A very special order of broccoli tempura

March 22, 2021 6:01 PM

The request came in late on a Thursday afternoon to (Balitmore) restaurant owner Steve Chu. One of his customers had terminal cancer, and her son-in-law wondered if it would be possible to get the recipe of her favorite broccoli tempura entree so he could make it for her at her home in Vermont... He read the email on March 11 and instantly knew that he could do better... “Thanks for reaching out,” he wrote. “We’d like to meet you in Vermont and make it fresh for you.” (SLWaPo)
posted by ShooBoo (16 comments total)

There are so many good people in this world...
posted by Windopaene at 6:05 PM on March 22, 2021 [15 favorites]

....fucking dusty in here again, damn
posted by lalochezia at 7:20 PM on March 22, 2021 [6 favorites]

This was so nourishing to read. Thanks for sharing.
posted by rogerroger at 7:30 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

"He said the request was such a simple one to grant that he couldn’t imagine not doing it."
posted by EllaEm at 7:37 PM on March 22, 2021 [9 favorites]

Such a lovely story - and such a dusty room.
posted by leslies at 7:51 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

This was lovely. Thanks for posting.
posted by bookmammal at 8:23 PM on March 22, 2021 [1 favorite]

Thank you for posting that. What a lovely son-in-law and what a lovely restaurant owner.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:46 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

I've been waiting for this story to make it to Metafilter. So great. I live in Baltimore, between the two Ekiben locations, and somehow have never been to either. You can bet I'll be eating there in future though.
posted by zoinks at 10:07 PM on March 22, 2021 [2 favorites]

Chefs *really* don’t like sharing their recipes, sheesh.
posted by bookbook at 12:46 AM on March 23, 2021 [24 favorites]

I read this and then I have my phone to my mom and made her read it because it is just such lovely story.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:42 AM on March 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

this is terrific - i'll be the first person to say the restaurant business is away in trash people doing things they know are horrible, but it is pretty great having such a stellar reminder its not all that way.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:08 AM on March 23, 2021 [1 favorite]

Just found out yesterday my dad has been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. Fuck.
posted by FirstMateKate at 7:18 AM on March 23, 2021 [10 favorites]

Same for me. My SO (over 30yrs now) also just diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure. Also Fuck. :(
posted by aleph at 9:27 AM on March 23, 2021 [9 favorites]

I’m very sorry to hear that, FirstMateKate and aleph.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:08 AM on March 23, 2021 [3 favorites]

Came across this story when it first broke - not only was I impressed with Chu's great heart, I was also impressed that he could recreate a functional facsimile of his kitchen on the bed of his truck.
posted by porpoise at 6:18 PM on March 23, 2021 [2 favorites]

beat

I'm now just hungry for tempura broccoli. Seriously that looks delicious.
posted by zabuni at 7:28 AM on March 27, 2021