Shirley Chung of ‘Top Chef’ pivoted her business and became a voice against anti-Asian hate

  • Date: 14-May-2021
  • Source: CNBC
  • Sector:Economy
  • Country:Middle East
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Shirley Chung of ‘Top Chef’ pivoted her business and became a voice against anti-Asian hate

When the pandemic hit, chef and reality TV star Shirley Chung quickly pivoted her restaurant business to manage through the crisis. Dealing with anti-Asian hate was another matter. As she heard about alarming and hate crimes happening around the country recently, including the of Asian descent near Atlanta in March, Chung felt a need to speak out. "Everything that was happening was hitting so close to our hearts," the 44-year-old said of herself and the chef community in Los Angeles. Chung, who was a finalist on Bravo's reality show " ," also endured incidents at the Culver City, California-restaurant, , that she co-owns with her husband. Her non-regular diners began to question its cleanliness, despite seeing tables sanitized in front of them. The back door was graffitied. In response, Chung added extra cleaning services and installed security cameras so that her customers and staff felt safe. More recently, someone stole a to-go order right off the counter, threatened her husband, Jimmy Lee, and screamed racist remarks. "That actually made me want to be even more vocal and really share my experience," said Chung, who was born in Beijing and immigrated to the U.S. at age 17. While the couple's parents