Instagram story viewer> @simplyjeanetteliu> Posts

Jeanette Liu

@simplyjeanetteliu

785

followers

712

following

Preserving Canada’s first Hakka restaurant & Toronto’s last Old Chinatown pillar—through food and stories.
🏠 @yuehtungrestaurant
📖 @penguinrandomca

POSTS STORIES REELS TAGGED

A little behind the scenes. ❤️

(the third slide makes me laugh… even though it was so hard to film, we also had a lot of fun with these guys 🤭)

Now that the episode has aired, we just wanted to say thank you.

To everyone at Food Network and the incredible crew who spent those days with us—thank you for treating our family with so much kindness and the most empathy.

Crying in front of cameras isn’t natural. But somehow, you made us feel completely at home.

You cried with us behind the scenes. You laughed with us. You celebrated every little win with us, even long after the cameras left you followed up. By the end, it didn’t feel like we were filming with a production crew—it felt like we were surrounded by people who genuinely cared about our family and our story.

For years we’d watched Food Network and dreamed that maybe one day we’d work together. We even joked that if we were ever on the network, we’d want it to be for a restaurant makeover.

Well… be careful what you wish for. 😅

We just never imagined it would happen because our family restaurant was fighting for its future.

To everyone who helped tell our story with such care—thank you! We’ll never forget this experience. We learned a lot and love our new dining room! We are armed with new tools to get us through whatever else may come.

And if watching the episode made you curious, we’d love to welcome you in person. Come experience the beautiful transformation, grab a plate of Hakka food in Toronto’s old Chinatown , and please say hello. Our doors are still open—and we can’t wait to meet you. ❤️ taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

769

51

3 months ago

I have 11 months to write 80,000 words turning my family’s restaurant into a book! Let’s see how this goes. 🤞📖 #booktok #penguinbooks #penguinrandomhouse #canada taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

96

14

3 months ago

📖 🎥 LAST NIGHT, ONE CHAPTER AIRED. TODAY, WE’RE ANNOUNCING THE NEXT ONE🥹

Last night, many of you met our family through the Food Network.

What you saw was one chapter of our story.

The truth is, there was so much that couldn’t fit into a single episode—the years before the cameras arrived, the moments after they left, and the history that made our little Hakka Chinese restaurant worth fighting for.

Today, I’m so excited to finally share that our family’s story is becoming a memoir.

The Last Call will be published by @penguinrandomca, represented by @westwoodcreativeartists. 🐧

What started as one last attempt to save our family’s 40-year-old Hakka Chinese restaurant became something so much bigger.

This book is about family, immigration, Chinatown, resilience, and what it means to fight for something you love before it’s gone.

To everyone who watched our videos, shared our story, visited the restaurant, encouraged us when we weren’t sure we’d make it, and believed in our family—thank you. You helped make this next chapter possible.

A huge thank you to my INCREDIBLE agent, Chris, my LOVELY editor, Meredith @cest.la.mer, and the entire teams at Westwood Creative Artists and Penguin Random House Canada for believing in this story. I am so incredibly grateful. 💛

This story isn’t over!

In many ways, we’re still living it.

Come visit us at Yueh Tung, 126 Elizabeth Street, in Toronto’s original Chinatown. Our doors are still open, and we’re still writing this story in real time.

Much of our memoir content will be found @simplyjeanetteliu . Please follow 🫶🏻

❤️

#TheLastCall #BookAnnouncement #PenguinRandomHouse #Memoir #Toronto Chinatown Hakka FamilyBusiness taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

676

52

3 months ago

Back in 2017, when our restaurant was going through a difficult time, we started getting creative with our menu.

Fun fact: Did you know our famous Chili Chicken was almost called “The Chicken That Burns the Asshole”? 😂🌶️ My dad had A LOT of fun rethinking his menu and names of his dishes.

Thankfully, we stuck with Chili Chicken. I can’t remember who convinced dad 🤷🏻‍♀️ I feel like it wouldn’t have been me. I’d bet 20-something year old me thought that was hilarious PR gooooold.

Stories like this (and many more) are making their way into my upcoming memoir about saving our family’s restaurant. Unless they get chopped 🔪 follow @simplyjeanetteliu to see how the writing process is going… when I get a break from the resto. And join @yuehtungrestaurant as we continue to put our story on paper, finally. We spent years sharing this story with great journalists who we deeply respect and admire… but it’s time to tell it straight from our own mouths (and memory). taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

132

18

7 days ago

A little round up of all the things I did besides writing … to prepare for writing season: lots of play, reading, dreaming, eating, time with friends & family, AND somehow, meeting Melissa Fung - the author of the first memoir I ever read, Under an Afghan Sky (I was a very late reader in life of non fiction). And … we talked about my book 😭 by @simplyjeanetteliu

23

0

15 days ago

A year ago, we didn’t know how much longer we’d be here. What happened next, we never could have imagined.

