By Elena Kadvany
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I am a perpetually hungry twenty-something journalist, born and raised in Menlo Park and currently working at the Palo Alto Weekly as education and youth staff writer. I graduated from USC with a major in Spanish and a minor in journalism. Though my first love is journalism, food is a close second. I am constantly on the lookout for new restaurants to try, building an ever-expanding "to eat" list. As a journalist, I'm always trolling news sources and social media websites with an eye for local food news, from restaurant openings and closings to emerging food trends. When I was a teenager growing up in Menlo Park, I always drove up to the city on weekends with the singular purpose of finding a better meal than I could at home. But in the past year or so, the Peninsula's food culture has been totally transformed, with many new restaurants opening and a continuous stream of San Francisco restaurants coming south to open Peninsula outposts. Don't navigate this food boom hungry and alone! Feed me your tips on new chefs and eats and together we'll share them with the broader community.
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After more than two decades in the restaurant business, the owner of Hangen Szechuan in downtown Mountain View has decided to retire.
Kent Yu will close his Chinese restaurant at 134 Castro St. this weekend. His older daughter, Erica, said he's been mulling retirement on and off for several years.
"It's a very tiring job. My mom's probably ready for him to hang out with her at home and travel together," she said.
The downstairs dining room at Hangen Szechuan Restaurant in downtown Mountain View. Photo courtesy Erica Yu.
Her parents, who live in Los Altos, came to California from southern China in the 1980s. They had both been chemists in China, but couldn't afford to attend graduate school in the United States so took other jobs, Erica said. Kent worked in insurance and other fields before opening Hangen Szechuan in 1993.
Erica grew up at the restaurant, doing homework after school, learning math by manning the cash register and helping to make fresh egg rolls, dumplings and potstickers. Though the menu has changed over the years, the tea-smoked duck remains one of her favorite dishes. She now lives in Hawaii and "never leave(s) home without some tea-smoked duck in my luggage."
Hangen Szechuan's last day of business will be Sunday, Sept. 30.
