Tendy Deng is bringing his beloved Chinese cuisine across the Hood Canal Bridge.
Deng, the owner of the popular restaurant Tendy’s Garden in Port Angeles, has opened his second eatery in western Washington: Blossom Chinese Cuisine.
Blossom opened in late June and already Deng’s eatery is regularly busy with customers. With a prime location right off Highway 305, Blossom’s parking lot crowds with vehicles carrying hungry patrons at meal times. Deng didn’t expect to be this busy this early, but it’s a good problem to have, he acknowledges.
Blossom’s menu features all types of traditional Asian dishes, with loads of offerings featuring a variety of noodles, meats and vegetables prepared using high temperatures, which seal garlic and ginger flavors in, Deng said. His goal is to offer healthier, more flavorful dishes from a variety of regions, and to educate patrons about offerings beyond traditional American favorites like Kung Pao and General Tso’s chicken (he does offer them, though).
Tendy Deng, owner of Tendy’s Garden in Port Angeles, has opened a new Chinese restaurant in Poulsbo. Nathan Pilling, nathan.pilling@kitsapsun.com
Customers can be sure they’re getting the most up-to-date in Chinese cuisine: Deng is a part-owner of a seafood restaurant back home in China and regularly travels back to check in on operations and learn about the latest techniques and foods. Blossom’s menu will shift as tastes change and as Deng discovers new concepts and ideas.
“We have to find out the regional tastes and flavor from the original place,” he said. “We bring some of the concepts here, so we learn it and change it and educate the new generation of people.”
Blossom sits in a humble brick building at the corner of Lincoln Road and Highway 305. Inside, flourishes of traditional décor surround customers, each piece placed in the feng shui system of arrangement and orientation. Jade plates – representing long life, happiness and wealth – line the back wall, and images on another wall point to the five fundamental elements in Chinese tradition – water, wood, fire, earth and metal. Golden blossom designs line the ceiling. Lucky stones sit at the entrance of the building.
“Blossom is not only a place for eating, it’s a place for sitting, to let people enjoy and understand a little bit more culture about China,” Deng said.
Blossom’s owner came to the United States with his parents at 16, and he spent his younger years in New York state, where he graduated from high school and college. He found work on Wall Street and had a small share of a restaurant in Manhattan.
After the September 11th attacks, New York City became a different place, with a greater law enforcement presence and more unease, Deng said. Eventually, the restaurant would close.
“Life was not so easy after 9/11,” he said.
On a trip to the West Coast, Deng visited Vancouver, Victoria and eventually Port Angeles, where he struck up a conversation with a restaurant owner who was looking to sell. Deng jumped at the opportunity, quit his job with Citibank and opened Tendy’s Garden there in 2003.
About five years ago, he moved to Bainbridge Island. He bought the building on Highway 305 and began planning his new venture. After months of preparing, decorating, going back and forth with the city over details, he opened Blossom to customers on June 26.
It’s a place he’s proud to own. He’s drawing customers not only from Poulsbo but from Bainbridge, Kingston, people heading to the Suquamish Clearwater Casino Resort and surrounding areas, he said.
“I feel excited, and I feel like I’m serving the people, every time I hear the customers say the food’s good and they do enjoy coming here,” he said. “Of course the food’s the most important, but also giving them a good atmosphere to enjoy sitting down. I’m happy when customers say good things.”
For more information about the restaurant, visit blossomchinesefood.com.