Last month was a whirlwind. So many things converged at once, and suddenly we were learning how to handle a new kind of problem in real time. We ran out of ingredients, simplified our menu, adjusted our systems and did our best to keep up.

We know it won’t always be as busy as those incredible few weeks — and that’s okay. What they gave us was something much bigger: the opportunity to keep serving.

We’ve learned a lot, we’re bringing more of our menu back, and we’re heading into fall grateful and so excited to welcome familiar faces and meet so many new ones.

Nearly 40 years later, we still get to cook the Hakka food we love for the city we love.

Thank you for giving us another chapter. We can’t wait to serve you. ❤️

Lives changed because of YOU @insta.noodls @migrationology @chefaaronsanchez @jen___agg THANK YOU SO MUCH 🥹🫶🏻 taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

3k

159

a month ago

Back to school for my kiddo tomorrow, which means I get my morning walks—and hopefully my morning writing—back. ☀️

I’m writing a book about what it means to try to save a family restaurant while you’re still in the middle of living the story. Some days I’m writing it. Some days I’m at @yuehtungrestaurant trying to change the ending.

And because apparently I needed one more thing to procrastinate on, I’m running the Toronto Waterfront 5K next month. 😂 I originally wanted to do the half marathon, procrastinated on registering, missed it…and now I’m procrastinating on training for the 5K.

So: write the book. Run the restaurant. Train for the 5K.

Tomorrow, we begin. 😂 FML taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

33

1

a month ago

summer dump… a little bit of this and that 💛 taken in Here .There. Everywhere by @simplyjeanetteliu

37

1

a month ago

Writing a book about your family’s restaurant @yuehtungrestaurant when you’ve never written a book before is a very strange thing 😂

So I’ve been asking authors I meet what they’ve learned, stealing the advice that works for me, ignoring what doesn’t, reading everything I can get my hands on and slowly figuring out my own process.

Some days I write. Some days I walk and dictate memories into my phone. Some days I interview my family. And some days the restaurant gets absolutely slammed and the book gets zero words because I’m too busy living the story I’m supposed to be writing.

I was supposed to write 20,000 words this summer.

I did not. 😂

But I’m learning that maybe writing a memoir isn’t only about getting the words down. It’s paying attention while your life is happening. Collecting the stories. Asking the questions. Remembering the tiny things.

And being kind along the way.

Anyway — here’s what I’ve learned so far.

~6,000 down. ~74,000 to go. ✍️ taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

31

8

2 months ago

wrote 0 words on this walk today about my family’s restaurant 😅 but somehow came home with another book idea and half a pitch.

Not sending it to my agent until I finish another chapter of the book I’m ACTUALLY contracted to write. AndI don’t need the team getting nervous 😂

Anyway. Back to Book 1. #teamprocrastination #writing #kindof taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

22

1

2 months ago

Thank you @karonliu @lachancephoto and Toronto Star ⭐️ for the feature. Link in bio.

We didn’t think we would make it to filming day or the air day either 😳 That’s such a WILD thing to think about.

Yueh Tung was given another lifeline thanks to @jen___agg @chefaaronsanchez and the entire Restaurant Impossible crew 💛 really grateful to you all and our community that stuck by us.

To another 40 years? LFG. 💥 🥊 we’re ready for our next decade. taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

411

49

2 months ago

Some moments feel like they come full circle.

We’ve admired Mark Wiens @migrationology for years, and Clement from @instantnoodles is such a bright light in Toronto’s food community and beyond. What we love about both of them is that they make food about more than food — they shine a light on the people, families and stories behind it.

Back in 2013, we messaged Mark before a trip to Thailand asking for food recommendations and was amazed by how thoughtfully he replied to a complete stranger. We ended that message by saying that if he was ever in Toronto, we’d love to host him at our family’s restaurant… never thinking it would ever actually happen.

What felt especially surreal was hearing Mark’s voice in our restaurant — the same voice we’d heard through a screen for 13 years, now talking about Hakka food 🥹😭

To hear them call us the “climax” of their tour meant so much!

We were so honoured to have them both with us. ❤️
What we’ll remember most, though, is their kindness. The way they listen, ask thoughtful questions and shine a light not just on the food, but on people and humanity.

Thank you so much @insta.noodls @migrationology it was a delight to have you with us! What a dream! Safe travels ✈️ 🌎 taken in Yueh Tung Restaurant by @simplyjeanetteliu

2k

70

2 months ago