Peter Chang (chef)

{{Short description|American chef}} {{Infobox chef | name = Peter Chang 张鹏亮 | image = | caption = | birth_date = 1963 | birth_place = Hubei, China | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Lisa Chang | style = | education = | ratings = | restaurants = Peter Chang's China Grill, Charlottesville, VA (opened March 2011) Peter Chang China Café, Short Pump, Virginia (opened February 2012) Peter Chang Restaurant, Williamsburg, VA (opened September 2012) Peter Chang's China Café, Fredericksburg, Virginia (opened May 2013) Peter Chang's China Bistro, Virginia Beach, Virginia (opened December 2013) Peter Chang's China Café, Arlington, Virginia (opened March 2015) Peter Chang's China Bistro, Rockville, Maryland (opened April 2015) Peter Chang Richmond, Scott's Addition Historic District, Richmond, Virginia (opened summer 2016) Q by Peter Chang, Bethesda, Maryland (opened May 2017) Peter Chang's, Stamford, Connecticut (opened September 2018) Mama Chang, Fairfax, Virginia (opened February 2019) NiHao, Baltimore, Maryland (opened July 2020) Chang Chang, Washington, DC (opened October 2022) Peter Chang Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland (opened June 2023) NiHao Arlington, Arlington, Virginia (opened April 2024) | prevrests = Peter Chang College Park, College Park, Maryland (August 2025 - May 2026) China Star, Fairfax, Virginia (2005) TemptAsian, Alexandria (February 2006 - May 2006) China Gourmet/Szechuan Boy, Fairfax, Virginia (May 2006 - July 2006) Tasty China, Marietta, Georgia (September 2006 - 2007) Hong Kong House, Knoxville, Tennessee (2008) Taste of China, Charlottesville, Virginia (2009 - 2010) Tasty China, Atlanta (2010) | television = | awards = | website = http://www.peterchangarlington.com/ }}

'''Peter Chang''' ({{zh|s=张鹏亮|t=張鵬亮}}) is a Chinese chef specializing in Sichuan cuisine who is known for his restaurants in Virginia and other states in the Southeastern United States.

==Early life and emigration to America== Chang was born in 1963 in a farming village Hubei Province, attending culinary school in Wuhan. He was assigned to work on a cruise ship on the Yangtze river, where he met his wife, Lisa. After working in luxury hotels and winning national cooking competitions in China, Chang was encouraged to take the foreign service cooking test, earning a two-year contract to work in the Embassy of China in Washington, D.C.<ref name="newyorker">{{Citation | last = Trillin | first = Calvin | title = Where's Chang? | newspaper = The New Yorker | pages = 26–29 | date = 1 March 2010 | url = https://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/03/01/100301fa_fact_trillin }}</ref><ref name="wapo-2015">{{cite news |last1=Carman |first1=Tim |title=How chef Peter Chang stopped running and started empire-building |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/how-chef-peter-chang-stopped-running-and-started-empire-building/2015/03/16/66ff2378-c750-11e4-aa1a-86135599fb0f_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=March 17, 2015}}</ref>

Chang and his family arrived in the United States in 2001, and during his tenure at the Chinese Embassy he cooked for then-Vice President Hu Jintao. One morning in 2003, just days before they were set to return to China, the Chang family left the embassy with plans to settle in the United States.<ref name="wapo-2015"/><ref name="oxford">{{Citation | last = Kliman | first = Todd | title = Todd Kliman Chases the Perfect Chef | newspaper = Oxford American | date = 24 February 2010 | url = http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2010/feb/24/todd-kliman-chases-perfect-chef/ | access-date = 27 February 2010 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100302145634/http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2010/feb/24/todd-kliman-chases-perfect-chef/ | archive-date = 2 March 2010 }}</ref>

