Eric Diec calls every customer who walks through the doors of Chef Li a friend. He bustles around the small Chinese restaurant in West San Jose carrying pots of colorful orchids and steaming plates of garlicky string beans, stopping to chat with customers.
Diec owns one of the few remaining small, family-owned restaurants in Camden Park plaza — and after 28 years in business, he’s being forced to close his doors.
Diec got the news last fall that Redtree Partners, which has managed the plaza for about two years, wouldn’t renew his lease even after he offered to pay more rent. He said the management company gave him no reason for the decision, but he suspects it’s because it wants to fill the plaza with more franchise restaurants to attract young people. Chains such as Paris Baguette and Posh Bagel are set to open in the plaza soon near the existing Chipotle, Crumbl Cookies and Baskin-Robbins.
@sanjosespotlight After 28 years in business, Chef Li, a small, family-owned Chinede restaurant in Camden Park Plaza, is being forced to close its doors. Learn more at SanJoseSpotlight.com. #sanjose #bayarearestaurants #SiliconValley #bayarea #chinesefood
Diec said he wanted to run Chef Li for at least another five years before retiring, adding it feels like he’s losing part of himself. But he doesn’t want to fight it, and he can’t afford to open a new location elsewhere to continue his passion. The restaurant’s last day is May 15.
“I was so shocked when I got the email. I never thought in my life that they (would) not renew my lease,” he told San José Spotlight. “I love all my customers. I don’t want to leave.”
A Redtree Partners representative said the company has had a long, positive relationship with Chef Li, but can’t comment on their lease or future tenants.
Diec, who immigrated to the U.S. from Hong Kong when he was 13, started Chef Li with his partner Lawrence Li in 1997 after running a restaurant in Saratoga for 10 years. He began selling the magenta orchids lining the restaurant’s tables soon after, combining his love of food and plants. He often worked from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and fondly remembers his two sons, now adults, trying to serve customers when they were 4- and 5-years-old.
Most of Chef Li’s employees have been there since the beginning, including Amy Wang. A server there for 25 years, Wang said Diec helped with her English. She’s sad the restaurant is closing after its decadeslong run.
“(It’s) like a family for all the people and the customers here,” Wang told San José Spotlight.
The restaurant offers a variety of Chinese dishes, from sesame chicken fried in a light batter and coated in garlic sauce to pineapple basil fried rice with prawns and chicken. Chef Li’s delicacies have built a loyal customer base that goes out of its way to help Diec, including fundraising to replace glass after the restaurant was broken into.
Customer Daniel Garcia has been going to the restaurant every Friday for six years. He often arrives at 5 p.m., and before he knows it, he’s spent four hours eating and chatting with Diec and his workers. He orders the mu shu pork marinated in plum sauce and wrapped in spring pancakes.
Garcia said he doesn’t know where he’ll grab dinner Fridays after Chef Li closes.
“How can the management just have that power to destroy a restaurant that the community loves?” he told San José Spotlight. “I think it’s a travesty. I think it’s low.”
Cecilio Arañez agrees. A loyal customer for about six years, he doesn’t want to see it go.
“The owner is very giving and nice, and the flowers are great too … the soup and the food, everything,” Arañez told San José Spotlight.
Diec said his dream after closing is to start his own orchid shop. He’s inviting all customers to have one last meal and celebrate Mother’s Day at the restaurant.
“We have to leave, (that’s) the saddest thing,” Diec said. “But overall, the customers are very nice here, very loyal and they (kept) me surviving during the pandemic … From the bottom of my heart, I don’t know how to thank them.”
Contact Annalise Freimarck at [email protected] or follow @annalise_ellen on X.
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