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Marie Claire published an excerpt from Ming-Na Wen’s memoir-cookbook, Have You Eaten Yet?, about her family’s move from Hong Kong to the United States and her childhood at Pittsburgh’s Chinatown Inn. Wen describes the restaurant as a second home and theater as a place where she felt accepted; the supplied report does not give the book’s publication date or excerpt release date.
Marie Claire has published an excerpt from actor Ming-Na Wen’s memoir-cookbook, Have You Eaten Yet?, in which she recounts moving to the United States as a child and growing up around her family’s Chinatown Inn in Pittsburgh. The account links the restaurant and its food to her sense of home during a childhood shaped by immigration, bullying and an early interest in acting.
Wen writes that she was about seven when her mother woke her and her brother, Jun, without explaining where they were going. On the plane, her mother told her they were moving to America. The family first stayed with her stepfather’s friends in Brooklyn, where Wen recalls adjusting to unfamiliar surroundings and discovering New York pizza. She says her mother, who generally dislikes cheese, still enjoys it on a New York slice.
After about three years in Astoria, the family moved to Pittsburgh to join Wen’s stepfather and help run the Chinatown Inn. Wen says they initially lived above the restaurant. Her mother began working there, and the restaurant became both a second home and a part-time workplace for Wen. She describes its kitchen, dining room and customers, along with dishes including chow mein, fried rice, General Tso’s chicken, egg rolls and wonton soup.
The excerpt also covers Wen’s move from New York City to a largely white suburb. At school, she says, she was bullied over her appearance and Chinese name. She recalls answering taunts with a challenge to meet after school, though no one took her up on it. Her account then turns to theater: after enjoying the audience’s laughter during a third-grade Easter play, she became interested in acting. In Pittsburgh, she writes, school theater offered a welcoming community.
A Restaurant at the Center of Wen’s Story
The excerpt presents the Chinatown Inn as more than a family business in Wen’s recollection: it was a place where she spent time, worked and watched her family build a life in Pittsburgh. Her account gives readers a personal view of how an immigrant family’s restaurant became part of a child’s daily routine and connection to home.
It also connects that childhood to Wen’s later public identity as an actor. The source identifies her roles in The Joy Luck Club, E.R. and as the voice of the title character in Mulan. Wen herself draws a playful link between her childhood readiness to stand up to bullies and the tough characters she later portrayed. That is her reflection, rather than evidence that those experiences directly shaped particular casting or career decisions.
The restaurant’s history adds a local dimension. The source describes the Chinatown Inn as the only remaining establishment from Pittsburgh’s original Chinatown and says it continues to operate. Wen’s family story therefore also records a business tied to a neighborhood that has otherwise changed. The excerpt does not provide independent documentation for the landmark description, but it places the claim within the article’s account of the restaurant.
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From Hong Kong to Pittsburgh
According to Wen’s memoir excerpt, her mother met Soo Lim Yee, the man who became Wen’s stepfather, during his business trip to Hong Kong. They maintained a long-distance relationship through letters and dinners when he returned to the city. After a few years, he helped sponsor the family’s move to the United States. The family’s first stop was Brooklyn; Pittsburgh came later, when they joined him at the restaurant.
Wen describes two distinct stages of adapting to life in the United States. In Brooklyn, food offered an approachable introduction: she remembers pizza as a favorite new discovery. In Pittsburgh, school brought the challenges of being one of the few, and possibly the only, Asian students in her class, while work at the Chinatown Inn gave her a familiar family setting.
The book combines recipes with personal stories, according to the Marie Claire report. The excerpt’s food memories focus on the restaurant’s menu and preparation of wonton soup. Wen recalls that her father had the stock made fresh each morning from chicken and neck bones. The source does not include a complete recipe, and the excerpt is not presented as a guide to the restaurant’s current menu or kitchen practices.
Publication Details Still Missing
The supplied source does not state the excerpt’s publication date, the book’s release date, its sales performance or how many recipes it contains. It says the book was hitting shelves when Wen shared the excerpt, but gives no calendar date. The article also does not report whether the Chinatown Inn’s current ownership, menu or operations have changed since the period Wen describes.
Wen’s account is a personal recollection published as part of a memoir-cookbook. Claims about her childhood, family and experiences at school are attributed to her account; the source does not include interviews with relatives, former classmates or restaurant staff to corroborate those memories. The description of the restaurant as the sole remaining establishment from Pittsburgh’s original Chinatown is reported by Marie Claire, without supporting records in the supplied material.
The Book Carries the Story Forward
The immediate next step for readers is the publication of Have You Eaten Yet?, which the source describes as combining Wen’s favorite recipes with stories about food and her life. The supplied material does not give a release schedule, event dates or further promotional plans, so additional appearances or announcements cannot be confirmed from it.
The excerpt leaves open how much of the book focuses on the Chinatown Inn, Wen’s acting career or recipes beyond the dishes mentioned here. It also provides no update on the restaurant’s present-day status beyond saying that it is still operating. Those details would require information beyond the excerpt and accompanying report.
Key Questions
What is Have You Eaten Yet?
It is Ming-Na Wen’s memoir-cookbook, described by Marie Claire as a book combining recipes with stories from her life and relationship with food.
What does Wen recall about the Chinatown Inn?
She says her family moved to Pittsburgh to join her stepfather in running the restaurant. Wen lived above it for a time, worked there part-time and remembers its kitchen, customers and dishes, including wonton soup.
What challenges does Wen describe from school?
Wen says she was bullied at school in a largely white suburb over her appearance and Chinese name. She recalls finding a welcoming community through theater.
When was the book or excerpt released?
The supplied report says the book was hitting shelves when Marie Claire published the excerpt, but it does not provide a date.
Source: rss
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