==Disappearances and movement== A map, captioned "The restless chef," accompanying a 2012 Washington Post article about Chang has arrows indicating Chang's movements between cooking positions in ten southeastern U.S. locations in a period of about eight years. It shows a journey from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., to suburban Richmond, via the Virginia suburbs of Washington, suburban Atlanta, Knoxville, and Charlottesville.<ref name="WaPo-2-10-12">{{cite news |last1=Carman |first1=Tim |title=For rock-star chef, central home cooking |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/chef-peter-chang-settles-down-with-richmond-area-restaurant/2012/02/09/gIQAPsFY2Q_story.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=10 February 2012}}</ref>

After leaving the Chinese Embassy, Chang became the chef at a Chinese restaurant, China Star, in Fairfax, Virginia. To avoid Chinese bureaucrats and U.S. immigration officials, he worked under a pseudonym, "Mr. Liu." The restaurant had a typical menu of American Chinese cuisine, but there was also a Chinese language menu with more sophisticated Sichuan cuisine.<ref name="newyorker"/><ref name="wapo-2015"/><ref name="oxford"/>

Chang was discovered by users on the DC-area food website DonRockwell.com and by ''Washington City Paper'' food critic Todd Kliman, and the increasing publicity led Chang to leave China Star for TemptAsian in Alexandria, Virginia. After a review was published in the City Paper in 2005,<ref>{{Citation | title = TemptAsian Cafe, Route 236 in West Alexandria; Chinese in the Grand Mart Shopping Plaza | publisher = donrockwell.com | date = 26 June 2005 | url = http://www.donrockwell.com/index.php?showtopic=466 | access-date = 27 February 2010}}</ref> Chang left TemptAsian for a new restaurant in Fairfax called Szechuan Boy. Kliman wrote a review of the new restaurant in ''Washingtonian'' magazine,<ref>{{Citation | last = Kliman | first = Todd | title = Dining Out | newspaper = The Washingtonian | date = 1 May 2006}}</ref> which prompted Chang to leave Virginia altogether.<ref name="newyorker"/><ref name="wapo-2015"/><ref name="oxford"/>

In September 2006, users on Chowhound found Chang working at Tasty China in Marietta, Georgia.<ref>{{Citation | title = Atlanta, Marietta, Tasty China. Full Report | publisher = Chowhound | date = 16 October 2006 | url = http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/334616 | access-date = 27 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Kessler | first = John | title = Front Burner: Peter Chang in 'New Yorker' | publisher = Access Atlanta | date = 24 February 2010 | url = http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/02/24/front-burner-peter-chang-in-new-yorker-panos-no-show-zazas-bottle-bar/?cxntfid=blogs_food_and_mor | access-date = 27 February 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120308152522/http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/02/24/front-burner-peter-chang-in-new-yorker-panos-no-show-zazas-bottle-bar/?cxntfid=blogs_food_and_mor | archive-date = 8 March 2012 | url-status = dead }}</ref> The chef was gone by the spring of 2007, but in June 2008 he was found working at Hong Kong House in Knoxville, Tennessee. In the fall of 2009, Chang moved to Taste of China in Charlottesville, Virginia, which quickly became a popular destination, with lines extending out the door.<ref name="newyorker"/><ref name="wapo-2015"/><ref name="oxford"/><ref>{{Citation | last = Seider | first = Todd | title = Taste of China Tastes Tasty | newspaper = Virginia Law Weekly | date = 20 February 2010 | url = http://www.lawweekly.org/?module=displaystory&story_id=2788&edition_id=143&format=html | volume = 62 | issue = 18 | access-date = 27 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="thehook">{{Citation | last = McNair | first = Dave | title = The Chang Effect | newspaper = The Hook | date = 23 March 2010 | url = http://www.readthehook.net/68271/chang-effect-wooing-palates-breaking-hearts-and-why-he-left}}</ref>

The March 2010 issue of ''The New Yorker'' featured an article by Calvin Trillin entitled "Where's Chang?", chronicling the chef's movements, Kliman's reviews, and interviewing John Binkley, a retired Washington economist who had eaten at each of Chang's restaurants and become friends with the Chang family.<ref name="newyorker"/> The article brought national recognition to Chang and Taste of China; and by the end of the month he had left the restaurant, citing differences with the owner.<ref name="thehook"/><ref name="wapo-2015"/>

