Chef Interview: Four Seasons Owners on Lunar New Year
One of the most popular restaurants among Chowbus customers is Four Seasons Dumpling Chinese Restaurant (“Four Seasons”). After a recent interview with co-owner Zhao, it’s easy to see why: the passion Zhao and her husband have poured into their restaurant since it opened a few years ago can be tasted with each bite of food. In our conversation, Zhao offered an inside look into what it’s like to start a business as a Chinese immigrant, what she’s learning from working with her husband every day, and what her favorite customs (and foods!) are for Chinese New Year celebrations.
四季饺子馆是Chowbus最受顾客欢迎的餐厅之一。 在采访餐厅老板娘赵姐后，很容易就能明白他家店受人欢迎的原因。自从几年前开业以来，赵姐和她的丈夫就对餐厅充满了热情，这在他们卖出的每一份餐点中都可以体现出来。 在我们的对话中，赵姐讲述了作为中国移民做生意的难处、夫妻一起打拼的点点滴滴、以及她最喜欢的农历新年的习俗和美食。
Can you briefly introduce yourself and your family?
可不可以介绍一下自己和你的家人
I am Zhao, and run the restaurant with my husband Yuan. We are from Tieling, China originally. We now live in Chicago with our teenage daughter. My husband has been in the U.S. since 2012 and I came with our daughter in 2014.
My husband started to learn how to cook when he was around 16 years old at a five star hotel. Then he went to a Korean cooking school to further advance his skills and experiences. Since he has over 20 years of cooking experience now, his taste buds are particularly sensitive and that’s one of the reasons why his food is always delicious. Of course, he is naturally talented in cooking but also in managing the business.
我是春芳，我和我丈夫袁师傅一起经营四季饺子馆。 我们夫妻俩来自中国铁岭。袁师傅2012年就来到美国了，两年后我带着几岁的女儿和他在芝加哥汇合，随后一直在芝加哥生活。
袁师傅从小就有着超过常人的发达味觉，在16岁左右时被选中在一家五星级酒店学习烹饪技巧并留下担任厨师，那时候他做的都是最高规格的大餐。随后，由于对精进厨艺的渴望，他去了韩国著名烹饪学校，进一步提高了他的技能和经验。 他凭借着20多年的烹饪经验，和出色的管理才能，整个餐馆都被他经营的有声有色
What led you to move to Chicago?
为什么从中国来了芝加哥？
My husband came to the U.S. to seek for a better life and decided to settle in Chicago as he already had family here. He arrived by himself first while my daughter and I remained in China for another two years. Tieling is much colder than Chicago so it hasn’t required much adjustment weather wise, but it took time to adjust to the ingredients as we have high standards and there are some ingredients from China that are not available in the U.S.
袁师傅和我都是来美国寻求更幸福的生活。袁师傅在芝加哥有亲人，所以他比我早来一段时间。在度过了充满思念的两年后，我带着女儿来芝加哥和他团聚，现在芝加哥就是我的第二故乡。相比铁岭，芝加哥的气候还算温和，所以我们并没有不适应的情况。但因为袁师傅和我对食材的高标准，我们适应了一段时间才寻找的合我们口味的食材。
What did you do after you settled down in Chicago?
到了芝加哥后，是做什么工作的？
Yuan was hired as a chef at a Chinese restaurant through the help of an agency. It was difficult for me to find a job because I didn’t speak any English. I attended English classes for 3 months to learn the basics, then I worked at a nail salon despite having no prior experience. That’s a common place for Chinese women to work upon moving to the U.S.
来到美国后，袁师傅由于有很好的手艺，就一直从事着老本行--餐饮行业。而我，初来美国，我还是有一些语言障碍，上了3个月的英文课之后我就开始了我的美甲行业的工作。
Why did you and your husband open Four Seasons?
当初是为什么开四季饺子馆呢？
When Yuan was working at another restaurant, he was working 12-hours a day and was not able to spend quality time with the family. We barely saw each other and our young daughter. That’s when we decided to open a restaurant in order for us to spend more time together as a family, even if that means we will still be working but at least we can physically see each other. We decided to open a dumpling restaurant not because we had a secret recipe but simply because our daughter likes dumplings.
