Because this was effectively a tribute screening to Mao, Ma wanted to introduce a new element to the programming that wasn’t so fixated on Mao’s past: She wanted to highlight Mao’s current life in food and what she’s been doing since she disappeared from film.When Mao opened Nan Bei Ho in 1997, she figured it was one of the first restaurants in the city (outside of Chinatown in Manhattan) that catered to consumer desire for Chinese home-style cooking. She also studied martial arts, specifically hapkido, rising to the level of black belt — a prowess that later distinguished her from other action stars, who merely choreographed their fight scenes. Delivery & Pickup Options - 182 reviews of Nan Bei Ho Corp "Hidden gem in the Bayside suburbs. Factory’s The Angela Mao Ying Collection makes important headway in illuminating the career of a martial arts star little remembered today. “She basically had one act, which was going from an obedient character to a machine-like avenger,” he added. New Mei Hua, in Flushing, and Guo Ba Inc, in Bayside, would follow.The restaurant, Nan Bei Ho, sits on a quiet street in Bayside, a suburban Queens neighborhood beyond the reaches of the subway system and not far from the Long Island border. “Thirty years after her career ended, we’re eating yakitori at this restaurant,” he said. Then she seemed to vanish. At the peak of her fame in the 1970s, martial arts star Angela Mao was marketed as the female equivalent of Bruce Lee. “I had to support my family. She was a pioneer unconcerned with her own stardom.”Grady Hendrix, a founder of the film festival at Lincoln Center who endured the challenge of tracking her down, suggested that Ms. Mao was part of a bigger story.On her second vocation: “Chinese restaurants are always a good way to make money in the U.S.”Ms. Maybe my husband and kids and their love for food drove it more.”“I feel like kung fu is one of those rare genres of cinema where women were able to be upfront and center as these really aggressive presences,” Ma told me. Her proficiency eased her migration into the world of film, which began as a way for her to rid her family of its financial woes. “I am very traditional. Metrograph constructed the menu after direct consultation with Mao and her son, who made the initial suggestions on what to serve. Mao’s career was brief but bright, taking place in Hong Kong and Taiwan and including roles in more than 30 films over a decade. She left Hong Kong on her own terms.
This spot started as a tiny hole in the wall on the tiny street across the West Bound LIRR trains in Flushing. “I was so surprised.”Surprised fans were now greeted by a small 60-year-old woman wearing a floral silk dress. Though Ms. Mao generally described her life as a case of being in the right place at the right time, she did display a rare moment of tenderness at this point. In fact, she didn't really even get into cooking until circumstance demanded she do so. Quentin Tarantino has cited her as an influence, and a violent fight scene in his 2003 film “Kill Bill” involving a swinging ball and chain is strikingly similar to one of Ms. Mao’s duels in “Broken Oath.”“She’s one of those martial arts ‘What happened to?’” Mr. Hendrix said. The occasional customer recognizes her to this day, and sharp-eyed kung fu fans still stop her in the street.At the reception for an Asian film festival at Lincoln Center six years ago, excitement rippled through the crowd: Was it her? Mao reflected: “A lot happened to me in a little bit of time.”“The man who ran the place said, ‘Call me; I have many more.’” said Mr. King. The food she serves in her restaurants is mostly a reflection of what her husband and children liked during their first years in America.See what other Food52 readers are saying.Born in Taiwan in 1950, Mao was raised by parents who were opera entertainers.
I just thought it’d be great to see these films again.”“She really moved to New York to start a new life and raise her sons,” Ma said of Mao, awestruck not only by Mao’s jagged trajectory but also by what it seemed to be emblematic of. People knew my face. He shares her indifference to the past. Mao and her son followed him to America, and she took up work in food service because it seemed like a financially stable vocation. She was too busy working to support her family.”In the early 1970s, she appeared in a string of films now considered martial arts classics: “Angry River,” “Thunderbolt,” “The Fate of Lee Khan,” “When Taekwondo Strikes” and “The Tournament.” A teenage Jackie Chan appeared as an uncredited stuntman in several of her early films.But he seemed to find some poetry in her improbable path to Queens while visiting a mall on Long Island some years ago. She fought tooth and nail to get Mao’s blessing to participate, but found Mao and her family somewhat evasive. Women were considered ‘jade vases.’ They didn’t speak on screen. Her role as Lee’s sister in Enter The Dragon brought her to international fame in 1973, but she starred in numerous Hong Kong films of her own, including 1974‘s The Tournament. She didn’t need that.