Shirley Fong-Torres (November 16, 1946 – June 18, 2011) was a chef, tour operator, and popular travel and food writer based in
San Francisco, California
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, US.
Early life
Fong-Torres was born on November 16, 1946. Her father was Ricardo Torres. Due to the
Chinese Exclusion Act
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on May 6, 1882, prohibiting all immigration of Chinese laborers for 10 years. The law excluded merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplom ...
, Fong-Torres' father (born Fong Kwok Seung), changed his surname to Torres and posed as a Filipino in order to immigrate to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. His family later adopted the hyphenated surname, ''Fong-Torres''.
Education
Fong-Torres was a graduate of the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
.
Career
Early in her career, Fong-Torres worked at
Levi Strauss
Levi Strauss (; born Löb Strauß ; February 26, 1829 – September 26, 1902) was a German-born American businessman who founded the first company to manufacture blue jeans. His firm of Levi Strauss & Co. (Levi's) began in 1853 in San Francisco ...
and taught middle school. She later founded Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours (1987), which still offers cultural and culinary themed tours to locals and tourists. She developed the very popular specialty tour "I Can't Believe I Ate My Way Through Chinatown." Wok Wiz Chinatown Tours continues today, with Shirley's team of talented tour leaders and her daughter, Tina Dong Pavao carrying on her legacy.
Shirley published four books: "Wok Wiz Chinatown Tour Cookbook"
988
Year 988 ( CMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Byzantine Empire
* Fall – Emperor Basil II, supported by a contingent of 6,000 Varangians ...
"San Francisco Chinatown: A Walking Tour"
991, China Books “In The Chinese Kitchen With Shirley Fong-Torres”
993, Pacific View Press and "The Woman Who Ate Chinatown"
008 008, OO8, O08, or 0O8 may refer to:
* The Streetwear Brand @008us , inspired by Ian Fleming & Virgil Abloh
*"030", the fictional 030 Agent of MI6
* '' 038: Operation Exterminate'', a 1965 Italian action film
* '' Explosivo 030'' a 1940 Argentine c ...
In 2006, Shirley Fong-Torres appeared on the hit Travel & Living Channel show
Cocktail Kings
''Cocktail Kings'' is a British television program on the Discovery Travel Channel hosted by Colin Asare-Appiah and Dimitri Lezinska. The program follows the two personalities in their journeys around Europe and the United States
The ...
, and inspired mixologist Dimitri Lezinska to create a Margarita style drink named "Diva of Sausalito."
Personal life
Fong-Torres' brother,
Ben Fong-Torres
Benjamin Fong-Torres ( 方 振 豪; Cantonese: Fong Chan Ho; born January 7, 1945) is an American rock journalist best known for his association with ''Rolling Stone'' magazine (until 1981) and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (from around 1982). B ...
is an American rock journalist, author, and broadcaster.
Fong-Torres died of leukemia on June 18, 2011.
References
External links
wokwiz.com- official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fong-Torres, Shirley
1946 births
2011 deaths
Food writers
People from the San Francisco Bay Area
20th-century travel writers
American travel writers