Photograph by George Sakkestad
Simon Leong opened his Canton Delights in a converted Sizzler Restaurant in 1994.
By KATHERINE PETERSEN
Simon Leong, a software engineer, hung up his keyboard in 1994 to provide South Bay residents with something more important than computer programming: dim sum.
"I felt there was a need for Cantonese food in the area. Many engineers in Silicon Valley said they had to travel pretty far north to find good dim sum," said Leong, who opened Canton Delights in May 1994.
Dim sum, a variety of small dumplings such as spring rolls, pot stickers and other bite-size morsels, is one of Leong's specialties. Customers can choose items they want from carts that waiters move throughout the restaurant.
"You get to see it before you eat it. People usually eat it at breakfast in China, but you can make a whole lunch out of it," Leong said.
Leong, who is active in civic groups such as the Cupertino Educational Endowment Foundation, offers 40 different varieties of dim sum at his restaurant.
Canton Delights also features a full lunch and dinner menu, dominated by seafood dishes. For $6 customers can order one of the lunch specials, which consists of an entrée, rice and soup. A dim sum lunch would run from $8 to $10, Leong said.
Cantonese food is light and delicate. Customers can pick out their prawns or lobsters, if they wish, from the restaurant's large fish tank.
"We don't use a lot of sauces and spices to mask the flavors of fresh ingredients. We want to present the food as naturally as possible," Leong said.
The restaurant's most popular dishes include walnut prawns and steamed rock cod. "They're both very light and healthy," Leong said. "Cantonese food is very mild."
All the entrees at Canton Delights come with vegetables for balance.
The restaurant, converted from a Sizzler, has 40 tables as well as rooms for private parties of 12 to 20 people.
The restaurant has steady business for weekday lunches and dinner, and its busiest time is for lunch on the weekends, Leong said.
The restaurant's decor is modern, with a Chinese influence.
"It doesn't have a traditional Chinese theme to it. We use the color red extensively, but it's very modern," Leong said.
One wall of windows looking out over Cupertino gives the restaurant a bright, open atmosphere.
Canton Delights, 10125 Bandley Drive, Cupertino. Lunch Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m-2:30 p.m., Sat. and Sun., 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dinner: Mon.-Sun., 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. 777-9888.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 18, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.