Chinese Restaurants | EssayIvy.com

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This paper focuses on developing a cultural and modern contextualization of the Chinese

restaurants in the American land. The plot develops from a focus on how the cultural and

culinary experience might have fostered exchange within the American–Chinese setups due to

the introductions of variety food servicing experiences. Still, the study demystifies how the gap

between the Chinese and the Americans is reduced with these restaurants introduction in the

1850s as the prior contemplation and angle of perception by the Americans sidelined the Chinese

abilities and the weird social and ethical practices they practiced. The study also mentions some

of the restaurants in the cities of New York and Los Angeles and the food they are famous for

which sometimes have an attachment to some historical relevance which deciphers that the close

add-on of the Chinese affiliated philosophies. The positivity of the American-Chinese

relationship is found in the context and how both cultures are reshaping their negotiations to

facilitate their personal experience and the foreign affairs gratitude.

Restaurants as agents of Culinary and Cultural Change

The restaurants in America has been serving several purposes for an extended period.

Besides being a place where people could eat, the restaurants have been used as a meeting point

and a platform for cultural exchange. The Americans were first reluctant and shunned these

hotels due to the negative prejudice against the Chinese who were usually associated with

prostitution, ethnic, and socially interactive disparities (Rouse 98). However, with time the

Americans began to appreciate the Chinese food hence visiting their ethnic restaurants. The

Chinese restaurant groups have since then acted as a platform of cultural interaction and

exchange as individuals from both ethnic groups interact. Subsequently, due to the restaurateurs’

practices today, the spirit of understanding is developed between these diverse cultures, and

serially, identification with the Chinese culinary methods not only brings a closer fathoming of

their cultural food practices but also the appreciation of their diversity and difference with the

American norms. Other than serving as eateries, the ethnic Chinese restaurants present a

platform for cultural interaction, negotiating and reshaping individual identities as well as the

creation of a positive image of the Chinese people thus mitigating racial discrimination and

stereotypes.

Chinese Restaurants and Cultural Exchange

Chinese restaurants and food enable cultural and culinary exchange in America.

Following the immigration patterns, immigrants brought food and dietary customs hence

changing the food servicing landscape within America. According to Barbra, the restaurants

exposed the Americans to varying tastes, communities and social groups that they would not

have experienced in the absence of such restaurants (669). These are the platforms by which the

presence of Chinese restaurants has enabled the exchange of the cultural values and practices.

The Americans can now identify with the Chinese personnel leave alone their food. Additionally,

in gaining culinary experience, there are professional programs or rotational studies that

professionals undergo to achieve the right expertise of servicing the restaurant users. The

teaching personnel is majorly chefs from China who instill their knowledge to the diverse ethnic

trainees who desire to join the culinary services.

In this sequence, the Chinese restaurants have contributed by their unique food services.

Whether the restaurateurs adopt the consumption or the connoisseur services, the culinary

exchange among the chefs and food-oriented programs is overwhelming. For instance, the Grand

Sichuan hotel in the New York City ardently describes the historical process behind the cooking

of any Chinese dish. Moreover, Chinese restaurants provide ethnic intermingling joints that

cross-cutting cultures can mix and share the experiences. As the joints are open for the public

use, various ethnicities visit the restaurants either with a desire to taste the Chinese food and get

served the typical dishes in a Chinese setup.

Remedy for Discrimination

The ethnic Chinese restaurants bridge the gap between the Chinese and the Americans

thus serving as part of remedy for discrimination of Chinese. Apart from the common notion of

restaurants taking the eating norm, the Chinese restaurants represent more than just practice. For

instance, the Chengdu taste in Los Angeles represents the identity of China and the dynamism in

which it has embraced diversity. The different setups of foods served there are the stir-fried pig

intestines and peppered bean nodules which display their adoptions in culinary experience which

the Americans have loved in the present day hence appreciating their culture. Also, the

Americans patronized restaurants that were owned and managed by the Chinese hence a close

relationship was built between the two ethnic groups (Rouse 95).

Majorly, the disparities between China and the United States are politically aligned with

connections to economic and trading welfares. However, the little touch that the Chinese

restaurants inflict sensitizes the coexistence within the Chinese and the Americans. Their

presence firmly tightens the bond between the two ethnic setups facilitating the aspects by which

the Americans appreciate the Chinese. Moreover, the appreciation of the restaurants by the

American people is by their involvement and participation in offering a customer base as well as

the reception the American authority gave to business people running Chinese restaurants. The

appreciation of the Chinese food and restaurants among other things like comedy removes the

sting from stereotypes (Roger and Richard n.p). This cooperation speaks volumes in nurturing

the integration and cohesion among these two great nations.

Appreciation of Chinese Ethnicity

Ethnic Chinese restaurants enhance better understanding of the Chinese ethnic groups

and minimize American prejudice against them. American bias on the Chinese gave rise from the

18th century with the anti-Chinese sentiments taking the root of their descriptions. The

misconceptions revolved around the Chinese policies, politics’ and culture. The interaction

between the staff at the restaurant and the appreciation of the Chinese food helps the Americans

appreciate their culture and reduce the prejudice that the Chinese were inferior and only

associated with prostitution (Jang, Liu and Namkung 674).The modern predisposition, though

not intense as the ancient one, is attributed to the great rise of Chinese economic and

empowerment to extents of rising as a significant world power. However, the presence of the

Chinese in the American land dilutes this futility that since existed because the sense of

belonging and being part of the American economy surpasses the common man ethnic cleansing.

