Diners are transported to what looks like a movie production from the Far East. Exotic flowers share space with large glass bowls of mandarin oranges, symbolizing good health, and red money envelopes, for good fortune. Nestled among this feast of colors and scents are tables where servers in delicately embroidered Taiwanese tops and black skirts serve diners artfully prepared meals.

The choreographed dining experience is something owners Nancy and Jimmy Niu have taken great steps to create. Their restaurant on Lincoln Avenue is a place where the couple's creativity and love for the performance arts is infused into every meal.

"I come from a family of artists," says Sophia Niu, the general manager and daughter of the owners. "We treat the restaurant as our set."

The Nius were born in China, but in 1946, their families fled to Taiwan during the communist revolution.

Jimmy Niu grew up with a passion for film. He studied at the local university to develop his craft and began making and directing movies. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director Ang Lee also attended the university while Niu was a student.

While working in the film industry, Jimmy Niu met Nancy.

She was a starlet, interested in film, television and singing. The two were introduced by a mutual friend and married soon after. Jimmy Niu finished his education in Taiwan and then decided to attend Japan University in Tokyo so he could gain more experience in the industry.

But in order to have the ultimate clout as a filmmaker, Niu knew he had to come to the United States. So in 1973, the couple moved to Queens, N.Y.

They arrived with $1,000 and dreams of making a name in the film industry.

But things were not that simple.

The couple lived in an apartment with four other families in order to make ends meet. And instead of getting their big break, Nancy Nui became pregnant, and the couple needed to find paying jobs quickly. They turned to the restaurant industry.

Another art form

Jimmy Niu became a busboy at a Chinese restaurant in New York.

"The Chinese restaurants in New York are famous for their quality," he says.

The weather, however, was not to their liking. The couple decided New York was too cold. They moved to San Francisco in 1975, where Jimmy Niu became the general manager at Szechwan Restaurant and his wife found work as a waitress at China First in Palo Alto.

As their knowledge of the food industry grew, they decided to open their own place.

The Nuis moved to Cupertino in 1976 and partnered with another family as owners of Yushiang Restaurant in Sunnyvale.

After creative differences among the partners over food and presentation, the Nius went out on their own.

Once again, they found work at local Chinese restaurants and used the time to hone their skills.

The couple decided to give restaurant ownership another shot and began searching for a location.

"We found the perfect location in a small space in the quiet neighborhood of Willow Glen," Jimmy Niu says.

They bought it and went to work.

"The space was formerly a Korean restaurant and dimly lit," Sophia Niu says.

The space was small, but the Nius were confident. They installed track lighting, oil paintings and new Chinese decorations.

The restaurant on Lincoln Avenue opened in 1982 and was named after the country where the couple met, Taiwan.

From Nancy Niu's father as chef to 8-year-old Sophia Niu handing out menus to people walking by, the restaurant had several generations working together.

Within two years, business was booming and the Chinese restaurant was packed with people waiting for a table.

As business kept increasing, the Nius sold their home in Cupertino and purchased a residence in Saratoga in 1987.

Soon after, the family realized it was time to expand the small restaurant. In 1991, the couple purchased the stationery store adjacent to the restaurant and added a second room.

Along with the food, Jimmy Niu's flower arrangements have made an impact on customers' lives as well.

Once a week since the restaurant opened, he makes a trip to San Francisco, where he picks up fresh flowers from Hawaii.

"There are people in the community that make it a tradition to always come in on the days he arranges the flowers," Sophia Niu says.

Prosperity, longevity

Although the restaurant was initially started as a family business, not everyone wanted to stay in the kitchen.

"I decided a while ago that I wanted to do my own thing, that I didn't want to work in the family restaurant," Sophia Niu says. "So I went to UC-Berkeley, became a teacher and taught for nine years."

But something changed.

"My boyfriend proposed to me and as we were planning the wedding, my parents came up to me," she says. "They didn't ask for help, but they did tell me that they were uncertain about their future and the restaurant's future."

It was then that Sophia Niu realized what she wanted to do.

"It was time to come back in to the family business," she says.

She made her decision last July; three days after her honeymoon, she was back working at the restaurant.

"I am just picking up where my parents left off," she says. "I am not starting from scratch. The success was already there when I got it."

Niu says that the only way to decide to come back is when you want to and are ready to dedicate yourself.

Dedication has been part of Niu's daily routine. She commutes every day from Alameda to the restaurant, but she hopes to find a home in the area soon.

"The customers are comforted by seeing me back," she says. "They don't like changes, and because of all the businesses opening, closing and changing hands on Lincoln Avenue, the fact that I'm still here is comforting to them."

Niu plans to keep what the restaurant does well the same and bring in a few new ideas of her own.

The newest idea came to her shortly after her wedding.

"We have been offering catering, and it has steadily started to grow," she says.

She also wants to cater weddings.

"Since I decided to come back to the family business while I was doing the wedding preparations, it seemed like a good fit," Niu says.

Over the years, Taiwan has become a place where families could eat dinner, businessmen and women could have meetings and large events, such as rehearsal dinners, could take place.

The restaurant staff also sees their place of employment as an extension of their family.

"People like the environment and tend to stay for a long time," Sophia Niu says. "They get to see things change, and ultimately it's like a family. We look after one another and address each other as brother or sister."

The family feeling at the restaurant extends to the customers who frequent the restaurant.

"We've seen people that are in college come in over time, propose to their loved one and years later bring in their first kids," Sophia Niu says. "We've even received wedding invitations."

Many widowed and elderly customers frequent the restaurant because it was their spouses' favorite eatery. For them, the establishment has become a haven of memories.

For others, it's the faces that make the difference.

"There's a woman that swears by our soups and my mom," Sophia Niu says. "She came in one day and came up to me, pointed at my mom and said, 'That's the lady who cures my colds.'"

The family adds new features as it brings back ideas from its travels in the Far East, from China to Mongolia, always seeking out what's new and popular in Chinese cuisine.

"Sometimes people don't think we're a Chinese restaurant because of the variety of foods we serve," Sophia Niu says. "But all our food is part of Chinese cuisine. We just want to give customers what they've never had."

Taiwan Restaurant is located at 1306 Lincoln Ave. Restaurant hours are Sunday through Thursday from 11:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. for lunch, 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner, Friday and Saturday 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. for lunch and 5-9:30 p.m. for dinner. Brunch is available on Sunday only.