Original subtitles

Yueh Tung has been around for a long time.

You are not making money.

We're just so in the weeds.

[Jeannette] This is like our Hail Mary.

Wow!

[Jen] It's peak lunchtime, and there's no one here.

The appetizer, I think they're very disappointing.

There's no flair to it.

-We pay $30,000 in rent. -$30,000?

[Aarón] They have no direction, and that's scary.

You're losing $50,000 on one dish.

[Jen] There's so much to do here.

There is so little time.

I don't wanna lose my sister.

This is too much stress.

This restaurant's gonna close if we don't get it together.

The restaurant business has drastically changed

in the last decade.

Social media and delivery have shifted what people expect.

[Jen] Costs are up, margins are down.

[Aarón] And if you're not evolving, you're closing.

This is a race for survival.

If this closes, I don't know what to do.

[Aarón] I grew up in kitchens, opened successful restaurants,

judged and competed in the highest level

of cooking competitions.

It's hard to justify 30 minutes of work here.

It's all about discipline.

Your dishes need to be excellent, and your kitchen

needs to run like a well-oiled machine.

You're doing it wrong, 'cause you're cooking crappy

chicken breast. I'm sorry, ma'am.

I've opened more than ten successful restaurants

and written a best-selling book

about what it takes to succeed in this business.

Great food is essential, but so is

service, vibe, and a relentless attention to detail.

You are not making money.

Well, we continue on the same path.

That path is going over a cliff.

Together, we're taking on restaurants that are on

the brink of failure.

[Aarón] We have $20,000 in just three days to turn

this whole thing around.

This dynamic right now is not working.

[upbeat music plays]

[Aarón] Talk to me a little bit about this neighborhood.

-It looks like it's busy. -We're downtown.

Like, there's stuff happening around here.

Yueh Tung has been around for a long time.

-[Aarón] Yeah. -[Jen] Like, decades.

The parents started it a long, long time ago.

[Aarón] Of course.

[Jen] And their kids have taken over.

So they're the new generation taking over from the parents.

They're the -- yes. From the parents.

So that's a complicated dynamic.

My parents opened this restaurant in 1986.

-This was my dad's --- -[Joanna] Sixth child.

Everything. His first child.

-His first child, yes. -Even more than us.

My dad realized that he needed to kind of create an identity

for our restaurant compared to other Chinese restaurants,

and that's when he introduced Hakka food.

It's a little bit more spicy, a lot more flavorful than what

Cantonese dishes are.

Can I get four rice for here?

My dad was working alongside my mom seven days a week,

18-hour days. -[Jeannette] Yeah -- yeah.

[Joanna] And then my father had his stroke.

We knew that he couldn't work here anymore, and then that's

when I decided that I had to step in.

I ended up going into journalism,

and I was in marketing. -[Joanna] We left those jobs.

[indistinct] That one wants extra sauce.

My parents built this amazing establishment,

and seeing it get ruined was not something

that we wanted to see happen,

I enrolled in culinary school

and eventually we took over the family business.

-Thank you. -[woman] Have a good day.

You too. Bye.

We are the last Chinese restaurant in Old Chinatown.

Running the business is challenging.

Our parents are still very much involved with it,

and everyone has a say in what's going on.

I come once a week just to make sure things are running

smoothly and help them to do whatever I can.

And Samir, the two chili chicken is extra spicy, OK?

Business was doing really well,

and then the pandemic decimated us.

A lot of our business depended on the lunch crowd,

the transient workers that were coming in,

and everybody stopped coming.

We went from a packed dining room to maybe

20% of our dining room being full.

-We are not profitable. -No.

We're right on the line of collapse every day.

We have a barbecue pork on rice coming.

It's a lot of pressure, and I had a mini stroke.

It was very, very terrifying,

and I actually had it in the restaurant.

This is the very spot that my father had his stroke.

And I just feel like I'm always in the weeds, and we're always

trying to survive that. I'm just, I'm super burnt out.

Aarón and Jen coming in, this is kind of like our final

Hail Mary.

And if the customers don't come in, we don't get butts in

the seats, then that's it. We'll wrap it up.

♪♪

-Wow. -Uh, wow, not good, though.

Yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no.

This place looks like it's seen some wear and tear.

[Jen] Yes.

We're in one of the busiest parts of the city,

on the busiest corridor. -[Aarón] Mm-hmm.

It's peak lunchtime, and there's no one here.

I can smell some really good flavors coming

from the kitchen. -It does smell really good.

Hi, guys. I'm Jeannette.

Hi, Jeannette. Aaron Sánchez.

-How are you? -Nice to meet you.

Jen Agg. It's so nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, guys.

From my understanding, you have a sister

who's your partner in crime? -Yes.

She's in the back. She's in the kitchen.

[Aarón] OK.

So we are going to have a little poke around.