The Chinese restaurants made Americans maintain some racial, social, and geographical

boundaries while breaching others until in the late 20th century when hesitance lessened through

the culinary and the cultural exchange (Barbas 670). The rise of noble generations see the inter-

cultural development as a gain to the American nation other than the misguided prejudice.

Appreciating a particular culture facilitates the understanding of the differences encompassed in

them and any case, some of these disparities make a learning edge. Sequentially, the Chinese

restaurants form a part of the Chinese culture that the Americans have familiarized with, and

they now understand the normalcy of the cultural practices the Chinese employ. The modern

generation of the millennial are born to find existing Chinese practices within America, and the

alienation that ancient Americans had is significantly faded.

Shaping Disparities

The Chinese restaurants aid the Chinese and the Americans to renegotiate and reshape

their identities. Due to the achieved interrelation between the Americans and the Chinese and

their products, the two ethnic setups needed a level ground on foods that are tailor-made to suit

both cultures’ consumption. This aspect led to special mixers that the two groups appreciated in

the long run. The Americans adopted some of the Chinese food and merged with their local

meals hence the development of dishes that were attractive to both ethnic groups (Bak-Geller

126). American hotels provide menus that are flared with the Chinese dishes therein for

customers from any end to find their suitable food preference. This means that a Chinese can

also get some culturally made foods from an American restaurant other than saving the hunger to

reach a Chinese restaurant. Similarly, American or different ethnic cultures in American can

order Chinese food served with their ordinary dishes to normalize the experience while reaching

for some dietary diversity.

This identity search not only infers a mutually expressive interdependence but also the

sensation of respect and recognition of the Chinese brands is inherent. This relationship between

the hotels would foster cooperative strategies that foresee the restaurant business thrives from

depending on each other’s variety. Extensively, the prominent American restaurants have to seek

the Chinese food experts before incorporating the know-how to get straight instructions from the

experienced. Preserving Chinese identities would also mean the relation of their foods to their

historic towns and sculptures. Xi’an famous foods in the New York city serves the cuisine of

Xi’an which identified with North central China city that anciently was a prime part of the silk

road route.

Positive Image

Chinese ethnic restaurants and food enable Americans to create a positive image about

the Chinese ethnic group. Since the 18th century, the continued venture into the Chinese food

and culinary services has implied the acceptance of the Americans to this varied culture. The

development of Chinese side businesses emerged from the San Francisco street lines where

businesses as laundry and restaurant emerged majorly patronized by the Chinese. Still, Barbas

indicates that the Chinese who established the San Francisco Chinatown had no idea that the

initiative would foster national influence as their ideal intention was to serve the local

immigrants who were mostly men and had journeyed to America without their wives due to

expenses and legal restrictions (671). The indulgence never stopped even after the immigration

from Chinese to America was stopped in the year 1924.

Also, the Americans have embraced the developments to this date as a positive image

about the Chinese is created when the Americans like the food offered in the ethnic Chinese

restaurants as indicated by the increased demand for cuisine by the white Americans (Liu 87).

Sometimes they ask for experience of a different taste, but the continued rise and ordering of the

cuisine show that the white Americans love what the get and would love to keep getting it. The

trends show that more Chinese restaurants are likely to set foot in the American economy as all

factors support their success, especially the customers. Still, improvising of American-Chinese

foods indicates the general perception of positivity by which the Americans view Chinese foods,

and the projection of this cultural diversity infers a continued relationship between the Chinese

and the American and culinary experience.

Conclusively, ethnic Chinese restaurants are the key place of social interaction,

negotiating identities, and understanding of the Chinese group hence a reduction in the racial

discrimination between the Chinese and the Americans due to the appreciation of the Chinese

culture by the Americans. The ethnic Chinese restaurants were established in America following

the immigration of Chinese nationalities into the country. The people from both ethnic groups

meet and interact with the restaurants during which they learn the others cultures are hence

bridging the difference gap between them. The American has created a positive image about the

Chinese consequently incorporating some of the Chinese ethnic foods into their meals or

modifying their diets to resemble those prepared in the Chinese restaurants. The restaurants have

also led to reduced prejudice among the Americans about the Chinese which also sums up their

implemented intentions to renegotiate and reshape their identities. These developments aim at

finding reasons that the Americans have shunned prejudice of the Chinese culture through the

culinary experience with the current trends in the reception of the Chinese dishes whether in dim

sum towns or the high ends.

Works Cited

Bak-Geller, Sarah. "Chinese Cooks and Mexican Tastes: The Encounter of Two Culinary

Practices in Mexico's Chinese Restaurants." Journal of Chinese Overseas 1.1 (2005): 121-129.

Barbra, Samantha. ‘‘I’ll Take Chop Suey’’: Restaurants as Agents of Culinary and Cultural

Change (n.d.) Print.):

Jang, SooCheong (Shawn), Yinghua Liu, and Young Namkung. "Effects of Authentic

Atmospherics in Ethnic Restaurants: Investigating Chinese Restaurants." International

Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management 23.5 (2011): 662-680.

Liu, Haiming. "Kung Pao Kosher: Jewish Americans and Chinese Restaurants in New

York." Journal of Chinese Overseas 6.1 (2010): 80-101.

Roger Cohen and Ryan Richards. When the Truth Hurts, Tell a Joke: Why America Needs Its Comedians.

(n.d). Retrieved from https://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/174-when-the-truth-hurts-

tell-a-joke-why-america-needs-its-comedians

Rouse. "Chinese American Identity." Journal of American Ethnic History 34.3 (2015): 95.

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