DENVER — We’re in the middle of Chinese New Year and as we welcome in The Year of the Ox, we're sharing how a husband and wife team is sharing their favorite traditions and hoping to bring a little luck into this new year.
“Chinese New Year is one of my favorite holidays,” said Doris Yuen, one of the owners of Meta Asian Kitchen in Denver.
For Yuen and her husband, Ken Wan, this time of year carries many different traditions.
“I would eat a lot during Chinese new year growing up,” said Wan.
And as the owners of Meta Asian Kitchen, it's no surprise a lot of those are centered around food.
“When we'd go to these banquets, there would be feasts of course after course after course,” said Wan.
The couple moved to Denver from New York City to open Meta Asian Kitchen last year.
“This is our baby essentially,” said Wan. “Opening a restaurant and running my own kitchen was something I always wanted to do. We were doing pop-up eateries all over New York City.”
Now they've found their home in the Avanti Food Hall in Denver.
“Fast-casual family style,” said Wan, describing his food. “We do dumplings, fried rice, stir fry noodles, bao buns. Dumplings that we do here are dumplings that we do from scratch in house.”
And this year for Chinese New Year, they're adding a few family favorites to the menu.
“We are doing a Chinese banquet style Chinese new year feast,” said Wan.
Great food that carries a bigger message.
“A lot of symbolism to the food that we're serving,” said Yuen. “We're doing a noodle because noodle represents longevity. Veggies, dumplings, spring rolls, things that represent prosperity and luck.”
And for a little extra luck after the year we've all had, each meal comes with a red envelope.
“All the aunties and uncles would have red envelopes on them so whenever you see someone they always have a red envelope with money to give you,” said Yuen. “It's supposed to just represent good luck, good fortune for the upcoming year. We're including Chinese red envelopes with every order, some of them will have two dollars, some of them will have golden tickets you can redeem for a free entree. We're really hoping to bring some good luck to the people who eat our food.”
Chinese New Year goes through Feb. 26. Meta Asian Kitchen is starting a “Ghost Kitchen” on March 1, where they’ll be able to deliver from all delivery platforms.
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