Peter Chang was once an elusive chef who worked under aliases in Fairfax and Alexandria kitchens, but he has now found success and fame with his growing restaurant chain. Chang was born into a farm family in China but changed his destiny by attending culinary school. He now proudly attaches his name to his restaurants, having overcome obstacles of hiding in kitchens and fleeing when attention grew too strong.

1. has assumed the role of delivery man,
among other job titles for the day. He
and his wife, Lisa, a decorated pastry
chef, have plotted a course from their
apartment in Rockville Town Square,
site of the chef’s next restaurant, to
several other Peter Chang eateries
already in operation. The agenda?
Drop off newly printed menus as well
PETER CHANG CONTINUED ON E6
rant chain that keeps expanding year
after year.
As he steers his late-model Mer-
cedes SUV, the chef acts oblivious to
any labels attached to him. On a cold
Friday in late February, Chang, 52,
The pursuit of Chang soon became
anall-consumingstoryamongexotic-
food hunters: a tale of obsession,
devotion and love for one chef’s au-
thentic Chinese fare. The chase nar-
rative transformed a Hubei province
farm boy with minimal English lan-
guage skills into an American cult
figure, an image that, years later, still
clings to the chef despite his restau-
BY TIM CARMAN
For years after he left the Chinese
Embassy, Peter Chang seemed more
ghost than chef, hiding in Fairfax and
Alexandria kitchens under assumed
names, often quick to flee when his
cooking generated too much atten-
tion. He’d rarely, if ever, leave a for-
warding address.
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WINE
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FIRST BITE
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Now you see him ...
PHOTOS BY JAY WESTCOTT FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Chang cooks in his Virginia Beach restaurant. He plans
to open a second eatery in that city this summer.
The chef lights up the kitchen. Born into a farm family,
Chang changed his destiny by going to culinary school.
Chang shows his “wok hand,” the skin cracked and
calloused from years of gripping hot handles.
Once-elusive chef Peter Chang, who cooked
in the shadows and enraptured a cult of
followers, has found his place in the spotlight.
Peter Chang
once worked
under aliases,
but now he
proudly
attaches his
name to his
growing string
of restaurants.
BY MARK GUARINO
Special to The Washington Post
Rick Blount took over as chief
executive of Antoine’s Restaurant in
March 2005 with big plans. First he
would modernize the accounting
methods; then he would install a
computer network. Only after that
would he introduce new ways to get
younger people through the doors to
experience the cuisine the French
Quarter institution has made fa-
mous around the world: oysters
Rockefeller, escargots a la bourgui-
gnonne, souffleed potatoes, baked
Alaska and more.
But fate had other plans. Five
months after he took charge, Blount
says, “the world came to an end.”
Hurricane Katrina hit, covering 80
percent of the city in water and
disrupting hundreds of thousands of
lives. At Antoine’s, the storm felled a
dining room ceiling, toppled walls
and collapsed floors. Total cost of the
damage there: $16 million.
“I thought for sure we had to tear
the building down,” he says.
Blount is more than Antoine’s
CEO. He is also a fifth-generation
representative of one of New Or-
leans’s most revered institutions,
which in 2015 is sharing an anniver-
sary year with Katrina. Antoine’s,
which calls itself the oldest family-
run restaurant in America in contin-
uous operation, is 175. The past
decade has been spent not just
emerging from Katrina’s wrath, but
moving past it altogether.
“Antoine’s set the standard for
every restaurant after them,” says
ANTOINE'S CONTINUED ON E4
MORE RECIPES Crispy Lemon Fish E2 Chinese Cabbage With Black Pepper and Garlic E2 Chicken With Provençal White Bean and Vegetable Ragout E8 Cantucci di Prato ONLINE, PLUS MORE AT WASHINGTONPOST.COM/RECIPES
Above all, Antoine’s is about family
ARCHIVE PHOTOS/GETTY IMAGES
A view of
Antoine’s
Restaurant in
New Orleans,
circa 1900.
Today the
restaurant is
still owned by
the family of the
man who
founded it 175
years ago.
The iconic New Orleans
restaurant survives
by honoring its roots
DIY
Weeknight dinners
are made infinitely easier
when you have jars
of flavorful mushroom confit
at the ready. E5
RECIPES
l Pompano Pontchartrain E8
l Crevettes Remoulade E8
RECIPE
l Peter Chang’s Bamboo Flounder
E8