P. F. Chang's with Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino

"P. F. Chang's with Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino" is Episode 168 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "P. F. Chang's with Jessica McKenna and Zach Reino" was released on August 23, 2018.

## Synopsis

The talented and hilarious Jessica McKenna & Zach Reino (*Off Book: The Improvised Musical*) join the 'boys for a review of Pan-Asian bistro P.F. Chang's. Before diving to the review, we talk about musical jingles in fast food commercials, and Zach's previous employment at the restaurant. Plus, a musical edition of Fake Chews.

## Nick's intro

In 1920, Cecilia Sun Yun Chiang was born to a wealthy, educated family in Beijing. One of twelve children raised in a 50-room mansion staffed by a platoon of servants, Chiang's pampered childhood was in stark contrast with an early adulthood spent in flight. During World War II, the Japanese occupation of China forced Chiang to flee her family home and later led to her working as a spy for the Allies. After the Armistice of 1945, the Maoist cultural revolution of 1949 made remaining in China risky for her upper-class family and she fled the country to evade the Communist regime's flattening economic policies.

Chiang and her kin then spent a decade in post-war Japan before moving to San Francisco in 1960, where she opened a restaurant in the city's thriving Chinatown neighborhood. Unsatisfied by her competitors, who she viewed as offering dumbed-down dishes to cater to American palettes, Chiang boldly built her menu around authentic Northern Chinese recipes - a decision that would turn her restaurant, The Mandarin, into a San Francisco icon.

Aside from its menu, Chiang further defied convention by decking out The Mandarin in elegant, regal decor, creating a fine-dining establishment that could stand aside the ritziest French restaurants, in time attracting a celebrity clientele and expanding locations into SF's traditionally white neighborhoods. In the midst of building a restaurant as an Asian woman business owner, in an era when both were rare, Chiang also raised two children, and her son, Philip, followed the matriarch into the family business, managing her restaurant in Beverly Hills.

While his ex-pat mother had dedicated her career to offering authenticity, Philip was eager to capitalize on accessibility and, in 1993, he collaborated with another successful restaurateur, Paul Fleming, to open an American-Chinese eatery in Scottsdale, Arizona. Paul and Philip named their business by combining their own names, simplifying the spelling and pronunciation of Philip's surname to make it more readable for its American clientele. As its menu and number of locations expanded, the concept folded in the Pan-Asian trend, combining the disparate cuisines of China, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam into a crowd-pleasing continental blur.

Today, with over 300 locations worldwide, the restaurant has had a hand in expanding mainstream acceptance of Asian flavors in the West, and in newly-opened locations in China, where curiosity for an American interpretation of Chinese food is drawing crowds.

Today, 25 years after its founding, and 60 years after The Mandarin opened in San Francisco, Paul Fleming and the son of Cecilia Chiang continue to make beautiful music together.

There's a Pan-Asian chain that serves everythang
So grab your BFF and make your way... to P. F. Chang's
P. F. Chang's mmmmmm*

This week on *Doughboys*, P. F. Chang's.

## Fork rating

* Kung Pao Shrimp
 Mike Mitchell
* Strawberry Ginger Margarita
* Sesame Chicken
 Jessica McKenna
* Orange Peel Shrimp
 Zach Reino
* Long Life Noodles & Prawns
 shared
* Crispy Green Beans
* Shrimp Tempura Roll
* Banana Spring Rolls
* The Great Wall Of Chocolate

The Doughboys also shared their main entrees, family-style.

## Fake Chews 📰

In Fake Chews, Nick normally presents food-related trivia and the others guess whether they are true or not.

Since this was the *Off Book* edition, for this episode, he gave a music-based quiz based on food jingles from the '70s. Nick offers two options and they have to guess which one is real.

## #hashtags

* #LotteryForTheKids
* #LiveOrDie

## Related Episodes

* 205. P.F. Chang's 2
* 73. Red Lobster 1
* 100. Nugget Power Hour
* DD22. Songs of Summer
* 168. P.F. Chang's
* 240. A&W Canada
* 293. Pie Noon Finals
* 331. Lemonade
* DD. R U Talkin' JRPG's To Me?
* 240. A&W Canada

## Photos (via @doughboyspod)

Japanese Old FashionedChang's Lettuce WrapsCrispy Green BeansShrimp Tempura RollSesame ChickenKung Pao ShrimpThe Great Wall of ChocolateBanana Spring Rolls