Fortunate Son

Developed by the Chinese who migrated to the U.S. as they adapted their dishes to better suit American palates, this hybrid style of food helped to bring about the advent of takeout and delivery service. Now synonymous with wire-handled paper cartons and fortune cookies, its quintessential menu items, including sweet and sour pork and egg foo young, are beloved by CH culinary director/partner Jason McLeod and Fortunate Son’s executive chef Tony Guan (The Cork & Craft, Restaurant Gary Danko), who joined the group in 2017 to take over the UnderBelly kitchens. Guan, a native San Diegan whose parents have worked at a Chinese-American restaurant for 25 years, says he’s really proud of this cuisine, a result of the “enormous creativity and ingenuity of Chinese immigrants”.