-OK, well, we're ready. -[Jen] We got this.

-We got this. -Yes.

-It's going to be great. -Yes.

[Aarón] We're here for three days.

We have a limited budget of around $20,000.

And then to make such an impactful change in such

a brief period of time, it's hard.

[Joanna] Jeannette manages the front of the house,

and I run the back of the house.

I think for a long time we were always struggling about

who plays what role.

[Aarón] Ooh.

Chef Joanna,

how are you?

-Aarón. -[Aarón] How are you?

-How are you doing? -I'm doing well.

You're the one that's sort of leading the charge back here,

is that correct? -I am.

Well, you know, the whole purpose

of Jen and I's visit is to try to outline some things,

take notice of how you guys can get better, OK?

OK.

Aarón is an amazing chef, and he's gonna try and turn

that kitchen around.

I'm gonna be doing front of house stuff.

It's about the vibe, the service,

the way the restaurant makes you feel.

This is... pretty slashed up.

Not great.

You guys having fun?

-Yeah. -[man] Always having fun.

[Jen] Have you been coming here for a long time?

Yeah.

Since we started, uh, working up the street.

-Oh. -I have crispy beef.

[Jen] I love a crispy beef. That smells great.

That is a lot of food.

-[server] Hakka wonton garlic noodles. -[Jen] Holy cow.

-Do you have to take food home? -Always.

[Aarón] How many cooks would you have here normally?

Three plus a fryer and an expo and a dishwasher,

so six people in a kitchen.

Six people, and let's say you do 20 people that night

for dinner. -[Joanna] Yes.

Do you think you're making money?

-[Joanna] No. -[Aarón] You're not, right?

No.

There's something that needs to be addressed

in that respect, OK?

Jeannette and Joanna have been pushed into this role

to sort of carry on the family name.

And I don't know if that passion is there or it's just

like an obligation.

Are you doing this just 'cause you feel guilty?

Or are you doing it 'cause you love it?

-[Jen] Jeannette. -Mm-hmm.

[Jen] OK, when was the last time

this place had any kind of renovation?

Maybe like 20 years ago?

-Yeah, that sounds right. -[Jeannette] Yeah.

[Jen] So we find ourselves in the foyer, the place where

people have come up 42 steps. -Yes.

And they turn around, and what do they see?

Hand sanitizer. I know, I'm --

There's hand sanitizer in it.

That's great. But, like, what?

Wash your hands before you eat.

OK, this is not it, although I feel really clean.

And this, you tell me about it first.

It's a nod to our great-grandma, who lived in

the village Yueh Tung, and it was a fishing village.

That's really beautiful.

And I actually think the room needs to pull from that

as much as possible.

So we've seen what's going on in the kitchen, and we've seen

what's going on in the front of the house.

It's obvious that this restaurant needs an update.

But right now, Jen and I need to taste the food.

[Jen] These prices are so low.

Like, there's no way the food cost is in line.

They've got everything sort of at $20.

So the Cantonese chow mein.

-We've gotta have noodles here, obviously. -OK.

[Aarón] Those wonton chips sound interesting.

-Crispy beef over rice. -[Jeannette] Mm-hmm.

I really, really want to try the Hakka sweet soy noodle.

That is one of our specialties.

-[Jen] Oh, amazing! -Yeah.

[Jen] If we had two cocktails.

I would suggest the saketini...

-OK. -...and the piña colada.

-We're gonna do that. -[Jen] This is the saketini.

-It must be. -You wanna switch?

-I kinda do, actually. -Thank you very much.

-I want this. -Thank you.

This? No.

-No bueno. -[Jeannette] Oh, no?

-It looks cheap. -I'm gonna grab the food.

This is an absolutely terrible piña colada!

Really? It doesn't look like it.

[Jen] It's like, I don't know if it's from a mix.

-It's so sweet! -No, taste that.

There's like zero sake in there.

It just tastes like cranberry juice.

[slurping]

[Aarón] That is not good!

OK, so we've got the Hakka sweet soy noodle,

and the crispy beef, chow mein. -[Jen] That's the way.

I have the crispy wonton sweet sauce.

I'm just gonna stay far away for now.

So this sauce looks very off putting.

Looks like it has way too much, like, cornstarch to thicken it.

[Jen] Mm-hmm.

And this, we're talking about cornstarch.

You can see that gloopy mess on the outside.

[Jen] Yeah.

There's nothing really to break up that one note of the sauce.

-Yeah. -Yeah, it's just savory.

-Yeah. -Yeah, there's no heat.

The crispy beef has a wonderful sauce.

-The flavor is really nice. -[Aarón] The sauce is there, right?

But the meat is indistinguishable.

The sauce for the wonton chips is not great.

There's no sour, it's just sweet, by the way.

I really like this.

The sweet soy noodles is the best thing on the table.