Chang was seen at Tasty China in Georgia in late March 2010, and that December he opened Peter Chang's Tasty China II in Sandy Springs, in northwest Atlanta.<ref>{{Citation | title = Peter Chang the enigmatic chef | url = http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/12/15/peter-chang-the-enigmatic-chef/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101220003528/http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2010/12/15/peter-chang-the-enigmatic-chef/ | archive-date = 20 December 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Fuhrmeister |first1=Chris |title=Tasty China II Closes in Sandy Springs |url=https://atlanta.eater.com/2014/11/3/7149527/peter-changs-tasty-china-2-sandy-springs-closed |work=Eater Atlanta |date=November 3, 2014}}</ref>

==Stability and expansion== In March 2011, Chang opened Peter Chang's China Grill in Charlottesville, partnering with Gen Lee, a Chinese chef and restaurateur who had met Chang while running a sandwich shop next door to Taste of China.<ref> {{Citation | last = Waite | first = Kathy | title = This Just In | newspaper = C'ville | date = 23 February 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.readthehook.net/89122/chang-finally-returns|title=Chang finally returns|last=McNair|first=Dave|date=2 March 2011|work=The Hook|access-date=3 March 2011}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |last1=Wells |first1=Peter |title=Where Peter Chang Cooks, They Will Follow |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/dining/where-peter-chang-cooks-they-will-follow.html |work=The New York Times |date=April 15, 2014}}</ref> Chang and his wife were able to obtain authorization from immigration authorities to work in the United States, and the opening of China Grill marked the end of Chang's saga of short-lived stays in restaurant kitchens.<ref name="wapo-2015"/>

Lee and Chang opened Peter Chang China Café in Short Pump, a suburb of Richmond, Virginia in early 2012.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.richmondmagazine.com/dine/blogs.php?blogID=4d8f3da76daa000fad77b329b7039965|title=My Meal with Peter Chang|last=Fox|first=Brandon|date=7 February 2012|work=Richmond Magazine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202224521/http://www.richmondmagazine.com/dine/blogs.php?blogID=4d8f3da76daa000fad77b329b7039965|archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> In 2012, China Café was named by Bon Appétit as one of the 50 Best New Restaurants in America.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bonappetit.com/restaurants-travel/best-new-restaurants/slideshow/top-50-best-new-restaurants-2012 |title= Bon Appétit's 50 Best New Restaurant Nominees | magazine = Bon Appétit | date = September 2012}}</ref>

In September 2012, Chang opened Peter Chang Cafe in Williamsburg, Virginia on Richmond Road, near the campus of The College of William and Mary.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/all-we-can-eat/post/peter-chang-set-to-open-new-place-in-williamsburg/2012/09/17/8efeb824-00e3-11e2-b260-32f4a8db9b7e_blog.html|title=Peter Chang set to open new place in Williamsburg|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=2 September 2017}}</ref> In May 2013, Chang opened Peter Chang's China Cafe in Fredericksburg, Virginia in the Central Park Shopping Center.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://fredericksburg.patch.com/groups/announcements/p/an--peter-changs-china-caf-opens-to-full-house-including-mayor|title=Peter Chang's China Cafe Opens to Full House|last=Murphy|first=Cher|date=14 May 2013|work=Fredericksburg Patch|access-date=3 July 2013}}</ref>

On March 14, 2015, a restaurant bearing his name opened in Arlington, Virginia's, Lee Harrison Shopping Center.<ref name="wash_Thew">{{Cite news | title = The wait is over: Peter Chang returns to Northern Virginia on Saturday | last = Carman | first = Tim | newspaper = Washington Post | date = 2015-03-09 | access-date = 2015-03-10 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-guide/wp/2015/03/09/the-wait-is-over-peter-chang-returns-to-northern-virginia-on-saturday/ }}</ref> He also opened a restaurant in Rockville, Maryland in the Town Square Plaza on April 15, 2015.<ref name="wash_Pete">{{Cite news | title = Peter Chang will join the fast-casual revolution with Arlington restaurant | last = Carman | first = Tim | newspaper = Washington Post | date = 2015-02-25 | access-date = 2015-03-10 | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/going-out-guide/wp/2015/02/25/peter-chang-will-join-the-fast-casual-revolution-with-arlington-restaurant/ }}</ref>

