaurant famously opened "by accident," as she was helping friends open their own eatery, but had to take over when the friends backed out after she had already invested.
"Simply by succeeding as a non-white, female-identifying, ESL immigrant, she is an inspiration to people with marginalized identities who are seeking respect and recognition for their culture through cooking," Chiang’s granddaughter, Siena Chiang, told Food & Wine Magazine in January.
"She was out and about like a 21-year-old every night of the week it seemed sometimes," Batey said.
At Mandarin, Chiang brought Chinese dishes like potstickers, hot-and-sour soup and smoked tea duck into the mainstream.
Chiang was profiled in the 2014 documentary "Soul of a Banquet."