My Chinatown Restaurant Was on the Brink of Collapse. Then the Community Stepped In.

Photo caption: Ruth Li at her restaurant, BocBoc Chicken Delicious, in Elmhurst, Queens. Photo by Isa Zapata. Article by Ruth Li, translated by Er Li Peng and interviewed by Elyse Inamine. Bon Appétit – September 14, 2021.

Ruth Li and her husband have owned their restaurant in Elmhurst, Queens, for nearly 10 years. But when COVID-19 hit, they needed help from Chinatown’s next generation.

When I first came to the U.S. in 1994, I always worked in restaurants. English was a barrier, so this was one way of making a living. The village I lived in, Ting Jiang [in China’s Fuzhou province], didn’t have many opportunities. I saw a brighter future in the States. First I worked at a take-out restaurant in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, then […]

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Curated by Theresa Wysocki

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