Susanna Foo

Chef, Restaurateur, Cookbook Author

Susanna Foo's love of food began during her childhood in Inner Mongolia. Her early food memories include the noodles and dumplings lovingly prepared by her grandmother, and the local fruits, garden vegetables, and fresh fish and seafood of the Taiwanese seaport where she lived beginning in the third grade.

Sunday visits with her mother to the open air market further inspired her fascination with food. Meals at home were filled with salads made with cold or steamed vegetables, with simple, savory dressings, and vegetable, chicken, or pork stir-fries. Also in the family home, Susana met American military officers (she was the daughter of a general), who taught her to speak English and introduced her to the American culture that would become very significant in both her personal and professional life.

Moving to Taipei in the early 1960's to attend the University, Susanna spent a great deal of time learning from and helping prepare dinner with a cousin considered an excellent cook. In her third year of college, Susanna met her future husband, E-Hsin Foo, and his mother who also loved to cook and inspired Susanna with scrumptious and elaborate multi-course meals. Together they attended cooking classes taught by a teacher recognized as the Julia Child of Taiwan.

Following graduation, Susanna and E-Hsin moved to the U.S., where they continued their studies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Two sons and a period of time in Tallahassee, Florida were followed with a return to Taiwan, where Susanna took additional cooking classes and learned more about the various regional cuisines of China.

Moving back to America in the late 70's to help her husband's family open a restaurant in Philadelphia, Susanna's culinary career was about to soar. The retired president of the Culinary Institute of America, impressed with the variety and freshness of Susanna's food when dining frequently at the restaurant, became a culinary guide and mentor. After learning the fundamentals of French cuisine, Susanna attended the CIA, and upon her return was given full authority in the kitchen. She prepared the simple foods of her childhood, incorporating sauces based on French techniques. In 1987, when the family opted to close the restaurant, Susanna and her husband opened their restaurant, bearing her name.

Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine is consistently acclaimed for serving the most exciting Chinese food in the United States. Susanna and her restaurant have received numerous awards, from publications such as Esquire, Gourmet, and Food & Wine Magazine, and from the prestigious Les Dames d'Escoffier and James Beard Foundation. In her award-winning cookbook, Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine: The Fabulous Flavors & Innovative Recipes of North America's Finest Chinese Cook, she elaborates on the simple cooking methods of her youth and the cultural origins of the ingredients. The book received the James Beard award as Best International Cookbook in 1996.

Although dedicated to classic Chinese cooking, Susanna Foo has never limited herself to Chinese ingredients, so you'll find sundried tomatoes, ancho chiles, endive, artichoke hearts, portobello mushrooms, and fennel in some of her recipes. Basic principles of freshness, simplicity, and maintaining the integrity of every ingredient, are the hallmarks of her cuisine. Susanna Foo's culinary philosophy is to use fresh and innovative ingredients, include French techniques, and create a culinary experience of sight, smell, and taste. With the support of family and loyal customers, Susanna Foo has achieved tremendous and well deserved success.