Patrick Lin grew up in Manhattan's Chinatown, and so, like any sensible kid, grew up eating a ton of hacked-up roasted meats, usually served over mounds of white rice, maybe with a bit of cabbage or bok choy laid on for bitterness and crunch, from any number of fast and cheap local spots. "Every day after school," Lin told Hell Gate, "this is what we ate."
My current Chinatown go-tos for such Cantonese delights include Wah Fung on Chrystie, Great NY Noodletown on Bowery, and Hay Hay on Mott, and you probably have your own. There are plenty of good options in this part of town.
Yet Lin lives just over the bridge in Brooklyn these days, where he has opened several restaurants of his own, including two versions of Em Vietnamese with his partner Rui Huan Hu: Bistro in Dumbo and Kitchen in Bensonhurst. For years, though, he's had this idea of bringing the everyday food of his Chinatown childhood to other neighborhoods around the city.
