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DAVID ISAY: I've eaten at Hunan Chef religiously since the first week of my freshman year at college nearly nine years ago. Usually, I'm only at the restaurant on Monday nights. I try to keep my visits down to one a week. But sometimes, when nothing but the most familiar and comforting meal will do, I'll call up Hunan for a delivery.

This was one of those nights. I dialed the number. When the voice on the other end picked up, I was confused. It was my friend David, the owner of Hunan Chef.

"David, it's David," I said. "You don't work tonight -- what are you doing there?" There was a pause, and then David broke the news. This, he told me, was to be the last night of Hunan Chef. I threw on a coat and headed over.

(Sound of Isay entering restaurant.)

DAVID MA: Hey, David. Oh . . .

ISAY: Is it true?

MA: Absolutely true.

ISAY: What happened?

MA: They want more rent, we could not afford it. And that's it.

ISAY: Oh boy.

MA: Sorry, buddy. I'm gonna miss all my friends. Take a seat, buddy.

ISAY: David leads me to the big round table in the middle of the restaurant. A table which, like many others, holds memories for me. This is where my best buddy from college, Joe, and his girlfriend told me they were getting married.

David brings over the traditional carafe of complimentary plum wine and we reminisce about our years of Monday night dinners. He tells me that he only recently got word of the rent hike which has put him out of business.

MA: I just found out last week.

ISAY: Just last week? If I hadn't called tonight, on Monday I would have come here for my weekly meal -- and the door would have been shut.

MA: Oh my God. I'm so sorry, buddy. I'm so sorry.

ISAY: What will I do on Monday night? What should I do?

MA: Maybe come my house.

ISAY: It was not only David that made Hunan Chef special, but also the fare. It was nothing fancy -- an all the way standard Chinese menu, identical to thousands of others across the country. But the food itself was outstanding. And consistent -- which is particularly important to someone like me, who has a tendency to order the exact same meal for years on end and does not like unpleasant surprises. Only once in nine years did Hunan Chef let me down. One night I called in, famished for my diced chicken with peanuts and hot pepper sauce. A few minutes later, a buzz at the door, and an order of sliced chicken shows up. I just couldn't eat it. That was years ago, and the Hunan staff has long since committed my order to memory, but even tonight I feel compelled to make sure that the tragedy is not repeated.

ISAY: Diced chicken -- not sliced -- diced chicken. Diced chicken with peanuts.

MA: No problem.

ISAY: A few minutes later, Mr. Chen, the busboy, who looks something like a Chinese Peter Lorie emerges from the kitchen with my last supper. I savor it.

After the meal, I wander to the front of the restaurant where David is bidding a tearful goodbye to his dishwasher, Mr. Woo.

(David and Mr. Woo speak in Chinese.)

ISAY: David peels a handwritten sign off the restaurant's window which reads "crispy orange chicken $7.50" and hands it to me as a keepsake memento. I head back to the table, aching for a message profound and comforting in the fortune cookie which awaits me.

(Sound of opening cookie.)

ISAY: Instead it reads "Simplicity and clarity should be your theme in dress." I take a final sip of plum wine, pick up my bag of leftovers, and walk to the front of the restaurant to settle the bill.

MA: Don't do that.

ISAY: David insists on picking up the tab.

MA: Money can buy some things -- of course can buy some thing -- but some things it cannot buy, like a friend. Keep the memories, buddy. Just a friend.

ISAY: For National Public Radio, I'm David Isay.

ISAY: I'll miss you.

MA: Take care, okay. Say hello to Joe, okay?

ISAY: Okay.

(Door closes, street sounds.)

Producer and reporter: David Isay.

"Hunan Chef" premiered February 29, 1992, on All Things Considered. Copyright © 1992 Sound Portraits Productions. All Rights Reserved.

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This piece is available in the following audio formats [4:09 min]:
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