[Aarón] And I was concerned it was gonna be too sweet,

but it's not. -[Jen] It's really not.

-[Aarón] It's very balanced. -Yeah.

I would eat a whole plate of that happily.

Most of these things were around $20.

-[Aarón] Yep. -The portion sizes are so big.

[Aarón] I know they're not making money off of this.

-It's literally not possible. -Jeannette, Joanna, por favor.

Sit down, ladies, please.

We've tasted the drinks and the food,

and we have some thoughts.

The sweet soy noodles, this, to me, is the star.

Yeah, I think the appetizer, the wonton chips, I think

they're very disappointing. There's no flair to it.

-This is just fried wontons. -[Jen] Mm-hmm.

And then this sauce is -- is -- there's no sour behind it.

It's just sweet.

[Jen] And your cocktails need a lot of work.

We can tell these are both from a mix.

Our main goal was always to, like, really fill people

with food. -That shows.

[Aarón] The chow mein, there's a lot of cornstarch in there.

[Jen] Mm-hmm.

The bottom line is that the sauce doesn't have anything

interesting in it. -Mm-hmm.

[Aarón] It doesn't have any spice.

It can have a little more depth.

It can have more depth. Those things are fixable.

Your prices are so low. Do you have any profits?

Are you paying yourself?

We took a cut recently because we had to make sure that staff

and our vendors were getting paid.

The glaring issue, which is very evident,

is the portion size.

That's a huge opportunity to cut down on cost.

-[Jen] Mm-hmm. -I hear you.

[Aarón] OK.

-I'm just terrified to do it. -[Jen] Why?

Even if it's like maybe 2%, 5%, there are these customers

who notice and then they go online.

Sometimes you have to really make tough decisions

when it comes to that.

[Joanna] I feel like it's not an option for us.

[Jen] Now, let's say we keep doing what we're doing,

how do you think that's going to turn out?

-Then we fall on our sword. -[both] Yeah.

I feel relieved.

I've always said the portion sizes were too big.

I feel like there's just an expectation for Chinese

restaurants just to put a lot out.

They just equate us with

fast food and quick service all the time.

Maybe we, like, put up a couple of plates with

the smaller portion and the regular portion,

and we'll see if you can tell the difference.

[Aarón] That's a great idea.

Joanna is very resistant, and it's just like,

the food cost on this can't be good.

Like, you have to raise the price, or you have to

change the portion size.

-Preferably a little bit of both. -Yeah.

How are you surviving?

It's been a struggle. We pay $30,000 in rent.

You pay what now? $30,000?

Your rent being $30,000.

Kind of a metric for this is you should make your rent on

a busy night.

On a Friday night sales, are you hitting $30,000?

-No. -[Jen] OK, that's not great.

Do you know your food cost?

Um, we're at about, like, 33% for food.

That is not where we need to be.

For a restaurant like Yueh Tung, I wanna see their food costs

hitting in the mid-20s generally across the board.

Both of us want to keep our parents' legacy going.

I mean, they worked so hard.

It's an immigrant story. They came from a very

humble beginning.

And the restaurant just gave us life back.

And then my father had his stroke.

I really understand all that stuff.

I'm married to someone who had a stroke.

It's really devastating.

Caring for someone in stroke recovery,

I know what that pressure is like

and what these young women are going through.

For you to step in in that moment, it's what love is.

Yeah.

Your parents, do they allow you to be

the decision makers?

Culturally, we've always been taught to really pay respects

to our elders. -Of course.

-Yes. -And so we still do that.

So I think it is probably on you to find the strength to be

leaders at Yueh Tung. -[Jeannette] Yeah.

We have a good idea on where to start, and I hope you guys

are open-minded to it.

Go take a minute, collect your thoughts,

and then we gotta get started.

[Jeannette exhales]

[Aarón] They're bleeding money. The menu's too big.

The staff's too big. The portions are large.

And they're not charging enough.

The dining room is outdated.

It's not the kind of place that

you wanna go and have a good time.

They don't have the confidence necessary to take

this restaurant to the next level,

take it over for their parents.

So they need to find their confidence,

and they need to find it quick.

It was really hard to listen to.

Hearing that the wontons was an afterthought was hard,

but it's the truth also.

The noodles were hard to hear as well, too.

I told you the sauce was thick before.

I know, but it's just something that we've been doing

for so long.

[Aarón] There's been inconsistency and a lack of leadership in

the kitchen from Joanna, so I get it.

There's a lot of conflict.

Jeannette is in the front of the house dealing with all

those problems, and that's not fair.

Do you wanna change the portion sizes?

Do you think that's doable?

It does make sense to make things smaller.

Joanna and I have talked about portion sizes

for a very long time.

We've gone back and forth a lot.

When you've gone to culinary school and you've taken on that

role and you've learned from our dad and you've done all

the things, you feel like your opinion is the opinion

because the food is the star of the restaurant.

