Owner, Chef Lily Kwok

Sui King Kwok (nee Leung) known fondly as Lily Kwok, restaurateur: born Guangzhou, China 28 September 1918; married 1946 to Kwok Chan (one son, two daughters); died Manchester 8 December 2007. Lily would always tell her family that 'A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step'. How true that is and her life has been an inspiration to all those around her. Her steps have made history. Her life story written up by her granddaughter, Helen Tse, has been published by Random House in the book Sweet Mandarin and has been adopted by schools in the UK and China as part of the curriculum. Her amazing life will also be featured in a BBC dramatisation to celebrate the Beijing Olympic Games 2008 - a remarkable achievement for someone from such humble beginnings. Lily Kwok's life took in 1920s rural China to the bustle of colonial pre-Second World War Hong Kong and present-day Manchester; dealing with poverty and murder to Triad associations, gambling addictions, alcoholism, bankruptcy and the isolation of being an immigrant family - each successive generation of this remarkable woman has been rocked by both international social and political upheaval and a rollercoaster of personal challenges. Battling against circumstances and often a traditional, male-dominated society, it fell to the strong women of each generation to overcome the odds and rescue the family. Lily Kwok was indeed a strong woman. Sweet Mandarin is the story of her and her family's battle for survival and of the one thread that was their lifeline - food. Career - The restaurateur Lily Kwok set up one of the first Chinese restaurants in the UK, the Lung Fung in 1959 even before the UK's Chinatown established and she was fondly known as 'the Boss'. Famous long before the term "celebrity chef" was coined, Lily Kwok epitomised the ultimate dining out experience in 1950s Britain. Her famous curry, Lily Kwok's curry has been served for the last fifty years and generations have been brought up on this deliciously mild, addictively creamy curry concoction. Her food, and her natural flamboyance, helped to persuade the British that there was nothing shameful in enjoying a good meal. Born into brutal poverty in rural China in 1918, it was her father's successful soy sauce business that enabled Lily Kwok to emigrate to a better life in Hong Kong in 1925. However his success soon attracted jealousy, leading to his murder by a competitor. Lily was the third oldest of six girls and the fact that the family had no sons, meant that the soy sauce business was inherited by a distant male relative, who unfortunately did not assist the family. Determined not to let her family return to destitution with the loss of their patriarch, Lily trained as an amah to a wealthy English family. Indispensable, especially for her delicious cooking, she accompanied them on their return to England in the 1950s (leaving her husband, and heartbreakingly having to leave her beloved children behind in Hong Kong). Desperately seasick on the voyage she found comfort for her upset stomach working in the ship's kitchen. There she perfected her famous chicken curry recipe and met friends with whom she would go on to set up the first Chinese restaurant in Manchester. After Lily's long service as a maid for the Woodman family in Somerset, she then set up her Manchester restaurant business. At this time, the UK's Chinatown barely existed, and it was laundry, not restaurants, that was the mainstay of employment. Until the first Chinese food emporium (the Hong Kong) opened in 1959, authentic ingredients were virtually impossible to come by. Lily's Lung Fung Restaurant opened on Taylor Street, Manchester in the same year. Over the years, Lily opened more establishments in the Greater Manchester area and at her restaurant in Middleton, Manchester, pop star Sir Cliff Richard was one of the club's regular crooners. She brought about a domestic revolution putting both plain stews with boiled vegetables on the menu as well as spicy Chinese cuisine. Tantalisingly, she promised that anyone could become a good cook and encouraged the local Middletonians to be more like the Chinese - who she said "liked to eat anything with their backs to the Heavens, except the tables and chairs". She would love to share recipes with the customers and said quite modestly, "It's really simple. People tend to flap about cooking but there is no need to worry. A good meal needs care and attention, but anyone can do it." Overcoming the initial post war prejudice of locals, Lily earned enough money to bring her daughter, Mabel, and son, Arthur over from Hong Kong. Mabel continued in the family business. In 2004, Helen and Lisa, along with their sister Janet, completed the cycle and became the third generation of women restaurateurs. Despite achieving high flying professional careers, they returned to their culinary roots to open the award winning Sweet Mandarin restaurant in Manchester, where they still serve Lily Kwok's Chicken Curry. Just like the Chinese cooking that has bound their family together across generations, Lily's remarkable life is a blend of the sweet and the sour to create a moving account of triumph against all the odds. She was and still is an inspiration to all. It was said that Lily's lunch or dinner were prepared as though they were theatre - well rehearsed, full of drama and lots of action. "I entertain several nights a week," she said. "It's my life."