06/30/2026
Just in: a SIGNED 1973 copy of MADAME WU’S ART OF CHINESE COOKING, a collection of recipes from her restaurant in Santa Monica. From the dust jacket:
Madame Sylvia Wu was born with the traditional jade spoon in her mouth, the daughter of a wealthy merchant who gratified her every whim except one-he refused her permission to step into the huge kitchen of their home in Kiukiang, a city on the Yangtze River.
However, her grandfather was a gourmet who loved to cook; and the little girl would hide near the door and peek into the kitchen to watch him, learning, without realizing it, the principles of Chinese culinary art.
When the Japanese captured Kiukiang, Sylvia and her sister made their way to Chungking, the wartime capital of China, and thence to the United States where she enrolled at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her plans to open a private school for girls were forgotten when she met and married a young engineering graduate student of M.I.T., King Yan Wu, whose grandfather Dr. T. F. Wu was co-founder of the Republic of China with Dr. Sun Yat Sen.
It was not until after King and Sylvia Wu moved to Los Angeles and their three children were at school that she again considered a career.
Today, Madame Wu’s Garden in Santa Monica, California is renowned not only for its haute cuisine, but for its exquisite decor which is highlighted by displays of Chinese art objects from the Wu family collection.
Madame Wu’s guest book reflects the fame and popularity of her restaurant. It is replete with the names of celebrities from the fields of entertainment, industry and diplomacy and there is hardly an evening during which Madame Wu is not hosting an honored guest.
Madame Wu’s original ambition is rather interestingly being gratified. She teaches Chinese cooking, and hundreds have graduated from her courses devoted to the very special art of the Wu cuisine.