But what people forget is it's also a business and you

need to make business decisions in order to survive.

We'll see. I -- I really...

I don't know. We'll see.

[Aarón] Chef Joanna, Jeannette, I need you, sisters.

Come on

-So you're ready? -[both] We're ready.

We know that we need to do this 'cause we're sinking

and we don't know how to get out of this hole -Yeah.

that we put ourselves in.

We only have three days to turn this around.

There's gonna be a lot of work that needs to happen,

a lot of focus. -Yes.

You need to get your staff out here to help clear this space

out because construction starts now.

[Aarón] Three days is the max that someone wants to close.

Let's go.

Trust me, the changes that we're gonna make

is gonna be well worth it.

I think a huge part that needs to be

implemented is an appetizer menu.

They're lacking that sort of after-work crowd, and I think

with Ms. Jen implementing a cool cocktail program,

I think collectively it's gonna make a huge difference.

What's the vision?

How are you gonna turn this around?

There's a lot of stuff that we can do in a short time to

make a really big impact.

Designing restaurants,

it's one of the joys of my creative life.

People don't know what they want.

They just wanna feel good.

And everything I do in a dining room is in service of that.

This space over here, we must keep the koi art.

Just a little bit of curtaining to the side,

softening it a little bit.

Remove all of this terrible carpet and replace it with

luxury vinyl tile in a light stone finish.

Stone wall accents will be covered in a beautiful mural.

And we will replace the old booth cushions

with a lighter colored fabric.

Refresh the bar.

-[Aarón] Yeah. -[Jen] Make the bar looking

a little bit more of a focal point.

We're gonna tone down the gold accents by painting them

antique white so it feels a bit more refined.

Pendants and wall sconces are going to be

the real game-changer here.

For me, that's the biggest problem in this room.

-Is the lighting. -Yeah.

Our three days and $20,000 does not go that far, so this feels

like a real challenge.

So now that I've tasted the food, I'm gonna work with

Joanna to tackle the food cost and the portion size.

How you doing? You all right?

I'm doing well, thank you.

OK, so we're on chicken prep here.

In addition to what we ate,

the chili chicken is their number one seller.

They sell over $48,000 a month.

I think we could do better.

[Joanna] So chicken thighs, we have potato starch,

just so that it makes the chicken extra crispy.

So we're gonna put it into this fryer over here.

[Aarón] The chili chicken, that's a traditional dish that

mom and dad put on the menu from day one. -Mm-hmm.

Our parents were like, how are we gonna distinguish

ourselves from all the other Chinese restaurants

that are out there right now?

And that's when he introduced Hakka food.

Really Hakka people are known as wanderers and settlers of

the Chinese community.

And wherever they took up space, they fused those flavors

from the hosting country with our own traditional

Chinese cuisine.

So it's great because chili chicken was an amalgamation of

South Indian flavors mixed in with Chinese flavors.

Chili chicken is definitely what put us on the map.

And if it wasn't for chili chicken, I think we would have

disappeared a long time ago.

[Aarón] So we have the chicken fried.

So I guess the next step is go to the wok.

-[Joanna] Yes. -[Aarón] Here we go.

[Joanna] We're gonna put our garlic in.

You put some of that beautiful chili paste in there.

Yes.

Some minced ginger, onions, and Thai chilies.

[Aarón] Oh, man.

I see that you're not measuring a lot.

No.

Can be very much cowboy cooking in here.

I understand. Well, I appreciate your honesty.

But if you are not measuring and you don't have a concise

portion size, then you really have no way of costing out

items and being profitable.

[Joanna] Gonna put the chicken in.

Talk to me about how much that would be for one serving.

[Joanna] This is 20 ounces.

That's one serving of chicken.

Over here, I'm gonna put our dark soy sauce.

So you got the sweet, you got the salty,

you have the sour, you have the umami.

-[Aarón] Man. -All right.

I'm nervous for you to try this.

♪♪

The flavor on the chicken is beautiful.

I mean, I wanna have this, you know, all day long.

But I mean, it's wonderful. It's really delicious.

I understand this is your most popular dish.

-Now I know why, 'cause the flavors are there. -Mm-hmm.

But I think the portion size is so big.

How many of these dishes do you serve a month?

-Last month was 2,190. -[Aarón] OK, that's amazing.

-How much do you serve this for? -We sell this at $22.

That seems

a little low, to be honest.

Do you know the food cost of this, by the way?

I'm afraid to tell you now, but it's $8.50.

So at $22, that's almost 40%.

It should be at 20.

It should be priced at $24.

And in one year, you're losing over $50,000 on one dish.

You can reduce the portion, raise the prices,

and I don't think people will trip.

I believe in you. I think it's true.

I'm just, I'm a little bit anxious.

