The Sun
Sunnyvale's Newspaper

Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Wei Yin displays a serving of rockfish at Hunan Gourmet.

Many chefs in the kitchen at Hunan

By Natasha Collins

A downtown Mountain View favorite has come to Sunnyvale. Hunan Gourmet (2) opened its doors on Aug. 12, and business has been increasing on a daily basis, said restaurant owner Wei Yin.

Yin has been in the restaurant business for more than six years and decided to open the downtown Sunnyvale restaurant because he lives only minutes from the store, and the location was excellent.

Both restaurants are run by Yin and his family--his mother, father and wife. Yin came to the United States 10 years ago and prides himself on the fact that the food in his restaurant is authentic Chinese.

"All the chefs come here straight from China," he said. "They have been trained as chefs there and have not worked as anything else. A lot of restaurants have chefs that were something [other than a chef] before they came to the U.S."

There are a number of different chefs working in the kitchen at one time to ensure the freshness of every meal.

"Everything is fresh and homemade," Yin said. "We buy everything every morning and do not keep anything overnight."

There is even one chef who makes only the appetizers, such as the egg rolls and won tons, throughout the day as they are needed.

Before the restaurant opened, Yin and his family remodeled the building in order to create a more relaxing atmosphere.

"We tore out everything but the four walls," he said. "We wanted to make the customers feel comfortable as well as the staff. When you have a staff that is comfortable, they are happy."

The restaurant is decorated in different shades of green with famous Chinese works of art on the wall. The colors are meant to calm the patrons, while the artwork adds elegance.

"It is not your typical Chinese restaurant with the dark red and gold," Yin said. "It is not dark in here, but nice and light. It is a very different motif than most Chinese restaurants."

The menu offers a variety of traditional Chinese dishes, as well as a few with slight variations. One example would be the pecan shrimp. Most Chinese restaurants have a walnut shrimp dish, but Yin opted to use pecans instead because they are a little sweeter.

"I think the pecans are much better than the walnuts," he said. "It adds a little more flavor to the dish, and people seem to enjoy them more."

Dishes range from $6 to $8, but there is a variety of combination meals that cost a bit more. Combination meals include several entrees, along with appetizers, soup, rice and dessert. Lunch specials include one entree, soup, an appetizer, a salad and ice cream and cost $5-$6.95.

Hunan Gourmet is located at 163 S. Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale. 739-8866. Hours: lunch 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Tue.-Sun.; dinner 5-9:30 p.m. Tues-Thu. and 5-10 p.m. Fri. and Sat. The restaurant is closed on Mondays.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, August 27, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.