Susanna Foo
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Susanna Foo is a Chinese chef best known for her work in
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
/
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fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
at her self titled Susanna Foo restaurant in
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,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. She has also owned and run other restaurants in Philadelphia and
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, and is a two-time
James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...
winner.


Career

Susanna Foo was born in the
Inner Mongolia Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
area of China, and grew up in the
Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-lev ...
province. Her father was a
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in the
National Revolutionary Army The National Revolutionary Army (NRA; ), sometimes shortened to Revolutionary Army () before 1928, and as National Army () after 1928, was the military arm of the Kuomintang (KMT, or the Chinese Nationalist Party) from 1925 until 1947 in China ...
, and so during the latter stages of the
Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, she moved to live on
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
. While in college in Taiwan studying for a
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in history she met, and would later marry in 1966, E-Hsin Foo. Together they moved to the United States, so he could study at
Carnegie-Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
. Initially, she worked as a librarian. She was not taught how to cook by her mother, and took a cooking course in Taiwan prior to travelling to the United States as part of her preparations. They moved to
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, in 1979, to help his family run their Chinese restaurant Hu-Nan. Prior to this, Susanna had never worked in a professional kitchen. When Jacob Rosenthal of
The Culinary Institute of America The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) is a private culinary school with its primary campus in Hyde Park, New York, and branch campuses in St. Helena and Napa, California; San Antonio, Texas; and Singapore. The college, which was the first t ...
dined at the restaurant, he was inspired by her work. He arranged for her to dine at the best Chinese restaurants in
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, and for consultants to train her in
French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...
, as well as inviting her to attend the Culinary Institute itself. She would later dedicate her first
cook book A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cou ...
to Rosenthal, saying that he changed her life. Foo decided to move away from traditional Chinese food, when in 1987, she opened her self titled Susanna Foo restaurant, serving a
fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...
of Chinese and French cuisines. It was named the best new restaurant of the year by ''
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'' magazine, and ''
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'' magazine named her the best new chef in 1989. In 1995, her first
cook book A cookbook or cookery book is a kitchen reference containing recipes. Cookbooks may be general, or may specialize in a particular cuisine or category of food. Recipes in cookbooks are organized in various ways: by course (appetizer, first cou ...
was published, entitled ''Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine: The Fabulous Flavors and Innovative Recipes of North America's Finest Chinese Cook''. This won her a
James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...
for best international cookbook, and she won a second James Beard Foundation Award in 1997 for Best Chef in the Mid-Atlantic region. She opened a new restaurant, named Suilan, within the
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, a hotel and casino complex, in
Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...
in 2003. A second cook book followed in 2005, ''Susanna Foo Fresh Inspiration — New Approaches to Chinese Cuisine''. In 2009, she made the decision to sell Susanna Foo after running it for 22 years. Her husband had fallen ill, and she still had another restaurant closer to home in
Radnor, Pennsylvania Radnor is a community located approximately 13 miles west of Philadelphia, in the Main Line suburbs. It straddles Montgomery and Delaware Counties, Pennsylvania. The community was named after Radnor, in Wales. Radnor is home to Cabrini Universi ...
, Susanna Foo Gourmet Kitchen. Foo's husband died a year later, and she closed the Radnor restaurant in 2015. At the age of 72, Foo came out of retirement in 2016 to open a new restaurant, Suga, with her son Gabriel. He had wanted to open a restaurant, and Foo felt that she was not yet finished with demonstrating modern Chinese cuisine. Some of the dishes are an evolution from those served in her previous restaurant, while others are inspired by her frequent trips to China.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Foo, Susanna Living people Writers from Inner Mongolia Women chefs Culinary Institute of America alumni Food and drink award winners Taiwanese chefs Chinese cookbook writers Businesspeople from Inner Mongolia James Beard Foundation Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)