[Aarón] In order to be bold, you have to take risks.

That's how you're gonna get respect, and you're gonna be

able to continue this restaurant, OK?

[Jen] I'm gonna get coffee. Would you like one?

-Yes, please. -What are you working on?

-Numbers. -Uh, and how are they looking?

-I am scared to ask you. -Uh, not great.

We're in the red.

We have to do something about that.

I think the both of us, we just...

wake up with, like... It's just tight.

We need to take some of that stress away from you,

because you can't keep going like this.

OK.

-You're just overstaffed. -Yeah.

You've gotta staff for the revenue that you have.

Otherwise, there's no restaurant, and there's no

work for anyone.

I realize that's what we need to do.

OK. I wanna understand

what that barrier is for you.

I feel bad, truthfully, more for my sister.

I am not in the kitchen, then she will be the one that

has to deal with it.

I know cuts need to be made. I just...

I don't wanna lose my sister.

She had health scares from everything that's going on

at the restaurant. -Oh, boy!

Oh, I'm so sorry. This is so much.

And that's the honest truth.

This is too much stress. This is too much stress.

I know what it feels like. I'm so sorry.

I've been in that position before

and it's not a fun place to be.

You have to start putting you and your sister first.

So I really think it's essential that you look at

your list of people and decide how you're gonna go on.

I mean, I really, I can't tell you how important it is to

emphasize that if you don't do this, there's no restaurant

and there's no jobs for anyone.

It's a bit heartbreaking.

They're just trying to tread water right now.

And I don't know

if they can dig deeper and get there.

I'm a little bit concerned about decreasing the amount of

food that we put out.

Chili chicken is our biggest seller, and it's the one that's

costing us the most -- $52,500.

-Yeah. -That's how much we're losing.

I'm not surprised.

There's always going to be a simmering,

sometimes boiling-over tension between front-of-house

and back-of-house.

Imagine doing that with your sister.

I think we just need to bring Mom in

to kinda hear what she has to say.

So let's talk to her and figure it out.

♪♪

We're gonna spend as little as possible on things like

flooring and have it look good, be durable,

but it's not marble, you know?

We really want to give them a restaurant that's welcoming

and warm, a little bit quirky

without any of it being too much.

[Jeannette] Our parents started this restaurant 40 years ago.

And the reality of it is, in a Chinese family,

you respect your elders.

How is Mom gonna react?

I think she might be nervous with the changes.

[Mei] You want half? Anybody?

[Jeannette] No, thanks.

So I talked to Jen, and she's basically saying that

we have to make cuts on people and hours.

I agree with Jen.

I agree with Jen.

What do you do, though, when it gets super busy?

'Cause I'm the one who's in the kitchen, right?

Mm-hmm.

I think we keep it at the base now, because if we're always

prepared for a busy day and it doesn't get busy, then we're

throwing basically money out. -Every penny saves.

Yeah.

And then Aarón was saying to me that chili chicken,

we need to change our price.

He wants to increase it by $2 and decrease the portion.

Increase in pricing?

Right now, I don't agree with it.

Mm.

But the portion wise, if you can decrease it,

does make a big difference.

I'm adamant about changing the price.

-We go in between, OK? -[Jeannette] $23.

-Not $2. -Yeah, it's $1.

-You go $1, that's fine. -OK, let's do $1.

Yes.

It will make it possible for us to pay people.

-[Joanna] Mm-hmm. -At least we agree to that.

-So $1. -Yeah.

I learned in this process that

I have a voice, too, and I need to be able to use it,

especially if it means

the life or death of this restaurant.

[Joanna] So we just came back from talking to Mom.

-OK. -And so $2 is a definite no-go.

-That's not great. -[Aarón & Jeannette] No.

But she did say that she was open to a dollar increase.

But then also we have to decrease our portion sizes

as well, too. -And you're on board?

I'm not convinced that portion sizes and price point is

where it's at. -Oh, you're killing me, Joanna.

I really thought your mom was a barrier here, but it kind of

sounds to me like you're a bit of a barrier here.

Is that fair to say?

I didn't recognize it until right now.

Why are you so resistant?

Maybe perhaps 'cause it was my dad's wishes to never

decrease portion sizes.

And then now, like, when people

are hurting for money, now we're gonna, like,

take away what we're feeding them?

But it's not so black and white.

It's not. There's a lot of gray in here.

-[Joanna] Mm-hmm. -And it's time for you

to step up and be leaders. -Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm. -Yep, this restaurant's gonna close

if we don't get it together.

And we have a solution, to be honest,

and I don't think it's that difficult to achieve.

I thought my mom was the problem all these years,

and it wasn't. It was me.

I'm glad that the advice came from somebody else,

and I'm glad that Joanna had a breakthrough.

To be fair, however, my family did not show me how we can

decrease portion sizes and how we could do that logistically.

