6 Questions with Penelope Wong on Being Nominated For A James Beard Award
Read time: 5 min
By Sophie Braker
First restaurant job?
At my parent’s restaurant, Chinatown, located off of 73rd and N. Washington in Denver. I was 12 years old and I was just excited to be “old enough” (in my parent’s minds) to go and help out. I began helping my mother seat customers, bus tables, bring waters to the tables, and work the cash register. Very shortly after, I would navigate into the kitchen to bug my father while he was prepping for dinner service, and eventually I was working in the kitchen more than I was in the front of the house.
2. What’s a food / drink you always have on hand at home?
Rice, furikake, and usually a backup of a milk tea that I have stashed in the back of my fridge…
3. What does it mean, for you personally, to be nominated for a James Beard award?
This is probably one of the greatest honors of my career. It’s never been in my wheelhouse that I could even be on the same level as other JBF recognized Chefs. I’ve always held them in such high regards as honing an immense amount of skill and talent. I’ve always felt that my cooking is simply that, cooking; and not nearly the art form as I’ve perceived it to be in so many other Chefs I have respect for. Five years ago, I took a step back from a major role in an industry where I was constantly in the spotlight, traveling across the country to share my advice and suggestions with other executive chefs in the private arena. We were making unintentional strides in transforming the F&B culture at our club into one where the street food styles of cuisine we were putting out were much more sought after than the fine dining cuisine. I stepped away from all of this to sort of skulk away to live a simpler life with my family, but still find a way to cook what I want to cook. I’ve always held myself to the highest standards in terms of what I’m choosing to share with my customer base. The items that I choose to cook and share are most often items that have some sort of significance. In my life story, these certain dishes carved my culinary future. It means everything that ultimately, my story, is being recognized.
4. What does it mean for Chinese cuisine in America for you to be nominated for a James Beard award?
The JBF is an organization known to “support, elevate and celebrate the people behind America’s food culture…” To me, being nominated (and especially as a Chef currently operating out of a food truck), I see it as a significant gesture. I’m so proud to represent a shift in the landscape of America’s food culture where the focus is based more on the culture of the cuisine.
5. What are the criteria, as you understand them, to be nominated and/or to win this award of Best Chef Mountain region?
Having a benchmark for high standards in both culinary and leadership skills in which a healthy work environment exists and contributes positively to the broader community.
6. Best advice for chefs considering what it would take to be nominated for prestigious industry awards?
To me, it’s not about changing what you’re doing or who you are as a Chef in order to be recognized. It’s only about what is important to you as a Chef. If you continue to learn how to do everything better than yesterday (because there’s always something to learn), and if you do what you do because you simply love to do it, then being recognized for it is just a bonus; it should never be the goal.
Watch Penelope and Best Served host, Jensen, talk about what it means to her to be nominated for a James Bear award in, BSP406: James Beard Nomination and Restaurant Industry Award Criteria
Chef Penelope spent the first half of her career as Executive Chef of a private golf and country club located in Cherry hills Village where she fused Contemporary American cuisine with influences from her Chinese/Thai heritage. As the youngest and first female Executive Chef in the club’s 30-year history, Penelope played an influential role in the club’s multimillion-dollar renovation. By elevating operational standards, consulting the kitchen and restaurant design, as well as spear heading creative menu concepts, Penelope orchestrated a 100% growth in food and beverage sales. During her tenure, the club was recognized on a national level, boasting a 94% member satisfaction with overall dining operations as well as gaining accolades for best private club dining in Denver for four consecutive years from local Denver industry publications.
Penelope grew up with a deep-rooted passion for food and cuisine. Her family owned and operated a Chinese restaurant in north Denver for over 25 years. Her extended family of aunts and cousins also owned and operated their own restaurant operations in and throughout the city of Denver. Penelope grew up in these kitchens learning Chinese and Thai cuisines from her mother, father, grandfather and aunts in addition to her home kitchen learning from her grandmother. By the age of 16, Penelope had become skilled enough to run the kitchen at her family’s restaurant on her own.
In addition to active involvement within industry organizations and presenting at multiple chef’s conferences, Penelope has also been published in numerous nationwide industry publications including The BoardRoom Magazine, Club and Business Resort, and National Culinary Review. Her publications include articles on processes to help establish a successful food and beverage operation, incorporating ethnicity into club cuisine, as well as trials and tribulations as a private club chef. Penelope was also a monthly contributing writer/blogger for Club and Resort Business’ Chef to Chef publication. More recently, Penelope has also been published in 5280 Magazine, discussing the importance of continuing awareness regarding anti-Asian hate crimes.
After resigning from a 20-year tenure, in December of 2018, Penelope set out to become an entrepreneur in hopes of a better work/life balance. After months of research, planning, and execution, Penelope revealed the concept of a food truck specializing in hand made dumplings and wontons. After a complete custom, do it yourself, build-out, husband Rob Jenks and Penelope launched Yuan Wonton into the Denver market in August of 2019, exactly 1 year after Penelope left the private club arena.
Over the last 3 years of operating as a small and local business, Penelope has created an outlet to share dishes resonating from childhood memories. Yuan Wonton has become a well-known entity for sharing food from the heart, and bridging communities and generations through food.
Since the start of the food truck, Yuan Wonton has received numerous accolades from Best Food Truck to reader’s choice Best Dumplings and Best Pairing in competitions paired with local craft brewers. Yuan Wonton has also received honorable mention in local and nationwide publications listing Denver’s “must try” places to eat. Penelope has also been listed as a 2023 James Beard Semi-Finalist Nominee for Best Chef Mountain Region. Penelope takes full advantage of Yuan Wonton’s platform to help share cuisine relevant to her culture, and to help educate others on the importance of food in culture.
