Mr. Chow’s Symphonyfrom Alison Chernick on Nowness.com.
"Eccentric" doesn't even begin to describe this man.
Michael Chow, a global restaurateur known to most in Los Angeles simply as "Mr. Chow," is showcased in all of his quirky glory in a new Nowness profile.
It's a meditation on perfection and how to achieve it -- even if one is, as Chow describes himself, someone with a "broken education."
Focus on just a few things, Chow advises, but blow them up in a big way. "Make every little detail a universe," Chow says, and "the architecture god or film god or restaurant god or theater god will reward you with the chance -- the chance! -- of a masterpiece.
Chow's restaurants in London, Beverly Hills, New York, Miami and Las Vegas are known for these "little" details. The restaurant interiors, designed by Chow, are striking. Patrons dine amid art by Andy Warhol, Robert Mapplethorpe and Jean-Michel Basquiat that Chow picked out himself.
It's all very serious, as Chow truly sees himself as both an ambassador of Chinese cuisine and a careful curator of the finer things in life. His wife Eva is on the Board of Trustees at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), and together their presence looms large in the Los Angeles art scene. China Chow, his daughter from a previous marriage, is the host of Bravo's "Work of Art."
Of course, the video's not all high-end art and life advice. Well aware of his restaurants' reputation as a longtime celeb-magnet, Chow insists, "I feel extremely uncomfortable talking about celebrities, because I feel I'm a very deep person. I'm not superficial. So I don't cater for celebrities -- I'd be very, very embarrassed." Well put.
Here's the kicker: "So I hate people who drop names -- and Lady Gaga agrees with me."
A beat. Then, "at this point you're supposed to laugh. Why don't I hear you laughing?" Good to know Mr. Chow has a sense of humor.