So I'm excited for them to show us how

we can do it logistically.

♪♪

So with some subtle tweaks, we can show Chef Joanna how to

reduce the portion size of the famous chili chicken,

and how this could be more profitable.

One has 20 ounces of protein,

and one has 17 ounces of protein.

Which one do you think has 20 versus 17?

I'm gonna say that this one has 20 ounces,

and this one is 17 ounces.

This one just looks like it has a lot more.

-This has 17 ounces. -No.

And that has 20 ounces of protein.

That's incredible.

I simply reduced the portion size, but stacked it.

So visually, it looks abundant.

Tell me a little bit what your rent is again.

-Remind me. -About $30,000 a month.

You're gonna be saving just by this simple change.

-Mm-hmm. -Check this out.

-$33,901. -That's incredible.

[Aarón] Per year. All right?

-$33,000. -[Aarón] $901.

There's ways of applying this to everything else you do.

Super open to it now. I'm very excited.

I think it was just me who had to change.

And that's why we're here.

I've been resistant on changing the portion size.

And I didn't even realize this was because I was just trying

to honor my father.

And he always wanted big portion sizes.

Um, but it's been really screwing us over.

So I'm really ecstatic to make it smaller

so that we can start making money.

I'm all for everything that they're suggesting

'cause I think

we're just so in the weeds that it was kind of hard to

see, you know? -Yeah.

So it's nice to have other people who are not in

the family who can just see things better than we can

and then present it to us. -Yeah, we needed that.

Yeah. It's incredible.

-I'm super excited. -I'm so happy.

I'm super excited.

It makes me feel so good that they're embracing change.

They understand the importance of their family legacy.

They know the importance

of working together and being bosses.

[both giggle]

♪♪

[Jen] The cushions were quite slashed up,

so we really had no choice but to recover them.

We had these pieces commissioned.

[Aarón] Cool.

This is a local artist, Anson Ng.

Check this gorgeous family portrait out.

So you're gonna see this when you come up the stairs.

-I get excited. -I get it.

Maybe I get excited about a new fryer or something like that,

but this is pretty a big deal.

If restaurants don't evolve, they stay stagnant,

they become complacent.

It's time for me to go in there with Chef Joanna and make

a delicious appetizer menu.

Sadly, when I had those appetizers earlier,

me and Jen were very disappointed. -I know.

And its simplicity was not memorable, you know what I mean?

Yes. Yeah.

And I think we're gonna introduce some

memorable flavors that are not gonna detract

from the essence of the restaurant.

I think that's really important.

-OK. -We don't wanna change

the Hakka, but what we wanna do is just kind of like,

big it up. -Yeah.

If you have really delicious and well-priced appetizers,

you can make a pretty penny.

It actually keeps people there longer.

You tend to drink more, spend more.

We're gonna start with Szechuan butter shrimp.

Some beautiful softened butter. Take a little bit of garlic.

Here we have some beautiful chili paste.

And then we have like the chili crispy bits.

Some Shaoxing wine, OK?

-Nice. -Some soy.

Once it's done, we're gonna have to sort of roll it up

and make this roulade, if you will.

And then you just put these in the freezer.

If it's soft, it's not gonna emulsify.

-I have some shrimp. -[Joanna] Uh-huh.

So now we're gonna take this. I would say about two ounces.

♪♪

[Joanna] Ooh.

Very cool.

[Aarón] So I'm gonna have a little bit of crispy garlic.

I have some fried shallot. We have some lotus root.

-That's so beautiful. -Isn't that nice?

Yeah.

Heavy on the prep, easy on execution.

-Should we taste? -Yes.

We have the Szechuan butter shrimp.

-Good, right? -Mm, it's really good.

And if we sell this at $19, OK? -Mm-hmm.

You're getting close to $14 in profit.

[Joanna] Amazing.

-[Aarón] Off of one dish. -That's awesome.

So, you know, we're talking about kind of like jazzing up

this appetizer menu,

something that's gonna be really memorable --

the lump crab meat spring roll. -Nice.

OK, now what's the first thing that you see when

you look at that bowl? -[Joanna] Like actual pieces of crab.

[Aarón] Yeah, none of that stuff in the can.

-[Joanna] No. -Let's get started.

So right here, I have a little bit of soy,

some Shaoxing wine... -[Joanna] Mm-hmm.

...which is gonna add some acidity.

We have a coarse scallion, which you have in

the house, right? -[Joanna] Mm-hmm.

Ginger, a little bit of mayo,

Japanese mayo. -[Joanna] OK.

-This is some cilantro, of course. -Oh.

And of course, we have some heat with the sambal,

or the chili paste.

-We're gonna add some yogurt. -[Joanna] Oh.

So yogurt is gonna be that sort of contrasting flavor

that's gonna really make this filling

really pop, OK? -Oh.