On June 5, 2016, Chang opened a new eponymous restaurant in the Scott's Addition Historic District of Richmond.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Breijo |first1=Stephanie |title=Peter Chang's New Restaurant Opening Today |url=https://richmondmagazine.com/restaurants-in-richmond/food-news/peter-chang-s-new-restaurant-opens-today-here-s-the-menu/ |work=Richmond Magazine |date=June 3, 2016}}</ref>

The series of restaurants described above, opened since 2010 in partnership with Gen Lee, are now known as "Peter Chang [location]." The group's website lists seven locations: Arlington, Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Short Pump, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg, Virginia; and Rockville, Maryland.<ref name="WaPo-2015">{{cite news |last1=Carman |first1=Tim |title=The wait is over: Peter Chang returns to Northern Virginia on Saturday |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/going-out-guide/wp/2015/03/09/the-wait-is-over-peter-chang-returns-to-northern-virginia-on-saturday/ |access-date=15 February 2021 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=9 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="NYT-2014">{{cite news |last1=Wells |first1=Pete |title=Where Peter Chang Cooks, They Will Follow (Published 2014) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/16/dining/where-peter-chang-cooks-they-will-follow.html |access-date=15 February 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=15 April 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Locations |url=https://peterchangarlington.com/locations/ |website=Peter Chang Restaurants |access-date=15 February 2021}}</ref>

In May 2017, Chang opened a new restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland, Q by Peter Chang, at 4500 East-West Highway, with a "grand opening" scheduled for June 2, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Spiegel|first1=Anna|title=Peter Chang's Highly-Anticipated Flagship Opens With Dim Sum, Peking Duck|url=https://washingtonian.com/2017/05/10/peter-chang-new-chinese-restaurant-open-in-bethesda/|website=Washingtonian|access-date=22 May 2018|date=10 May 2017}}</ref>

In March 2018, Chang opened a restaurant in the Stamford Town Center Mall in Stamford, Connecticut. He opened it in partnership with Bill Xia, a Connecticut businessman who had suggested Stamford as the location of Chang's first northeastern location.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Schott |first1=Paul |title=Peter Chang brings latest restaurant arrival to Stamford mall |url=https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/business/article/Peter-Chang-brings-latest-restaurant-arrival-to-13266521.php |website=www.stamfordadvocate.com |publisher=Stamford Advocate |access-date=7 October 2022}}</ref>

In March 2019, Chang opened a new restaurant in Fairfax, Virginia, Mama Chang, featuring recipes by Chang's wife and his mother. Mama Chang reportedly welcomed 1,000 diners per day on its opening weekend. In May 2019, the Washington Post's restaurant critic, Tom Sietsema, ranked Mama Chang as #1 on his list of the year's 10 best new restaurants in the Washington area.<ref name="Mama-knows">{{cite news |last1=Sietsema |first1=Tom |title=Review {{!}} Mama Chang knows best |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/peter-chang-returns-to-fairfax-with-a-new-star-powered-by-women/2019/04/04/392217ce-5191-11e9-a3f7-78b7525a8d5f_story.html |access-date=5 May 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=1 May 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

In July 2020, Peter and Lisa Chang opened NiHao, in Baltimore.<ref name="NiHao">{{cite news |last1=Sietsema |first1=Tom |title=Review: Say hello to NiHao, yet another prize Chinese restaurant from the Chang family |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/nihao-restaurant-review/2020/10/22/8f1d94c4-1219-11eb-ba42-ec6a580836ed_story.html |access-date=9 November 2020 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

