All the latest news and notes about Princeton's favorite Asian restaurant
PRESS RELEASE, November 2007: A New Day Dawns Over Sunny Garden: New Owner Brings Fresh Perspective to Neighborhood Restaurant
A New Day Dawns Over Sunny Garden: New Owner Brings Fresh Perspective to Neighborhood Restaurant
Princeton, NJ – Over the past 19 years, owner Yu-Lien Yen made Sunny Garden one of the best Chinese restaurants in the United States. Now, he is passing the torch to new owner Eric Chen, who plans to take a great restaurant and make it even greater.
But Chen assures the loyal patrons of Sunny Garden that he doesn’t intend to totally revamp the restaurant they know and love, just kick it up a notch. He sings high praises for what Yu-Lien Yen has built, noting, “This is a dream come true for me. Mr. Yen has set the foundation for me to build a sky-scraper.”
Sunny Garden has been a Princeton neighborhood favorite since 1988. Originally located one block away, Yen built the restaurant’s current Farber Road location from the ground up in 1994. Voted Best Chinese Restaurant in the United States by Chinese Restaurant News three years in a row, Sunny Garden is Zagat rated and has received stellar reviews from the New York Times on several occasions.
Despite all the accolades, Yen felt the pull of time. No longer able to devote the long hours necessary to maintain the level of success Sunny Garden deserves, Yen decided it was time to move on and pass on what he’d created to someone who could bring Sunny Garden to an even higher level of success. He found that person in Eric Chen.
Chen, a seasoned restaurateur with 20 years of experience, knows what it takes to make a restaurant succeed: a stellar staff, an excellent clientele and, of course, exquisite food. Under Chen’s ownership, the already bright and inviting dining room at Sunny Garden will get a facelift, fusing traditional and antique decor. By “importing” three Master Chefs from his other restaurants to supplement the supreme talents of Sunny Garden’s Chef Chan, who is staying on as Head Chef, Chen intends to offer innovative entrees, as well as new takes on familiar dishes, perfecting them with a fresh, authentic twist. Seafood delivered fresh daily, garden-fresh vegetables, and low-sodium soy sauce and light oil ensure Sunny Garden will be a mouth-watering experience.
And then there’s the sushi. Chen envisions a sushi menu that is clean, basic and without flash, unlike so many other restaurants that have succumbed to what he describes as the trendy turn sushi has taken: California Rolls filled with fresh crab and cucumber, Alaska Rolls loaded with smoked salmon, Vegetable Rolls bursting with crisp, delicious carrots and asparagus. Coming from a strong sushi background – his father and brother-in-law were both sushi chefs – Chen intends to expand the sushi bar, which is currently a small alcove closed off from other diners, and open up the area, thus making the succulent sea fare more enticing to all customers, and particularly families.
“We want to be the restaurant that you grow up with,” says Danielle, Chen’s wife of 16 years. “We want families to come to Sunny Garden with their children, and then we want to watch those children grow up and bring their children.”
Growing up in Chinese restaurants, Chen began working when he was fourteen years old, doing bike deliveries for his uncle’s restaurant. “I learned the ropes from the bottom,” he explains. At 24, Chen’s first restaurant venture, Hanami, had so much success in its Englewood, NJ location, then two more locations were opened in Cresskill and downtown Westwood. Just eight years later in 2006, he opened Typhoon, an Asian fusion restaurant located in Englewood, NJ. Customers drive from far and wide to experience the amazing cuisine Chen’s restaurants have to offer and newspapers have devoted many a story to his menus’ offerings. As Chen’s newest restaurant, he’s hoping Sunny Garden will be no different.
Sunny Garden is located at 15 Farber Road in Princeton, NJ. Private parties and catering are welcome, and delivery is also available. For more information, call 609-520-1881.