After cleanup, regulars return to Yangming
Linda Jeffers looked over the spring roll she ordered. "I don't see any bugs," she said drily to two friends as she bit into her appetizer. "Of course, we wouldn't know; they could be crunchy."
Linda Jeffers looked over the spring roll she ordered.
"I don't see any bugs," she said drily to two friends as she bit into her appetizer. "Of course, we wouldn't know; they could be crunchy."
And with that joke, the ice was broken, and the three lunch partners seemed delighted to be back at a favorite Main Line haunt, Yangming Restaurant, which opened Wednesday for the first time since it was shut down for health violations two months ago.
The three were among about 45 customers who showed up for lunch after the restaurant opened at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
"We never had issues before. Why should we quit now?" said Jeffer's lunch partner Winona Martin of Villanova.
But there was one minor issue.
"I miss the flowers," Sara Knupp, 89, of Radnor Township, said to owner Michael Wei, who came to welcome back the three regulars. The large bouquet near the door was missing, she said. "It is always spectacular."
Patrons greeted and hugged the wait staff, offered encouraging words for Wei and Alan Huynh, the general manager, complimented the new decor, and then ordered lunch.
A routine inspection in July uncovered 14 health-code violations, and township officials shut down the restaurant on Aug. 18 after customers complained of bugs in the food.
The restaurant has received a thorough cleaning and owners said they spent $500,000 in renovations and repairs.
Maitre d' Steven Szekeres, who has been at Yangming more than 10 years, said that the lunch numbers were a little light but that he was encouraged.
"The staff needs this, and so do I," he said.
Dinner, he said, was on track to be a good night.
"The sun is up," said Szekeres, counting over 90 reservations.
Wynnewood resident Sandy McKenna, who pulled a surprise inspection of her own on Tuesday after a news conference, was back for lunch as she promised.
"This is the best place you could go for food," she said. "They had a bad problem, they rectified it. I couldn't be happier."
She said she'd be returning. She was glad to see the kind of crowd that she remembered - "older people who can forgive."
"I love this place," said Al Masciangelo, 67, of Merion, who was sitting at the bar with friends. He has been coming two to three times a week for 25 years. All restaurants can have problems, he said, adding, "It is what it is."
When their entrées arrived, Jeffers, Martin, and Knupp set about sharing the shrimp with honey walnuts, coconut shrimp with mustard, and chicken with vegetables.
The trio said they were disappointed by the reports of unsanitary conditions but were willing to return because they always had consistently good food.
To their surprise, a complimentary dessert - Asian pear, ice cream, and mango - arrived at the table.
"We never get dessert," said Knupp, a retired teacher and assistant principal.
"I told you we'd get free stuff," said Jeffers.
When the fortune cookies arrived, Knupp read hers out loud:
"Life is a series of choices. Today yours are good ones."
610-313-8111
@MariSchaefer