Hong Dao Fu

Hong Dao Fu, 102, born on December 04, 1922, in Yangzhou, China, passed away July 05, 2025. He resided in Los Angeles, CA at the time of his passing. Arrangements are under the care of Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA. 

He was also known as "Harry" to his friends and many admirers of his remarkable skill as a chef and restauranteur.  He taught himself to read English and Chinese, receiving less than a year of formal education as a child.

Harry immigrated to the US lawfully in 1956 with his wife Susie and daughter Connie, working as a domestic servant for his sponsor, a prominent Washington DC socialite.  Curiously, he mastered Mandarin-style Chinese cooking in DC, not in China.  From there, he moved his family back and forth across the country, seeking opportunity. They settled initially in New York City, opening a tiny Mandarin restaurant uptown, in Harlem, in 1962.  

New York was a mean town then, and he opted for sunnier climes, resettling his family in West Los Angeles in 1966.  

In 1967, he established Ting Ho Restaurant, taking over a failed Chinese restaurant, a few feet from the corner of Hollywood and Highland, the very center of the entertainment capital.  His timing was perfect: Mandarin food was exploding in popularity in the US, and Ting Ho became the leading example of the cuisine in Los Angeles.  At Ting Ho, his customers included Alfred Hitchcock, Barbra Streisand (dining with Ryan O'Neal after the premiere of "What's Up Doc" at the Chinese Theater, a block away), Bobby Darin, Ed "Kookie" Byrnes, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin ("Laugh In"), Don Adams and Barbara Feldon ("Get Smart!"), Carl Reiner ("the Dick Van Dyke Show"), Marlo Thomas ("That Girl"), and the entire cast of Bonanza, F Troop, Laugh In, Mission Impossible, and many other shows and films, as well as numerous directors and producers of the era. He opened two more successful restaurants during his career.  Within twenty years of his immigration, through hard work and ingenuity, he moved to Beverly Hills to raise his family, and sponsored his son Dai Chen to migrate to the US, with his family.  Dai Chen and his family have kept the family tradition alive, as successful restaurant operators.

A model American success story, Harry is survived by his wife Mona, four children, six grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.