Empress by Boon breathes life back into vacant The last time chef Ho Chee Boon stepped foot inside the building at 838 Grant Ave., he was a customer at the elaborate Empress of China restaurant in San Francisco. It’s been nearly a decade since the iconic restaurant closed, and now the former space will bear his name.To get more news about last empress of china, you can visit shine news official website. Boon debuts his first solo restaurant, Empress by Boon, on Friday within the former storied banquet hall that shuttered in 2014. Opening a new restaurant is as exciting for Boon as it is to welcome guests back to one of Chinatown’s most cherished restaurants. Part of the experience of dining at Empress by Boon means that guests will also be able to spot original features from Empress of China throughout the space. “I first visited San Francisco’s Chinatown years ago and actually dined at Empress of China during that trip,” Boon told SFGATE over email. “UK-based studio Atelier LLYS redesigned the ... space and brought [the restaurant] back to its former glory ... including the intricately carved panels and the original wooden pergola positioned at the entrance, which will be the focal point upon arrival.” Restaurateur Kee Joon Lee opened Empress of China in 1966. Throughout its tenure as a banquet hall, weddings and celebrations that could host more than 500 guests were held on the ornate building's fifth and sixth floors. Balconies on each level gave way to spectacular views of San Francisco, while passersby below admired what was at the time Chinatown’s tallest commercial building. Empress by Boon will reside on the top floor of the building, where a focus on modern Cantonese fare will take hold. The menu will feature dishes Boon grew up eating in his native Malaysia, while other offerings were inspired by trips to Singapore. During the first month of opening, the restaurant is slated to feature a prix fixe menu priced at $68 per person, which includes a grilled rib eye with tofu in mala sauce. Later, Boon anticipates the menu will change to a combination of a la carte items and seasonal prix fixe options. “I take inspiration from those memories and evolve the dishes with new presentation and ingredients that match my culinary perspective,” Boon told SFGATE. “I also like to take classic Cantonese dishes and incorporate unique ingredients and unexpected flavors to surprise and delight my guests.” The opening comes as California ended its COVID restrictions June 15. San Francisco will similarly follow the state as it removes all capacity limits and drops the mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals, which has helped Boon prepare for his grand opening. Empress by Boon had a target opening date in 2020, but the pandemic pushed things further out. And after much waiting, Boon is excited to finally open. “This has been a long time coming, even before the pandemic,” Boon said. “I have been dreaming of opening my own restaurant for decades, so to have my dream finally realized brings me a great sense of joy. It has indeed been very difficult for the culinary industry during the pandemic, but with the state planning to lift restrictions this week, it provides us the opportunity to open Empress by Boon with social distancing and other safety measures in place.” When news broke that Empress by Boon would take up the former home of Empress of China, local activists worried that a shiny new restaurant would further gentrify the historic Chinatown neighborhood. Part of the fear, as Eater points out, is that it would contribute to the displacement of residents as new and pricey businesses raise the cost of living. In recent years, some of Chinatown’s long-gone banquet halls have been replaced by higher-end restaurants like Mister Jiu’s and China Live. Concerns about the gentrification of Chinatown have long been on the minds of locals. A few years after the 1960s opening of Empress of China, trepidation about the "Manhattanization" of Chinatown became a heated discussion among activists who wanted to preserve affordable housing in the neighborhood while city leaders wanted to usher in a new age of development. These conversations eventually led to building height limitations throughout San Francisco, and by 1972, Chinatown buildings couldn’t exceed 50 feet in height.