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Yen family continues Chinese restaurant tradition

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Tobby Yen's Chinese restaurants are something of a fixture in the city of Springfield. His first was Diamond Head, which he opened in the late 70s. That was eventually sold to a friend, and the Yen family left to spend some time in Metarie, La., where Yen opened another Chinese restaurant, the House of Hunan.|ret||ret||tab|

"But we didn't like the area," said son John Yen, now manager of Mr. Yen's. "It was too busy. We wanted to come back to Springfield because it is so peaceful here." So back they came, this time to start the Grand Fortuna on Chestnut Expressway.|ret||ret||tab|

John Yen, born in Kansas City, started school here when his family returned. His father, he said, was born in mainland China, emigrated to Taiwan as a young child and was a Chinese air force fighter pilot before coming to the States in the late 1960s. |ret||ret||tab|

Tobby Yen's restaurant career began as a dishwasher and prepper in a Chinese restaurant called Mr. K's in New York State. He worked his way up to where he is today, according to John Yen. "The guy who owned Mr. K's is still around, and he's still my father's mentor and friend," he added.|ret||ret||tab|

The Yen family opened their latest venture, Mr. Yen's, in 1998 because "We wanted something very big that would attract the attention of everybody, and we wanted to be the best possible Chinese restaurant in Springfield. We tried to put ourselves in a different class of Oriental restaurant," John Yen said. |ret||ret||tab|

The Yens stayed away from the buffet service concept because "buffet means the quality of the food goes down and the cost goes up," he added. And Yen be-lieves that with a buffet there is no personal, individual service being provided for the diners.|ret||ret||tab|

"That's why we offer dim sum (a Chinese pastry). It's different. You choose what you want to eat from the cart right in front of you. It's a very personal dining experience," he said.|ret||ret||tab|

Yen said his father has always worked very hard, and he has sacrificed a great deal for his family. "He was so busy when I was growing up. We didn't get close until I came to work for him, and we were together all day, working side by side. My mother is still over at the Grand Fortuna, but my younger brothers and sister sometimes work here as well." |ret||ret||tab|

"Father taught me a lot about business," Yen added. " He always says keep business business and personal things personal. Don't use your business account for personal expenses.' He's head chef and leaves management and everything else to me and my Aunt May, but he's like a hawk; he knows what going on." |ret||ret||tab|

Business and personal did mix, however, when an old business partner of Tobby Yen's brought a long-time friend to dine at the restaurant. |ret||ret||tab|

The friend was the president of Indonesia, and "we had Secret Service, SWAT teams, highway patrol, FBI you name it they were here all over the restaurant," John Yen said. "I'm not sure the other diners were too happy about that, but it was an honor serving the president."|ret||ret||tab|

Since opening, Mr. Yen's has been an attractive venue for corporate meetings. The restaurant has three private rooms, one that seats 17 and two that seat 20. The banquet room, which can be divided in half, seats 180. According to Yen, the kitchen offers a normal banquet menu, served family-style, for meetings. "With corporate meetings, everybody wants simplicity," Yen added.|ret||ret||tab|

Yen recently started promoting the restaurant more heavily as a meeting venue, and said response to his advertising has been good. Several corporate meetings are booked every week, including insurance companies, stockbrokers and hospitals. Some companies now come to Mr. Yen's for their annual meetings.|ret||ret||tab|

Yen suggested that companies book as far in advance as possible, but he said he can quickly accommodate most groups "within reason." |ret||ret||tab|

"We've thought about catering, too," he added, "but need large groups to consider it. Right now, pharmacy companies have us bring food to Cox Hospital for meetings there. It's just big delivery service, but we are considering catering in the future."|ret||ret||tab|

Other future plans may include a Mr. Yen's in Overland Park, Kan., within the next two years.|ret||ret||tab|

John Yen's future plans include marriage in October and a continuing role in the family business. |ret||ret||tab|

"That's very important to me," he said. "You never know what's going to happen with your family, and I'd rather keep them close. Working here makes the family a lot closer."|ret||ret||tab|

Despite his years in the business, and his son's encouragement to consider retirement, Tobby Yen continues to work hard in his kitchen. |ret||ret||tab|

"Hard work always pays off in the end. I've been doing it this for over 35 years," the senior Yen said. " I've never believed in stock markets or in a sure thing.' My sure thing is restaurants."[[In-content Ad]]

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