Homes Kitchen

Home Away From Home

 

Eating a home-cooked meal is one of life’s ultimate pleasures, especially after a long day of work or school. Whether you are having a bad day because your boss is on your case or stressing about an upcoming exam, coming home to enjoy a delicious meal with family will definitely brighten up your day.

 

Unfortunately, some people are not lucky enough to have the time and leisure to prepare a home-cooked meal due to their fast-paced lifestyles. Nina Zou, owner of Homes Kitchen, has come up with a clever solution for New Yorkers, by bringing the philosophy of home cooking into her restaurant.

Nina Zou not only dedicates her energy to providing the community with high-quality Chinese cuisine, she also strives to create an atmosphere similar to the comfort of home. She strongly believes that customers should feel at home when dining at her restaurant, which is why she named it Homes Kitchen. This motivates her to place heavy emphasis on the importance of cleanliness, fresh and healthy products and friendly customer service.

 

“People want their homes to be clean, so our restaurant must be clean as well,” said Zou. “They want great home-cooked meals, so we purchase the best products and prepare our menu in a health-conscious manner. People love to enjoy great company during dinner at home, that’s why we focus on maintaining excellent customer relationships.”

 

Nina’s devotion to cleanliness shows in her restaurant’s presentation. The restaurant features a warm color scheme of golden orange and lime green, furnished with elegant dark brown wooden chairs and tables, and a spectacular waterfall window display. Despite its beauty, the real highlight of Homes Kitchen is how the dining, restroom, and kitchen areas are always spotlessly clean.

 

“My employees know me really well. The first place I inspect when I enter the restaurant is the restrooms and then the kitchen. I leave the kitchen door open so the customers can see that it is clean. We have nothing to hide,” said Zou.

 

Her strong sense for beauty and cleanliness can be traced back to her previous career. Prior to establishing Homes Kitchen in 1996, Nina used to own a beauty salon, where she learned to pay extra attention to detail and elegance. She decided to make a career switch when she saw a restaurant for sale posting in the newspaper.

 

“I used to work in the restaurant business for over 10 years before the beauty salon, where I developed many close relationships with chefs and customers,” said Zou. “I sold the beauty salon and purchased the restaurant because I love to eat healthy food, and I want my son to grow up eating healthy.”

 

There has been a recent craze over healthier options in the restaurant industry over the past couple of years, especially in New York, where trans fats have been officially banned. While restaurants are just starting to improve their menus in a more health-conscious way, Homes Kitchen has been doing it ever since 1996.

From the beginning, Zou has insisted on purchasing the freshest products rather than using canned food, because she wanted her chef to prepare meals like they are cooking it for their families. Homes Kitchen uses a large variety of steamed vegetables rather than using oil in their preparation. Chefs also prepare healthy dishes that are low in sodium, have no cornstarch, and serve them with light sauces on the side. Homes Kitchen purchases its fresh and organic products from a nearby food market.

 

“People constantly complain about how healthy food is not tasty. My goal is to make healthy food that is tasty,” said Zou. “Living a healthy lifestyle is really important. My friend’s father from Long Island has to carefully watch what he eats nowadays because he has high blood pressure. I want the future generation to be healthy rather than overweight.”

 

One of the must-try dishes at Homes Kitchen is their healthy Szechuan-style beef with steamed vegetables. The highlight of this dish is that chefs prepare it with three levels of spiciness, giving customers the opportunity to enjoy spicy food at their own comfort level. Also, look for the spicy fish entrée, featuring fresh fish with a spicy red bean sauce, giving it a gorgeous reddish texture and sweet flavor. Customers will surely enjoy the seafood dish, served with steamed vegetables and the house specialty sauce on the side. Homes Kitchen’s Peking Duck entrée is also very high in demand. It was featured in the Time Out New York Magazine for its lean meat, crispy skin characteristics and minimum use of oil – “crispy on the outside, meaty and juicy on the inside”.

 

Homes Kitchen has been able to keep loyal customers for over 11 years because of their excellent customer service. Staff members are bilingual and highly trained to provide customers with knowledge of both traditional Chinese heritage and New York sophistication.

 

“I want my staff to treat the customers like their own family members,” Zou said.

 

Although Nina treats her restaurant like her second home, her heart will always be at her first home. Her number-one priority is still her son, who is currently attending high school and getting ready to take his SATs in the upcoming year. He is an excellent student who has a passion for arts and is very skilled in piano. Nina has decorated her walls with her son’s artwork on many occasions. Despite dealing with her hectic schedule, Nina always finds time for her son. They take yearly vacation trips to China during the summer time because she does not want him to forget his culture and where he came from.

 

“Family is the most important thing. I want the best for my son and his future,” said Zou. “I don’t want to focus on business too much and have to regret it in the future. I want a good balance between work and family in my life.”

 

As for the business side, Nina has a great vision for Chinese cuisine. She wants to break the stereotypes of Chinese restaurants as being low-end and unhealthy establishments by focusing on the image, beauty and health aspects.

 

“I want to learn from Western styles, particularly Italian and French, to help me improve on my restaurant’s decorations and food presentations, and help make Chinese cuisine an elegant and healthy eating experience for all customers,” Zou said.

 

No matter what the circumstances, Homes Kitchen will always strive to be a place where customers can call their second home.

 

Homes Kitchen 22 East 21st St. New York, NY 10010 Tel: (212) 475-5049 www.HomesKitchen.com