Susanna Foo

Susanna Foo is a Chinese chef best known for her work in Chinese/French fusion at her self titled Susanna Foo restaurant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has also owned and run other restaurants in Philadelphia and Atlantic City, and is a two-time James Beard Foundation Award winner. Career Susanna Foo was born in the Inner Mongolia area of China, and grew up in the Shanxi province. Her father was a General in the National Revolutionary Army, and so during the latter stages of the Chinese Civil War, she moved to live on Taiwan. While in college in Taiwan studying for a bachelor's degree in history she met, and would later marry in 1966, E-Hsin Foo. Together they moved to the United States, so he could study at Carnegie-Mellon University. Initially, she worked as a librarian. She was not taught how to cook by her mother, and took a cooking course in Taiwan prior to travelling to the United States as part of her preparations. They moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1979, to help his family run their Chinese restaurant Hu-Nan. Prior to this, Susanna had never worked in a professional kitchen. When Jacob Rosenthal of The Culinary Institute of America dined at the restaurant, he was inspired by her work. He arranged for her to dine at the best Chinese restaurants in New York City, and for consultants to train her in French cuisine, as well as inviting her to attend the Culinary Institute itself. She would later dedicate her first cook book to Rosenthal, saying that he changed her life. Foo decided to move away from traditional Chinese food, when in 1987, she opened her self titled Susanna Foo restaurant, serving a fusion of Chinese and French cuisines. It was named the best new restaurant of the year by Esquire magazine, and Food & Wine magazine named her the best new chef in 1989. In 1995, her first cook book was published, entitled Susanna Foo Chinese Cuisine: The Fabulous Flavors and Innovative Recipes of North America's Finest Chinese Cook.