That chili crab spring roll, I think, really reflects sort

of the Hakka cuisine, which has those dried

chilies and the creaminess and the texture.

I think people are really gonna love it.

Let's start to assemble

these little bad boys, all right? -[Joanna] OK.

Here I have a little bit of water and flour, OK?

So with this much crab, like, what would our return be?

How many spring rolls can we make from this?

-Probably about a dozen to 16. -Oh, that's pretty good.

[Aarón] All right, so now we're gonna work on this garnish, Joanna.

So right here we have some rice paper in the fryer.

And put down a little bit of pressure.

-That's so cool. -[Aarón] Yeah.

Would you, for service, prepare a whole bunch of them?

-Absolutely. -OK.

[Aarón] And then now we're gonna fry our spring rolls.

-We have some potato starch. -[Joanna] OK.

[Aarón] We're gonna tempura batter them.

Once they're brown on the outside,

you know they're good. -[Joanna] Mm-hmm -- OK.

See? Look how gorgeous that is.

Nice.

[Aarón] Tell me those do not look appealing?

Yes, very appealing.

And they doubled up in size, too.

[Aarón] Absolutely.

We're gonna slice on the bias, OK?

That beautiful rice paper garnish is gonna sort of act

as a nest, if you will.

I'm gonna add a little bit of greens.

Now we're just gonna do like this little cascade.

[Joanna] Oh, it's getting taller, too.

Yeah, yeah, isn't that gorgeous?

It is.

-Come on. -[Joanna] It's beautiful.

-It's actually $2.82. -That's incredible.

Profit on just something as simple as that.

-[Joanna] Mm-hmm. -[Aarón] It's $13.18.

[Joanna] Wow.

OK.

It's really good.

So, Yueh Tung is actually a fishing village,

like a Hakka fishing village. -Oh!

And we used to be known for seafood, but just because costs

and everything went so exponential, we stopped.

So this is like a perfect way to introduce it again.

Oh, I love to hear that.

That makes me emotional. I don't know why.

-[Aarón] Don't worry. -But it just means growth,

so I love it. -I know.

Sometimes change is hard, but it's necessary.

OK.

♪♪

This room is a different room in every way, even though

the bones are still the same.

It feels like there's real love and care here, and that's what

being in a restaurant is -- it's feelings.

This is a vibe.

I want this dining room to be perfect for Jeannette

and Joanna, and I just want them to have a minute in here

to enjoy it before customers start flooding in.

-I'm nervous, but I'm excited. -Yeah.

This is, like, what we've been waiting for.

-Of course. -It's what we've been working for.

Now it's all about implementation, execution.

Yeah, I'm blown away by what we've accomplished.

It's pretty cool.

♪♪

I hope this really reflects us and what we're trying to do

and the new generation.

-Oh, yes. -Yeah.

We've been wanting this for a very long time.

I am so ready for this.

I'm really ready for this, too.

-OK, OK. -All right.

Joanna, Jeannette, are you ready to see

the new Yueh Tung? -[both] Yes!

-All right, let's go, baby! -Amen.

-Come on. -Oh, my gosh!

[Jen] Are you ready to see the Yueh Tung?

-[both] Yes! -[Aarón] Come on.

Oh, my gosh.

-All right. -You guys, you did an incredible job.

[Jeannette] Love this!

[uplifting music plays]

[Joanna] Wow.

This looks like a completely different space.

-So beautiful. -Oh.

You're gonna have people waiting, 'cause you're gonna

be bustling and busy. -This looks beautiful.

It feels lighter. It doesn't feel so dark.

And our photos. That's very cool.

-[Jen] New floor. -[Joanna] Yes.

[Jeannette] Wow.

[Joanna] Incredible.

It reflects the light in a way that the carpet didn't.

These gorgeous new chairs that are very, very comfortable.

We've repurposed your chairs, but they look so much better

now with a nice matte black.

[Jeannette] So happy.

I feel like it's Christmas Day, like, it just --

-Yes. -I'm trying to take everything in,

and I'm so excited right now.

[Jen] That koi art, this is the heartbeat of this design.

-It feels like it has soul now. -[Aarón] Yeah.

[Jen] This beautiful mural wall covering, it's not just

a pattern wallpaper. Every piece is unique.

[Joanna] Felt like we were in a hall before, and now it feels like

we're in a hotel or a spa. -[Aarón] Yeah, yeah.

You can see the fruits of the labor, right?

-[Joanna] Yeah. -[Jeannette] Yes.

[Aarón] You understand that this is a drastic change

for the better. -[Joanna] Yeah -- yes.

[Aarón] A little more sophisticated, right?

[Jeannette] We didn't think that this was

possible, um...

Joanna and I, like our goal really was to change the space,

and we didn't have the finances to do that,

to create something different.

But you guys made it possible,

and we're so appreciative. -[Jen] Aw.

