“He lives under a lucky star,” said his sister Fanny Yan. But when the shelter-in-place order took effect and locals were scrambling to find places for takeout, he was already set up. Soon after opening Creek House in 2019, he had joined DoorDash, and other meal delivery services, even though friends and family told him he was crazy and would lose a lot of money. Credit: Creek House Dim Sum RestaurantĪlthough Creek House initially lost 80% of its business when the pandemic hit, Chow’s advance planning paid off. The Chows serve premium teas - jasmine, pu-erh and chrysanthemum - imported from a relative in Kaiping, who also owns dim sum restaurants all over Canton. They’re also responsible for hiring and have found five expert dim sum chefs trained in China who make things the old-fashioned way - all by hand - including har gow, with large crunchy shrimp generous, moist shumai baked barbeque pork buns with an irresistible crispy crust and cute piggy buns with sweet cream filling. Now that the Chows are older and can’t maneuver the heavy woks, they do less cooking themselves, but still work as servers, oversee food preparations and order restaurant supplies. A dim sum feast from Creek House Dim Sum Restaurant. Creek House’s specialty is, you guessed it, dim sum. They also wanted to honor their hometown of Kaiping, which is surrounded by streams and rivers. They called it Creek House after its location and the painting of a lovely pond with lotus flowers that they inherited from the previous restaurant in that location. But two years ago, at the age of 70, they started a new restaurant venture, in Walnut Creek, much larger than their previous spots. They enjoyed traveling around China, Europe and Russia with groups of friends and went on a few cruises. When the couple both reached age 65, they retired after a career running several restaurants around the Bay Area that all specialized in Cantonese cuisine.
Ahhh, Golden Wok! Now that will hold a lot of gold.”
“It had to be golden…something,” he recalls. Chow remembers trying to pick an auspicious name that would attract financial success. In 1984, after working for years at Cantonese restaurants, Chow and his wife were finally able to open their first restaurant. “Ahhh, Golden Wok! Now that will hold a lot of gold.” - Sheke Chow Their first date was at The Golden Dragon, a classic San Francisco dim sum restaurant. “But I as soon as I saw her, I fell in love with her,” he said of his wife of 44 years, Connie Chow. Three years later, his family matched him with a woman from his hometown in China. He started working as a waiter at a restaurant on Jackson Street. “Experience is more important than certificates,” they told him. Before he left Hong Kong at age 23, Chow graduated from bartender school and hotel manager school so that he could qualify for an advanced position.īut when Chow arrived in San Francisco Chinatown, the restaurant owners there just laughed at his precious certificates. “We called it ‘The Golden Mountain,’” he said, imagining it would be a beautiful place where it would be easy to get rich. Over the years, he continued to work in Hong Kong restaurants, while dreaming of one day moving to America. His first job was as a cart pusher in a dim sum restaurant. At the age of 12, Chow attended school at night and worked during the day to bring in some money for the family. The family was so poor that eight of them slept in one room and they shared their bathroom and kitchen with 30 other tenants. When he was seven, Chow’s family moved to Hong Kong from their home in Guangdong Province, in Southern China. (at North Broadway), Walnut Creekĭim sum was destined to play a crucial role in Sheke Chow’s life. Credit: Creek House Dim Sum Restaurantġ291 Parkside Dr.
Sheke and Connie Chow, owners of Creek House Dim Sum Restaurant in Walnut Creek.
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