A fun read, particularly since I lived in the Bay Area during his early years...I can remember seeing him "perform" at a housewares convention once.
If you are looking for an entertaining "foodie" movie involving Asian cooking, check out this 1994 release: Eat Drink Man Women (Ang Lee, before he got big)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111797/?ref_=nv_sr_4I think of Yan when I watch it!
As an aside, I have a favorite Chinese restaurant that is in its second generation of ownership. The parents lived in Chinatown in Chicago, but built their restaurant 40 miles north. An old client asked me if I had ever been there in the 1970's and described how the parents would get all of the restaurant staff from Hong Kong, who would come to America to earn money as long as they were allowed to stay. The wait staff would arrive in a van every day, wearing bow ties and long black aprons, just as they did in Hong Kong. The grand mother would sit on the back stoop cleaning veggies during the mid afternoon lull while all of the waiters would play basketball. Just made me love the place that much more, but now the daughter who took it over has trouble finding staff who will show up reliably.