Initially, we debated among several names for the restaurant including using our daughter’s name. However, after consulting friends and family, we decided to name it Four Seasons. The name is meant to represent that our daughter can enjoy dumplings all year throughout four seasons.
一句话来说就是夫妻开店能让全家在一起的时间变得更多。袁师傅和我各自在之前的工作中，每天的工作时间都很长，用于陪伴家庭的时间就显得不很充足。夫妻一起开店，每天在一起的时间就会变多。每天下午，我也能在店里多陪陪我的女儿。选择饺子馆是因为女儿很喜欢吃饺子，为了她每天都能吃到新鲜美味的饺子。
最初，我们想了好几个店名，包括使用女儿的名字作为店名。 但是，在咨询了亲朋好友之后，我们决定将其命名为“四季”。 这个名字是希望我们的女儿可以在一年四季中都可以享用饺子。
What challenges, if any, did you encounter at the beginning?
您开店的时候有没有遇到什么困难? 其中有没有什么重大突破才使您家的生意变得众所周知？
It was really difficult to get started when we didn’t even know English. We had to ask our friends to review legal contracts for us because we didn’t understand them otherwise. There were many things that we had to learn ourselves especially when it came to marketing. It also took time to perfect our recipes. We are really grateful to our friends and family who provided us with feedback and helped us along the way.
当初我们有语言障碍时，经营餐馆真的很难上手。多亏了家人和朋友们的帮助和支持。我们不得不请朋友为我们审查法律合同，帮助我们翻译。 我们在经营餐馆的过程中学习了很多东西，特别是在营销方面。 我们花了很长时间去完善餐厅的食谱。
What brings you joy from operating Four Seasons?
经营四季饺子馆最开心的地方是什么？
It brings me joy to hear positive feedback from customers such as when they tell me our dishes are delicious. It has also been fulfilling to see our restaurant grow overtime.
听到客户的积极反馈（例如当顾客告诉我我们的菜很美味时），这就是我们最开心的时刻。 当然，餐厅越忙，生意越兴隆，我们也越开心。
What is it like to own a business with your spouse? How do you divide up responsibilities?
与自己的家人一起开店是什么样的感觉？一家人是如何分工的？
I am responsible for more of the social aspect of the business such as communicating with customers, while my husband is in charge of the kitchen and general business operations. Something that might be different because we are a couple is that my husband often tries to hide issues and worries from me regarding the business, but I can always tell.
Of course, there will be arguments and things we disagree on when it comes to the restaurant. But since we have been married for a long time, we already know how to deal with it when it happens. Also, we try our best to minimize discussions about the restaurant after we get home. We usually do a brief summary like how business was overall for the day, but then we try to relax and focus on our personal lives.
我主外，例如处理客户；而袁师傅主内，负责厨房和餐馆的整体运营。 关键时刻我还是听袁师傅的。袁师傅非常有男子气概，很多困难的事都是自己扛着。
当然，在经营餐厅中会有争论和意见分歧。 但我们都老夫老妻了，所以这都不是事，小小的摩擦往往很快就能解决。关于餐厅的事我们尽量都会在餐厅解决，到家后，我们会尽力减少有关餐厅的讨论，这样才能把工作和生活分开来。
This past year has affected many people, especially restaurants. How has Covid impacted you, the restaurant, and the family?
这一年疫情对您的生意和生活都有怎么样的影响，您是怎么度过的？
We had to make some adjustments at the beginning especially around our staffing and hours. Despite that, our business hasn’t been heavily impacted and we are continuing to grow thanks to our loyal customers. Even though restaurants are able to open for dine-in again, we have decided to keep it as delivery / pick up only for safety reasons.
我们进行了一些调整，尤其是在人员配备和工作时间方面。 尽管疫情很严重，我们的业务并没有受到重大影响，很庆幸我们有很多忠实的客户，让我们的生意得到进一步发展。近期，即使芝加哥的餐厅逐渐恢复堂食，我们还是出于安全考虑只做外卖/自取。
Can you talk about how you spend Chinese New Year? How is CNY different in the U.S vs. in China?
你们家一般过年有什么习俗？在美国过年跟在国内有什么分别？
Chinese New Year for the restaurant is always one of our busiest days, but we would still make time to eat lunch with our employees and dinner with our family. We would also give out red packets to employees to thank them for their efforts during the year.
