All throughout May, WTOP is celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with stories about the people and places shaping the D.C. region.
Before he became a household name in the culinary world of the D.C. region, a young Peter Chang thought he’d become an economist or even a history teacher.
He grew up in a farming village in Wuhan, China, and when his grades showed that wouldn’t be the path he’d follow in life, another door opened — culinary school.
He rose through the ranks, cooking on luxury cruises and for former Chinese President Hu Jintao in the early 2000s. His talents preparing Szechuan cuisine brought him to D.C. where he worked as the chef to the Chinese ambassador to the United States.
In 2003, right before he was meant to return to China, he decided that living in America would provide a better life for his family. That’s when he, his wife Lisa, and their teenage daughter Lydia, escaped the embassy.
“Me and my family were very scared because we didn’t know what will happen in the future,” he said through a translator while sitting at a table at his restaurant Q by Peter Chang in Bethesda, Maryland.
They left nearly all of their belongings behind, including their passports.
He said for the next several months, he’d make money by working in restaurants, using a pseudonym to avoid being identified by Chinese officials.
“I am afraid others will see us,” he told WTOP.
In fact, when food critics began asking about him when he worked at China Star in Arlington, Virginia, Chang would leave the restaurant.
He worked at multiple restaurants and would only go to-and-from the kitchens and the homes in which they were staying.
“Obviously, no driving, because we needed to be hiding. So our life became very simple, just between the room and the kitchen,” Chang said.
He lived in several cities and states before settling down in the D.C. region, and in 2011, opened his first restaurant under his own name in Charlottesville, Virginia.
From there with his business partner, Gen Lee, his company would continue to expand to Richmond, Virginia Beach, Fredericksburg, Arlington and in Rockville, Maryland.
Chang would grow his business while waiting for his green card status, which he only received in recent months.
Today, Chang has a portfolio of 18 restaurants and is looking to expand even further. This month, while researching Amish markets to learn what produce to use in his restaurants, he’s preparing to open a restaurant in King of Prussia, just outside Philadelphia.
Beyond that, there are goals to expand to New Jersey and Boston.
He said he realized early on that there was an opportunity to bring what he called “real Chinese food” to America, with more Chinese people moving to America and Americans traveling to China.
He said listening to customers and learning from the community about what works on the menu and what doesn’t are what led to his success. It’s important to get out of the kitchen and talk to patrons and learn what they like or dislike about the food.
That said, menu items sometimes need time to grow on diners, so he won’t revamp an entire menu, saying you need to keep the dishes you are known for.
“You can’t throw away what you are best at,” Chang said.
Chang said not being educated in the West and not speaking English made the marketing and public relations side of the business something he and his wife needed the most help with. His daughter Lydia stepped into that role, and now as CEO, helps both market and grow the company.
“She’s played a big, big, role in that,” Chang said. “My daughter is trying to build up the brand to let everyone know.”
Chang said he has been honored to bring the food he loves to make to American diners. Among his proudest moments was being a semifinalist for Best Chefs in America Mid-Atlantic in 2015 and in 2020 by the James Beard Foundation.
Now that he can travel more freely, Chang said he is ready to take vacations and has already taken his first trip this year to Canada to go skiing.
Though, he said, the work never stops.
While he’s traveling, Chang tries to learn about local cultures, especially when it comes to food, so he can bring what he’s learned back to his restaurants.
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