-I'm gonna cry. -[Jeannette cries]

-Aw. -[Joanna] Thank you.

You can't cry. You can't cry.

-These are tears of joy. -They're happy tears.

We're so happy. We've cried so much.

I think throughout this whole process.

But these are the first happy tears.

What do you think your mom's gonna think?

I think she's going to love it.

I don't think she's going to verbally say it,

but she'll give you, like, the nod of approval,

meaning she loves it.

I'm gonna get her to hug me.

This is it. Are you looking?

-Wow. -Right?

-It's great. -Isn't it?

It's beautiful. I really love it.

Yeah?

I've never seen you so excited.

-It's beautiful. -The new Yueh Tung.

Yeah. I didn't expect this.

-It's very nice. -She's crying.

-Wait, what, what, what? -We don't wanna miss a cry.

-Thank you. Thank you so much. -How are you?

Thank you. You did great.

Oh, my God.

Who is she?

♪♪

Welcome to the new Yueh Tung!

-[Joanna] Come in. -[Jeannette] Thank you, guys.

[Aarón] You're like, "Are we in the same place?"

We love it. We love it.

The mission was to get that lineup outside the door.

That was the promise that we made to our parents when

we took over.

And I'm feeling like we're going to do

what we set out to do.

What can I get for you?

The lump crab spring roll.

-Mm-hmm. -It's beautiful inside.

It's very elegant.

It's warm. It's welcoming.

I love how it's lightened up a bit, the neutral palette.

It's beautiful.

OK, guys, you ready?

We'll get the crispy beef ready, but we're gonna start

sending out the appetizers first.

So I told the chefs about the portion size, and they were

taken aback at first, but they're gonna get

used to it -- it's fine.

'Cause at the end of the day, if we don't make any money,

they're not gonna take any money home.

OK, guys, after we fire the shrimp, we're gonna do

the lump crab spring rolls. All right.

[Aarón] There you go. There you go.

And only dress it, Chef,

right before you're about to go.

[Joanna] OK. Yes, sir.

[Aarón] A little lime juice, a little salt,

and that olive oil. It's just about preparation.

Battles are won in preparation.

And I'd really like to try the citrus and spice.

Oh, of course.

OK, so this is our citrus and spice spritz.

[Jen] The feeling in this room is completely different,

and like the sisters said, it feels like it has a soul.

-[Aarón] Yeah. -Voilà!

[customers cheer]

[Aarón] There you go, Joanna. There you go.

And just tell them to keep pumping out food till they

tell you to stop doing it. -OK.

Just keep putting them out, and they'll tell you,

"Hey, we're good." -Send it out while it's hot.

Thank you.

[Jeannette] So this is the buttered shrimp.

And this is the lump crab.

[Aarón] Joanna's doing great.

I think to disseminate all this information at one shot,

for them to be able to keep up, have delicious food coming out.

-[Jeannette] Hello, ladies. -Wow, that looks amazing.

[overlapping exclamations]

I think all of the loyal patrons that have been here,

or maybe even some new, have seen the difference.

The flavors, you can smell it here right now.

It smells so good.

[Jeannette] How's the food tasting?

-Oh, it's really good. It's so tasty. -Yeah?

It's so flavorful. Garlicky, buttery.

[woman] Yeah, it's amazing. Love it.

This is my first time here at Yueh Tung, and it's phenomenal.

I haven't had appetizers like this.

Like, everything's just so rich and flavorful.

[Jeannette] These are new items on the menu,

so I'm happy that you guys enjoy them.

Really good. Really good.

I'm seeing people loving the crab spring rolls.

They're loving the shrimp. I'm seeing happy faces.

I'm seeing people order cocktails here for maybe

the first time ever.

OK, I got the chili chicken.

-Ooh. -[man] Thank you.

I can see the growth.

I can see the acceptance of new ideas, us imparting

our knowledge and experience to this lovely family to make it

a better restaurant.

So Yueh Tung has an unbelievably bright future.

I think so too.

I am just so thrilled to take all of their suggestions.

And I don't think they realize, and I don't think

"Restaurant Impossible" realizes, but you just,

you just helped make a small business and a family survive.

So thank you.

-Dad, are you happy? -Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Dad is super happy.

We learned so much from Aarón and Jen, like so many things

that we didn't even think about.

We didn't think the space could look this beautiful.

And I'm feeling momentum and rhythm.

And I think we are gonna get ourselves out of the hole.

One, two, three.

[all laugh]

-Hi, Jen. -Hi, Aarón.

It's been three months.

We've really stepped into our leadership roles now.

-We decreased portion sizes. -[Jeannette] Oh, yeah.

-And so far, no one's been complaining. -No.

[Joanna] Business has really increased, and more people are coming in.

We have not had to let anyone go.

Our team is all still here.

-Thank you. -Bye.