In October 2022, Chang opened Chang Chang, in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., his first restaurant in the District of Columbia.<ref name="WP-Chang-Chang">{{cite news |last1=Sietsema |first1=Tom |title=Review {{!}} Worth the wait: Peter Chang finally opens a Chinese restaurant in D.C. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2022/11/11/chang-chang-restaurant-review-peter/ |access-date=7 March 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=11 November 2022}}</ref>

In May 2024, Chang opened a second iteration of NiHao in Arlington, Virginia's Crystal City neighborhood.<ref>{{cite news | last = Sietsema | first = Tom | title=Small plates rule at two new Chinese restaurants from Peter Chang | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/food/2024/06/14/peter-chang-restaurant-review-chinese-arlington-gaithersburg/ | newspaper = The Washington Post | date = June 14, 2025 }}</ref>

In August 2025, Chang opened Peter Chang Kitchen & Bar in College Park, Maryland.<ref>{{cite web|last1=peterchangkitchen|title=Grand Opening: Peter Chang Kitchen|url=https://www.instagram.com/p/DNavnvrRJzz/|website=Instagram|access-date=21 September 2025|date=16 August 2025}}</ref>

==Awards and media== Chang was a finalist for a James Beard Award in 2016 for Best Chef, Mid-Atlantic.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peifer |first1=Karri |title=Peter Chang named finalist for best chef Mid-Atlantic in James Beard Foundation Awards |url=https://www.richmond.com/food-drink/restaurant-news/peter-chang-named-finalist-for-best-chef-mid-atlantic-in/article_9ca0bade-eacf-11e5-bfd4-47fa922110fc.html |work=Richmond Times-Dispatch |date=March 15, 2016}}</ref> He has cooked several times at the James Beard House in New York City, including for a dinner in November 2019 celebrating "The Chang Mystique."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Chang Mystique |url=https://www.jamesbeard.org/events/the-chang-mystique |website=James Beard Foundation |date=November 19, 2019}}</ref>

In November 2013, China Cafe in Richmond was featured on Andrew Zimmern's show ''Bizarre Foods America'' on the Travel Channel.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wise |first1=Scott |title=Travel Channel chef highlights Richmond restaurants |url=https://wtvr.com/2013/11/15/bizarre-foods-richmond/ |work=WTVR |date=November 15, 2013}}</ref> In July 2016, Peter Chang in Rockville was featured on the Food Network's ''Top 5 Restaurants'' with Sunny Anderson and Geoffrey Zakarian.<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Chang |url=https://www.foodnetwork.com/restaurants/md/rockville/peter-chang-restaurant |website=Food Network |date=2016}}</ref>

A December 2019 article in ''The Economist'' on Chinese-American cuisine opened "For several years, beginning in the mid-2000s, devotees of Chinese food on America's east coast obsessed over a mystery: Where was Peter Chang? A prodigiously talented—and peripatetic—chef, Mr. Chang bounced around eateries in the south-east." It described one of his soups, with pickled mustard greens and fresh sea bass, as "in its way as hauntingly perfect and austere as a Bach cello suite."<ref name="Economist">{{cite news |title=A bao in every steamer |url=https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2019/12/21/the-apotheosis-of-chinese-cuisine-in-america |newspaper=The Economist |date=21 December 2019}}</ref>

October 2023, Peter Chang's restaurant Chang Chang was added to the Michelin Guide for DC . "Named for owner and well-known local chef Peter Chang, this Dupont Circle dweller has a sleek, minimalist aesthetic with a plush look and feel. The kitchen echoes the stylish look with elevated takes on classic Chinese dishes."<ref name="Washingtonian">{{cite news |title=Michelin Adds 10 Restaurants to Its 2023 DC Guide |url=https://washingtonian.com/2023/10/11/michelin-adds-10-restaurants-to-its-2023-dc-guide/ |work=Washingtonian |date=11 October 2023}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Peter}} Category:Chinese chefs Category:Living people Category:Chinese emigrants to the United States Category:Businesspeople from Hubei Category:American chefs Category:21st-century American businesspeople Category:American restaurateurs Category:1963 births