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A new fast-casual Chinese restaurant, which opened on April 8 and is located near New York University, is already going viral for what some are calling racist positioning. Lucky Lee's comes from nutritionist Arielle Haspel, who tells food publisher Eater she created this restaurant with modified, 'clean' Chinese-American recipes for 'people who love to eat Chinese food and love the benefit that it will actually make them feel good'. She says she had many clients with dietary restrictions who couldn't 'indulge' in dishes like lo mein, fried rice, and kung pao chicken, so she developed gluten-, wheat-, refined sugar-, GMO-, and additive-free versions of them — or, as she says, she wanted to 'healthify' them. An Instagram post that was removed read, 'We heard you're obsessed with lo mein but rarely eat it. You said it makes you feel bloated and icky the next day? Well, wait until you slurp up our HIGH lo mein. Not too oily. Or salty.'  Haspel has supporters on Twitter, but many disagree with her thinking. Lucky Lee's phrasing attracted a wave of upset and hurt online. A torrent of reviewers took to Lucky Lee's Yelp page to shame the restaurant's racially-charged, brand positioning, too. The fact that the owners are non-Chinese has complicated the contretemps, with some questioning the couple's use of Lee, a common Chinese surname that happens to be the first name of Haspel's husband. It could 'trick people into thinking this food is somehow created by a Chinese person', wrote Twitter user Victoria Kwan. Many believe the restaurant's language reinforces stereotypes associated with Chinese culture and cooking, including that Chinese restaurants are dirty and the cuisine is exceptionally greasy and unhealthy. And there is a myth that MSG, a naturally occurring flavor enhancer commonly added to Chinese food, is to blame for symptoms like headaches, nausea, sweating, flushing and puffing. But, according to Katherine Zeratsky, certified in dietetics by the state of Minnesota and the American Dietetic Association, there's 'no definitive evidence of a link between MSG and these symptoms'. In response to the backlash, the restaurant posted a defense of the concept and its positioning, writing that the owners 'promise you to always listen and reflect accordingly'. 'A number of comments have stated that by saying our Chinese food is made with 'clean' cooking techniques and it makes you feel great that we are commenting negatively on all Chinese food,' Lucky Lee's continued. 'When we talk about our food, we are not talking about other restaurants, we are only talking about Lucky Lee's.' 'Shame on us for not being smarter about cultural sensitivities,' she said to the New York Times.
On Sunday, the restaurant was busy at lunchtime, with people waiting on line. A New York couple who talked to China Daily on condition of anonymity said they decided to check out the place after hearing about the controversy. 'The food is good,' they said, while acknowledging it would not be their destination if they were looking for 'more authentic Chinese food'. Another New Yorker who lives a few blocks from the restaurant, who declined to share his name, said he hardly saw any customers who seemed to be from the Chinese-American community while waiting for his takeout order. Grant Lee, a New York University student who went in the restaurant to take a look, said 'the cross-cultural experience is not a bad thing. That's how the culture goes; people take it different ways,' he said, allowing that as someone connected to Chinese culture, he understands that Americans may have a different take on Asian cuisine. 'I just hope that everyone knows and understands that the difference is there. They should not look down on different types of cultures,' he said.  TV chefs like Andrew Zimmern and Gordon Ramsay have been skewered for their Asian restaurants. Zimmern last year said in an interview that his Lucky Cricket restaurant in Minnesota was saving the souls of people who dine at 'restaurants masquerading as Chinese food' in the midwest. The Bizarre Foods host later apologized.
Ramsay is opening the Japanese-inspired Lucky Cat restaurant in London this summer. In a press release in February, the Kitchen Nightmares star promised a restaurant that would be 'revolutionary' and 'authentic' but many noted the lack of Asians in key executive positions.
Being against cultural appropriation does not necessarily mean being against anyone cooking outside of their own ethnicity or culture, said Robert Ku, a professor of Asian American studies and food studies at Binghamton University, New York. New York restaurateur Stratis Morfogen, of Greek descent, does not worry about cultural appropriation accusations against his steakhouse for its Chinese-inspired items. Brooklyn Chop House offers cheeseburgers, pastrami and French onion soup encapsulated in Chinese-dumpling form. Morfogen employs more than 15 chefs from China across his restaurants and a Chinese chef is also one of his partners. He thinks restaurant owners worried about inadvertently stereotyping just need to think twice before they speak. 'I really believe that those words are insensitive and it hurts people,' Morfogen said. 'I don't think that is what food is meant to be. I think food is meant to bring all the cultures together and respect each other.' Source: the Guardian, China Daily, Eater, Today.com, Mayo Clinic Click here for audio and translation of the story |
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