I'd rather be in France.

Guest Blogger: The Other Half Of The Business (Part I)

November 26th, 2012 | Guest Blogger

A couple of months ago, I introduced my business partner, Arthur. As promised, here is a little background information from his side of the story. I’m also introducing him to blogging because the business website has a blog too. Show him some love!

~ Rachel

On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange

Hello everyone, I’m Arthur, and for those of you who follow Rachel here regularly, I am her business partner and friend.  It’s my distinct pleasure to be writing this “guest” entry for I’d Rather Be in France.  I do apologize in advance if the quality of writing for this entry doesn’t match up to the lyrical prose you are used to reading here.  I am fairly new to this blog stuff, but I hope you do find this entry informative and entertaining.

As written before in an earlier post, Rachel and I formed a friendship while she was living in New York City, and are now business partners in an intriguing, new food venture here in California. Before more details are revealed about that, I would like to tell you a little more about yourself and how Rachel and I became friends.

First off, I was born and raised in the great state of Tennessee, so like Rachel, I am a Southerner.  My parents were immigrants from the country of Taiwan, but both sides of my family can trace their roots to mainland China.  My parents’ families fled China during it’s civil war in 1949.  My father chose to come to the US, when he was accepted to the accounting program at what is now the University of Memphis.  After graduating, he loved America and the city of Memphis so much, he and my mom decided to stay and start a life in the Mid South.  It was here that my brother, who is four years younger, and I were born and raised.  I attended high school in Memphis, spent some time at the University of Chicago, and got my undergrad degree at The University of Tennessee (Go Vols!).  I experimented with law school at the University of Memphis before moving to Nashville, TN to work in financial services which ultimately brought me to New York City where I met Rachel.

As you all know, Rachel writes a lot about food and drink, and that is something we share in common.  I got my appreciation for good cuisine and drink from my dad.  Because you see, he had other plans than being an accountant.  He was a self taught chef and eventually opened a number of Chinese restaurants in Memphis.  During his career he became a very celebrated and accomplished chef and restauranteur before his death in 1995.  Among his many honors, he cooked for a couple of US Senators, a First Lady, and even the band ZZ Top.  He also had the real treat of cooking with the late Julia Child when she came through Memphis on a cooking tour.  Being raised in a traditional Chinese family, my brother and I grew up studying a lot and working in our family’s business.  Whatever kitchen chore you could think of, I did.  I even have the distinction of being the youngest bartender in Memphis, but that is a whole other story.  It was working in my dad’s kitchens, that I learned to appreciate how beautiful and delicious well made food could be of any cuisine.  It was also there that I learned that I had an innate talent in terms of cooking as well.

When I moved to New York City in 2005, I hit the culinary jack pot in terms of the diversity of high quality restaurants and markets.  In my seven years in the city, I was able to eat at some of the best restaurants this country has to offer and enjoyed every last bite, not to mention every glass of wine and beer too!

It was in New York City that I met Rachel as well.  We both attended the same Methodist Church on the Upper East of Manhattan. Our Church had a very vibrant and socially active 20’s-30’s adult group and we became acquaintances there.  I was always very fond of introducing aspects of Memphis soul food to my “yankee” friends and would frequently prepare and host Memphis dry rub BBQ cook outs and fried chicken dinners in the backyard of my apartment.  During those gatherings, Rachel and I discovered our mutual passion for good old fashioned Southern food and our friendship grew.

I’ll stop there for now. In the second part, I’ll explain how I got from going to church with Rachel to moving to California to start a business with her. Thanks for reading!

~ Arthur