Celebrity chef Martin Yan plans to revive M.Y. China in SF

Namesake co-owner and celebrity chef Martin Yan told SFGATE that he and his partners at Koi Palace, a mini-chain of restaurants, hope to revive M.Y. China in Chinatown. Yan said that his team is seriously considering opening in the former home of the decades-old Cathay House restaurant at 718 California St., which closed in 2018.

“We’re looking at a couple of locations,” Yan said. “One location is Cathy House on California Street and Grant Avenue, which has the cable car stop right there.”

The ornate structure, which was built after the 1906 earthquake, has three levels where Yan hopes to debut two different restaurants. The ground floor could be the future home to M.Y. China Express, a fast-casual restaurant, where tourists or locals could swing by for a quick bite to eat, whereas the upper level may be the home of either M.Y. China or a similar concept called M.Y. Chinatown, Yan said.

If Yan is unable to secure the former Cathay House space, he still wants to open a restaurant in Chinatown, where famous chefs Brandon Jew of Mister Jiu’s and George Chen of China Live have already found tremendous success. He anticipates opening his restaurant around Lunar Year in 2024, if all goes well. 

One of Yan’s biggest goals is to get people back to Chinatown, which was among the hardest hit neighborhoods amid the pandemic years. Yan recently wrapped up show segments of “Martin Yan’s MY Chinatown,” where he’s featured longstanding businesses like the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory, among others. He hopes that the new restaurant will continue the work he’s done to celebrate San Francisco’s historical Chinatown neighborhood, and plans to host charity events within the space. 

“There’s no other Chinatown as powerful, historical, beautiful, and as fun as the Chinatown in San Francisco,” Yan said.

Yan’s other big plan is to transfer a massive decorative bell left behind at his former Westfield restaurant to his new business. The bell, which was hoisted near the restaurant bar, remains inside the mall, but was never removed after M.Y. China closed, due to its enormous weight.

“Our bar had a beautiful bell of good fortune and good luck that weighs about a ton,” Yan said. “When we hung it, it cost almost $80,000 to reinforce the ceiling. We haven’t moved it yet.”

The forthcoming restaurant is expected to embody the essence of M.Y. China with occasional hand-pulled noodle shows and, of course, the selection of traditional Chinese dishes. At the new restaurant, Yan hopes to offer a simplified and seasonal menu, which will highlight Dungeness crab when it’s in season. He cited challenges with hiring throughout the restaurant industry, both mid- and post-pandemic, as one of the reasons he wants to focus on a smaller menu.

Between running his new Las Vegas restaurant M.Y. Asia and making television appearances, Yan is busy yet excited about the upcoming project, especially after receiving emails and calls from former customers “begging us to reopen M.Y. China.” 

“Everybody loves the M.Y. China,” Yan said. “It’s not just you come into M.Y. China to eat and enjoy a meal. You can feel the excitement.”