#100 Curtis Chin: Lessons From A Chinese Restaurant
Curtis Chin spent most of his childhood looking for a comfortable place to sit. And that was especially difficult for Chin, who grew up in the 1970s and 80s as one of six kids raised by parents who owned Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, one of the most revered Chinese restaurants in Detroit. Despite its location in one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city, the restaurant sold more than four thousand egg rolls every week and was frequented by celebrities like Joni Mitchell, Smokey Robinson, and Senator Eugene McCarthy.
On this episode of Paternal, Chin reflects on the experience of growing up in the sweaty back kitchen of a Chinese restaurant, and reflects on what he learned from his father, a charismatic waiter who happily welcomed local dignitaries from City Hall along with pimps and prostitutes from down the block. Chin also discusses the challenge of being a young gay man during the height of the AIDS crisis, and the legacy of Chung’s, which made an unexpected return to his life long after he thought he’d left it behind.
Chin’s memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, is available wherever you buy books.
Episode Timestamps:
00:00 - 05:51 - Introduction
05:51 - 07:34 - Discussing the popularity of Chinese restaurants in America
07:34 - 11:20 - The role of Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine in Detroit
11:20 - 15:54 - Introduction to Curtis Chin’s father and mother, and gender dynamics in the restaurant
15:54 - 21:13 - Discussing Curtis Chin’s father and when Hollywood actor Yul Brynner came into the restaurant
23:00 - 31:37 - On coming of age, and fears of coming out
31:37 - 37:36 - The legacy of Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine
