Perché No Pasta & Vino

A dream realized

From Malaysia to California to Washington, David Kong has worked in many restaurants. He married, had two sons, opened his own restaurant on lower Queen Anne, and created a second location, built to his specifications with colors decided by his wife Lily and sons Christopher and Alex. Perché No has always been a family run, scratch kitchen which turns out amazing Italian food. However, like most dreams, there were trials along the way.

Lily and David in a rare relaxed mode

In the early '70s, David worked for two years in a Chinese restaurant in Berkeley, California. He spent another year learning at other restaurants: burgers, a steakhouse, California cuisine. "I decided I'd try Italian. A chef/owner named Renzo Malavia in Burlingame hired me in the early '80s. I had no experience with Italian food-nothing more than spaghetti, meatballs, and lasagna. Renzo landed in North Beach in San Francisco and took five years to learn English. In 1977, he moved to Burlingame and opened La Locanda. Since I was willing to learn, he told me he'd teach me the right way. The first year, I learned Italian culture. He spoke Italian to me even though I didn't know what he'd said, but I speak Italian now. He was old school-he'd slap me with carrots and celery. I quit seven times. His partner would tell me 'Renzo loves you, come back.' I spent seven and a half years there, lunch and dinner, working 12 hours a day. I learned fast and became head cook, eventually running the place for Renzo."

After leaving, David worked in a number of Italian restaurants in various cities to gain more experience. "I fell in love with Italian food. There are a lot of similarities between Italian and Chinese cultures. Food is integral. For Italians, it's always 'mangia, mangia!' Chinese do the same - 'eat, eat!' Italy has pasta, China has noodles. The techniques are different, but principles are similar. Italian food felt natural to me and I loved the flavors."

At the end of each workday, David would go out for dinner. In San Mateo, he frequented a Chinese restaurant that stayed open late. Here he met Lily, the restaurant manager. They dated for two years, then married in Lake Tahoe in 1983. "She is a fantastic woman," says David. Lily was born in Burma to a family who moved frequently. She grew up in Thailand, moved to Taiwan, then came to the U.S. In 1976, she worked for a Taiwanese family in Guam for 2-1/2 years, then moved to Washington, D.C. for a year. She lived briefly in New York, then moved to San Francisco in 1979, finding work at the restaurant in San Mateo where she met David.

Wanting to buy a home and open a restaurant, they both worked two jobs. "By the time we'd saved enough for a down payment, the prices would have gone up and we wouldn't have enough," recalls David. "Rents on restaurant spaces were extremely expensive. In 1989, we took a vacation and drove up the coast. We were thinking about Portland, but people weren't very friendly. Our second choice was Vancouver, B.C., but there was so much paperwork to immigrate. We got to Seattle and people were very friendly. Maybe it was all the coffee they were drinking!"

David and Lily left San Francisco in 1990, with David moving to Seattle first to find work. On his first day, he started looking at noon and had two offers by 5 p.m. He took a job at Saluté in Ravenna. "The owner explained that he was taking over the space next door and putting in a fine dining restaurant called La Dolce Vita and I would be in charge there. He had a menu already, but told me to cook my way. After 2-1/2 years, we found our place on Queen Anne and opened October 30, 1992. From my research, I believe I was the first Chinese person to open a fine dining restaurant in Washington state. I made higher-end food, and we had specials. Our servers wore tuxedos, but we kept prices reasonable. Lily managed the restaurant and waited tables. In 1995, we expanded the space." They had a limousine that would take people from the restaurant to the opera and theatre. "Even after we expanded, we were so busy that I would serve appetizers to people in the limousine. Then when someone else finished, we could move the limousine people to the table for their meal, and put the other people in the limousine for their dessert," laughs Lily.

After 14 years of success, the lease at the Queen Anne location was ending. Without the option to renew, David and Lily knew the time had come to relocate. "It was bittersweet to leave the place where it all started. There were so many memories at Queen Anne, but this was also an opportunity to build the restaurant of my dreams from the ground up," says David. The family bought a brick house near Green Lake, tore it down and began building. With the help of a designer, they used ideas and pictures from Italy they'd taken over the years to build the restaurant David had always envisioned. The second location opened August 1, 2006, and they operated both for a year.

Watch for Perché No part 2 in our February issue

Perché No pasta & vino
1319 N 49^th St
Seattle, WA 98103
206-547-0222

www.perchenopastaandvino.com

Food photos courtesy of Perche No

Click here to read part 2

Connie Adams/January 2016