Main Sections

Magic Wok’s Sleight-Of-Hand Is Experience And Skill

photo by Ed Barna Owner/Chef Sunny Chin

photo by Ed Barna

Tuesday July 28, 2009

By Ed Barna

    I approached the assignment of doing a story on The Magic Wok, the new restaurant near A&W south of Middlebury on Route 7, with some apprehension.

    Would the owner or manager be willing to talk? Would I understand him or her? Would I have to concentrate on the business details because the food was the same greasy stuff that most Chinese restaurants are dishing out, using menus that look like they came from the same distributor, who might have  delivered many of the items in large cans?

    What a pleasant surprise. It’s not just a Chinese restaurant, it has dishes from other traditions that make “Asian” a better descriptive term. They don’t use anything out of a can, only fresh ingredients, with a fair number of them local. And people who have gone to ethnic restaurants with a sense of guilt for going off their diets can have confidence that what they are getting is a healthy, balanced meal.

    It’s usual for Chinese restaurants to say they do not add monosodium glutamate (MSG, which adds a different but pleasing flavor, from some perspectives), but it’s a rare one that can serve brown rice on request.

    In fact, in some places where I’ve asked for unprocessed rice by the name “brown rice,” they thought it was rice colored brown. The Magic Wok’s brown rice just about guarantees that I’ll be back.

    Owner and chef Sunny Chin grew up in Malaysia, and was growing up in the restaurant trade from the age of 15. His past experience includes time in New York City.

    He’s warm, personable, and glad to show people what he’s doing. He decided on opening a restaurant in Middlebury because the people were so friendly—the place stood out.

    Watching him and taking pictures in the kitchen—nothing to hide—was another unexpected pleasure. The man is an athlete of sorts, moving from one pan to another with fluid speed, all the time in baking heat that would wear most people down in itself.

    Sort of like those Benihana chefs who did clever things with knives at your restaurant table, if you remember those TV ads, but grittier and tougher. Only someone who loved cooking and sharing the results could do this hour after hour, day after day.    

    The Magic Wok has two phone numbers (see end) so that callers won’t get blocked by a busy signal. But according to one report, recently they had to stop taking calls for a while because they had been flooded with takeout orders and had to catch up (sit down is fine, too).

    No surprise. Every customer asked about their experience in the parking lot had a glowing comment. “Wonderful,” said one—“beats the pants off (name deleted).”

    The Magic Wok can be reached at 388-0339 or 388-0355. They have a website at www.magicwokvt.com.

Printer Friendly

Top

Advertisements

Search our Archives