Lawrence C.C. Chu was born in Szechuan, China, and lived abroad for 19 years before moving to San Francisco. Expecting to follow in the footsteps of his architect father, he financed his college education by working in San Francisco restaurants, including Trader Vic’s where the prospect of a career as a restaurateur first occurred to him. His real apprenticeship was served when his father opened a restaurant featuring Mandarin cuisine. In 1970, Chu opened the doors of Chef Chu’s in Los Altos, California, forty miles south of San Francisco. In 1976, he began offering Saturday cooking classes, fully subscribed from the onset. In addition to his own restaurant cooking classes, Chu has shared his knowledge and expertise through television appearances, public cooking demonstrations and by lecturing at culinary academies and food forums. He generously supports local benefits and feels that it is important to give back to the community, which has supported him throughout these years.
