Keeping New York’s Historic Chinatown Dim Sum Together | The Encore

Jing Fong’s third-generation owner, Truman Lam, fell into the family business after he quit his investment banking job with no landing pad. He started from the bottom—he still makes dumplings and runs deliveries—and found that his love for structure helped organize the business. But Chinatown is changing. Its people and its economic circumstances aren’t what they were in 1978, when Truman’s grandfather opened the first of three Jing Fong locations in Chinatown. The small dim sum restaurant grew to its iconic 800-seat banquet hall in the 80s, a neighborhood landmark, but shrunk to its current, more intimate setting on Elizabeth Street when COVID-19 upended the industry. Truman’s shot at success resets every day. Keeping a family business afloat, especially one beloved by its community, is no easy feat. It’s a daily exercise in humility, hustle, and perseverance, one that Truman and his family approach head on. This episode is part of The Encore, a series from VICE and Toyota about Asian American culinary talent who continue to “call their shot” at their dreams amid a life of trial and error. Subscribe to MUNCHIES here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-MUNCHIES Follow MUNCHIES here: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@munchies Facebook: http://facebook.com/munchies Instagram: http://instagram.com/munchies Twitter: http://twitter.com/munchies Threads: https://www.threads.net/@munchies More videos from the VICE network: https://www.fb.com/vicevideo