Chinese New Year celebrations cannot be separated from food. Our Chinese New Year meals typically must include chicken, duck, and fish. I would also make some pickled vegetables to help balance out the meal from all the meat. In Northern China, we like to roast chicken and enjoy it with beer which creates a joyous occasion with family and friends. The chicken tastes even better the following day. Of course, there are always dumplings at the table even if you are not wealthy.
Aside from food, we would also put up CNY decorations, set fireworks, and light up lanterns. But the most important thing is to have the family together and spend time with each other.
Chinese New Year in the U.S. is very different from China because it's not a holiday that most people celebrate here so it’s not as festive. It’s also lacking since we don’t have a lot of family and friends around us.
餐厅在过年期间是最忙碌的，但我们会抽出时间与员工共进午餐，并与家人共进晚餐。我们还将向员工分发红包，以感谢他们在这一年中的努力。
农历新年庆祝活动不能与食物分开。我家的过年大餐通常必须包括鸡，鸭和鱼。我还会做一些腌菜，以帮助平衡大鱼大肉的油腻。我们家还会用年前就准备好的烧鸡和啤酒招待前往百年的客人，几杯啤酒，几块加热后的烧鸡下肚，和朋友一起享受欢乐时光。当然，过年桌子上压轴的就是饺子。
除食物外，我们还会布置有年味的装饰品，贴对联，请财神，点灯笼等的。但是，最重要的是让家人在一起，并互相陪伴。
在美国过年与在中国过年有很大的不同，因为很多亲人朋友都不在这边，所以不是那么热闹。
One of the most popular foods for CNY is dumplings, and your restaurant is one of the top places for that in Chicago. Do you have any tips for how to make delicious dumplings? What’s your secret?
过年很多人都吃饺子。有没有什么饺子的秘方可以告许大家？
We don’t have any secrets to share. Our recipe has been tweaked and improved many times based on feedback received from friends and customers. We have heard from our customers that they particularly love our soup based dumplings, for which we boil the broth down to its collagen and mix it with the dumpling filling.
制作饺子没有秘方，只有对味道的千锤百炼。我们通过亲戚，朋友，客人的反馈对我家的十多种水饺进行了成百次的调整，最终得出我们最期望的口味。 例如，我们最受好评的灌汤水饺，就是通过多次尝试，最终确定为采用往饺子馅料中加入由上等肉皮熬制的胶原蛋白，从而大幅提升饺子的汤汁饱满度，为客人大受欢迎。
What’s your favorite dumpling?
你们最喜欢那一种饺子？只能选一种哦
Zhao: Lamb and carrot. Lamb is especially good for the winter because it helps to warm up your body. Carrot is good for your eyesight. Lamb and carrot are great compliments to each other.
Yuan: Pork, shrimp & chives. This is a classic dumpling flavor. It has meat, seafood and vegetable so what’s not to love?
赵：羊肉胡萝卜馅，我比较注重养生，从肉的温热属性上来说，羊肉是温性的，在冬天吃特别有益于为身子驱寒。同事，胡萝卜富含多重维生素和胡萝卜素，对人的视力、心脏、血管来说都十分有益。从口感上来说，羊肉和胡萝卜也是绝配。
袁：韭菜鲜虾猪肉馅，我们也叫这个猪肉三鲜馅，是经典的饺子味。既有肉，又有海鲜和蔬菜，营养均衡，汁多味美，没有人会不喜欢的。
Lastly, what are some popular dishes from your restaurant other than dumplings? If you can only choose one dish, what would you recommend to customers?
最后，除了饺子之外，餐厅最受欢迎的几道菜？对新客户最推荐的是什么菜？
We recently launched two new dishes that we would love for our customers to try: 1. Pickled cabbage pot, and 2. Spicy whole fish pot. We buy fresh whole fishes to create this dish, and customers can select how spicy they would like it.
Other than dumplings, I would also recommend our stewed meat ball with mixed vegetables, and braised chicken.
我们最近推出了两款我们希望客户尝试的新菜：1.东北酸菜锅 2.铁锅炖活鱼。我们都是采用最新鲜的食材烹饪，尤其是鱼。我们是从生鲜市场买的整条活鱼现处理，每一条鱼都保证新鲜。
除了饺子，我还推荐我们的狮子头丸子，以及烧鸡。
