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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).

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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 🥹🫶🏻

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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.

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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 ✈️ 🌎

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📖 🎥 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

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Chinatown is disappearing.
We went to City Hall to fight for it.

If this matters to you, share this and help keep Chinatown’s story alive.

#ProtectChinatown #Toronto #AsianDiaspora #SupportLocal #HistoryMatters

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You asked how to help Chinatown - both old and new.

Come down. Support local. Frequent the shops.
Share this so more people see what’s happening.

LET US KNOW : your favourite memories of visiting Chinatown.

Because once it’s gone, we don’t get it back.

For more info on saving Chinatown follow @chinatownlandtrust @allflowersmahjong @hello.anson they have amazing perspectives and are educating us too

#SaveChinatown #ChinatownToronto #Toronto #SupportLocal #TorontoEats

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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. ❤️

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A little over a year ago, we started telling our family’s story.

We thought we were documenting the end of our 40-year-old restaurant.

Turns out, we were only beginning to tell the story. #fyp #toronto #yuehtung

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Thank you @nestlecanada for having us be part of your panel. It was such an inspiring and great group to sit with !

Social media, storytelling and a digital presence was not part of the original plan to keep our restaurant thriving. But it ended up being our biggest lifeline to keep us alive.

We began sharing our journey a year ago… and we have pivoted a lot. Made a lot of mistakes. And kept going. Next year we will celebrate our 40th year in business!

We will be sharing more of our journey online and in person.
Tonight we will be @tpllilliansmith
And tomorrow with @securianfinancial

Grateful to chat and swap & listen to stories this AHM 💛🙏🏻

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Thank you @nestlecanada for having us!

Around this time last year was the worst year in our restaurant’s entire history. Four decades we survived and 2025 really kicked us down. Happy to report we really went down swinging and the city and our community really came through for us . We’ll share more later about this journey to survive… but until then Happy Asian Heritage Month… we’ve got a restaurant to open.

Lunch starts at 11:30am. SEE YOU 💛

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A sweet afternoon at @nestlecanada 🍭 🍫 Thank you for having us and making us feel so welcome. And a special thank you to @kalamansi.collective for inviting us — grateful to be part of the conversation. #AHM

Last pic makes me laugh: v asian. V Asian , indeed!

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