After 35 years of operating Peking Kitchen in the Original Farmers Market at Third and Fairfax, husband-and-wife team Tony and Annie Zou, served their last customers Thursday afternoon.
CD5 Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky stopped by to present the Zou’s with a commendation from the city for all their years of service to the community joining Stan Savage, President and CEO of the Gilmore Company, owner and operator of the Orginal Farmers Market, who presented the Zous with a commemorative shopping cart.
Peking Kitchen was a mainstay of the Market serving traditional Chinese dishes for nearly fifty years. Annie and Tony both grew up in the same town outside of Hong Kong, immigrated to the US with their respective families, and met in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s. Tony worked for Annie’s Aunt Betty Wan who opened Peking Kitchen in 1974. Wan worked in her father’s restaurant in Canton, China before immigrating to Los Angeles.
Annie and Tony took over the restaurant when Betty retired in 1989. Peking Kitchen has been a family tradition for over fifty years with three generations of family members working in the kitchen and serving customers. Longtime customer Elyse Wyman told us Annie created a special dish for her called Peking Rice, a delicious combination of chicken, Â meat, veggies, and rice.
Later this fall, popular Monterey Park shop Noodle Art will take over the former Peking Kitchen location. Owner Stephen Sang told us he’s very excited about taking over the beloved space with a new restaurant. This will be Noodle Art’s second location.
