Vivian Wu, a seasoned restaurateur who operated “Champion Foods” in San Gabriel for 20 years, has made a remarkable shift to a home kitchen business model in the wake of the pandemic. With Los Angeles County opening applications for home kitchen permits this October, many in the Chinese community have jumped at the opportunity to transform their restaurants into thriving home kitchens, and Vivian is among the pioneers.
“Home kitchens can pivot quickly, especially after the pandemic,” Vivian explains. Transitioning from being the “Champion Boss” to running “Vivian’s Kitchen,” she adeptly utilized her shuttered restaurant space to create meals for takeout. In just a short period, she began catering for hundreds, even thousands, of group orders, finding greater success than she had in her traditional restaurant setup.
Before the pandemic, her restaurant brought in five-digit annual revenues. However, during the crisis, her business multiplied several times, with revenues peaking at nearly ten times what they were previously. Vivian noted that the operating model during the pandemic closely resembled a home kitchen setup; as people were confined to their homes, demand for food delivery skyrocketed. This surge allowed her, a creative menu designer and ingredient innovator, to flourish. With no customers in the restaurant, she focused on developing various specialty lunch boxes, snacks, pastries, and soups. Even common ingredients like lemons were transformed into honey lemon drinks, and overlooked chili peppers were turned into bottled hot sauces—completely altering her traditional business model of selling only beef jerky and marinated foods.
Thanks to her diverse offerings, flexible combinations, and affordability, word spread quickly among customers. From takeout to residential deliveries, orders blossomed, often resulting in multiple cars filled with thousands of meals ready to be delivered.
After the pandemic, just as her lease at the plaza was unexpectedly terminated during renovations, Vivian decided to relocate her kitchen back home to continue producing her delicious foods. She now supplies meals to two local Chinese group orders in the Los Angeles area, and her clientele has expanded beyond San Gabriel Valley to include areas like Cerritos, Palos Verdes, and even San Diego.
“I love culinary creativity, but I also want to maintain a balance with my family life,” she shares. Vivian emphasizes that her home kitchen operates without direct customer interaction; she supplies only group orders. Each week, she shares her menu with group organizers or takes suggestions from them for popular dishes to make, accepting a share of the profits in return. Despite these concessions, her large production volume keeps earnings robust while ensuring her home remains organized and her family life uninterrupted.
