I’m seated inside the high-ceilinged, elegant dining room of once Michelin-lauded Empress by Boon in Chinatown and feeling grateful for the way we celebrate Lunar New Year in San Francisco and across the Bay Area: by combining Chinese traditions with modern, California-centric twists. This Year of the Snake, a time for change and renewal, will be no different.

My dining companion for this early evening dinner days before the holiday’s Jan. 29 start is Annie Wang, a Chinese American activist and baker behind Oakland’s Little Moon Bakehouse (formerly Annie’s T Cakes), who is an expert in fusing tradition with modernity herself. Together, we marvel at the original wood pergola from the restaurant’s days as the iconic Empress of China, and peek out the sixth story window to take in the stunning views of Coit Tower and the Transamerica Pyramid. 

Just being in this building holds meaning for me. Before Empress by Boon and even Empress of China existed, my grandparents owned a gift shop called Golden City in this very location. This was in the 1950s and 1960s, back when it was just a one-story building, and my Yun Yun gained a reputation as an amazing salesperson. Tourists went in asking for directions and walked out with armloads of souvenirs. According to my dad, the space was previously a front for an illegal gambling den in the basement, and there was an underground escape tunnel to use during police raids that went downhill toward Portsmouth Square.

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Empress by Boon in San Francisco, Jan. 16, 2025.

Empress by Boon in San Francisco, Jan. 16, 2025.

Empress by Boon in San Francisco, Jan. 16, 2025.

Empress by Boon in San Francisco, Jan. 16, 2025.

After the gift shop and building were razed, a new building went up and restaurateur Kee Joon Lee opened Empress of China in 1966. My parents had their 600-person wedding banquet there in the late 1970s, and for most of my life, it was the epicenter of countless celebrations. Now, years later, being here reminds me that this space is not just a fixture of the restaurant scene; it’s an important piece of history to a lot of local Chinese Americans, including my own family. 

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While the restaurant’s namesake, chef Ho Chee Boon, first helped pave the way for Cantonese fine dining at Hakkasan (a chain that went on to receive Michelin accolades internationally), opening Empress by Boon in 2021 was his first solo venture. He had a hand in cultivating not only the food — fine dining Cantonese with California ingredients — but also details down to custom tableware. And, this week, he’s putting out an exciting Lunar New Year menu.

As traditionally in-home Lunar New Year celebrations have moved to restaurants to accommodate busy lives, chefs like Ho and dedicated purveyors like Wang are able to combine traditional foods with........

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