“The House of Quality Food for the Epicurean.”
Richard Mei’s King Dragon
April 7, 1958–c. 1981
Cantonese
Ownership:
Henry Leung (1980-1981)
Richard Mei (1958-1980)
Executive Chef:
“Uncle” Kuant Moy
Location:
1273 3rd Avenue (3rd Avenue & 73rd Street)
Publications:
Zimmern, Andrew. “My Best Restaurants (Whatever That Means): Spilled Milk #40.” Andrew Zimmern’s Spilled Milk, September 13, 2022.
Edgers, Geoff. “Q&A with Andrew Zimmern: Having that Uncomfortable Conversation About Thanksgiving and How to Cook Grandma’s Pea Soup.” Washington Post, November 26, 2020.
Zimmern, Andrew. The Bizarre Truth: How I Walked Out the Door Mouth First…And Came Back Shaking My Head. New York: Broadway Books, 2009: 150.
Spiller, Harley. “Restauranteur Bruce Ho, Part II.” Flavor & Fortune 10, 1 (Spring 2003): 25-28, 35. [Republished in Annie Hauck-Lawson and Jonathan Deutsch, eds., Gastropolis: Food and New York City (2010) as part of a longer essay, “Chow Fun City: Three Centuries of Chinese Cuisine in New York City.]
“Richard Mei, 69, Former Owner of Richard Mei’s King Dragon Restaurant in New York.” Orlando Sentinel, October 25, 1989: 2.
Heller Anderson, Susan, and David W. Dunlap. “New York Day by Day: Reunion in Chinatown.” New York Times, February 13, 1986: B3.
O’Brian, Jack. “Bon Appetite…Tastebuds Drool Over Best Restaurants.” Sarasota Journal, September 12, 1979: 8C.
O’Brian, Jack. “By…Jack O’Brian.” Schenectady Gazette, September 4, 1974: 28.
Paddleford, Clementine. “Dining in New York: King Dragon Rests Case on Cantonese Cookery.” New York Herald Tribune, February 20, 1960: 11.
“Chatter – Broadway.” Variety, April 8, 1959: 73.
Notable Guests:
Abe Beame (Former Mayor of New York City)
Bill Green (United States Representative)
Bess Myerson (Former New York City Commissioner of Cultural Affairs)
Andrew Zimmern (Chef):
“King Dragon offered traditional Cantonese food, with a few choice steamed or fried dumplings on the menu. Sometimes, if I’d done well in school or had just gotten over a cold, my parents would treat me to something off their menu, and my passion for Chinese food really started there.” (1)
Notes:
King Dragon maître d’ Kim Chan earned a role in The Owl and the Pussycat (1970) starring Barbra Streisand, (2) and went on to become a successful Hollywood character actor, featuring alongside Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights (2003) and receiving an award for lifetime achievement from the Screen Actors Guild in 1999.
Henry Leung, who appears to have taken over as owner of King Dragon following Richard Mei’s departure for Florida in 1980 (3; see advertisement below), later paved the way for the inclusion of wine lists in Chinese restaurants (negating the previous assumption that Chinese food goes best with beer) and the pairing of international wines with spicy food. (4; 5)
The Harley J. Spiller Collection at University of Toronto Scarborough Library, Archives & Special Collections holds a King Dragon menu (reference code UTSC 006-1-4-43-(1-5)), matchbooks (UTSC 006-2-2-57-1 and UTSC 006-2-2-57-2), and a glass ashtray (UTSC 006-2-6-64). The matchbooks featured in a 1991 exhibition of Chinese takeout menus and accompanying ephemera from the collection entitled, “A Million Menus.”
Menu:
Takeout menu (Harley J. Spiller Collection, University of Toronto Scarborough)
Menu, 1976 (National Museum of American History)
(1) Zimmern, 2009.
(2) “Streisand / Movies: The Owl and the Pussycat.” Barbra Archives, May 28, 2003.
(3) Orlando Sentinel, 1989.
(4) Lander, Nick. “Of Spicy Food and Subtle Wines.” Jancis Robinson, March 10, 2002.
(5) Ross, Judy. “Chopsticks on the Grapevine: Equipment and Techniques.” Flavor & Fortune 3,1 (Spring 1996): 10.
Cover photo: Advertisement. New Yorker, March 22, 1969: 108. (Edited and colors added by NYCRA, August 24, 2023).
The New York City Restaurant Archive 