A True Family Business: Jessica Wang of Gu Grocery in conversation with Tiffany Ran

I thought I first met Jessica Wang and her mother, who lovingly goes by the name Mama Peggy, at the LA River Farmers Market a few years ago. But looking back in my shoebox of old photos from high school, I dug out a picture of my friends enjoying a park picnic and there she was. My friend had asked to bring along a family friend that day. We’d all enjoyed a day at the park and I hadn’t seen her since. That is, until the day at the LA River Farmers Market so many years later, when we started chatting as two Taiwanese Americans chefs, and I could not ignore how familiar she felt to me. What a small world. 

It’s a hot summer day and Wang is showing me around Los Angeles’ Chinatown, beginning with iced coffee at Endorffeine inside of the Far East Plaza, where not surprisingly, she knows the owners. After years of operating pop-ups at borrowed storefronts and farmers’ markets, Wang is building out a brick-and-mortar for Gu Grocery, a neighborhood market concept set to open in Fall 2024. During a walk around town, she points out the Chinatown library, where she also goes and mentions the librarian, who she also knows. This is not at all surprising for anyone who follows Gu Grocery. For Wang, her family-run business is not only limited to her family’s involvement in its operations but also seen in the way Gu Grocery is fully immersed in and celebrates its community. 

The following interview was edited for length and clarity.

I’ve seen that along with Gu Grocery, you’ve also concurrently done events like teaching classes on fermentation and pickling and hosted a picnic and small bites-centric pop-up, how did Gu Grocery begin and start to pick up steam?

Initially, I had a full-time job when I was figuring out the Gu Grocery identity. I was doing this pop-up just once a month. There was this night market in Chinatown that a friend of mine was involved in organizing. At the time, my mom and sister were living in Irvine. I lived in LA and I just wanted an excuse to see them. Also, they’ve always been very supportive of whatever I’ve pursued. They love being around people. They’re very social. 

When I had the opportunity to do a pop-up at this night market, I just automatically thought of them as being part of my team. And of course, a lot of my recipes are building on existing recipes from my Mom. So yeah, it was just natural. It felt organic. 

I often see you, through the pop-up, refer to yourself as “Auntie Jess” and your Mom as “Mama Peggy”. Yet, you’re not the typical Auntie or Ah Yi type at all! How did the idea for this persona come about? 

I am in real life an Auntie to three small children. My older brother had kids seven years ago. Three years ago now, I was thinking about how I identify in my pursuits and entrepreneurial endeavors. I’ve always been experimental and I love bridging Asian and American identities through food. I thought I would love for my name to not be a Eurocentric word. I was thinking in this direction like, what would be more true to me. During this time, my brother’s kids call me “Gu Gu” (Auntie in Mandarin). 

I thought well, I am a Gu Gu and I was exploring healing through food, not just through healthy foods but also the sense of a person embracing their identify. So mushrooms came up as a symbol, a representation of the business and a homonym (In Mandarin, the word “gu” is a homonym that can mean “Auntie” and also “mushroom”.) I can’t explain how it all came together but luckily, it was also alliterative with the word “grocery.”

Having to work closely with your family members, how do you distribute duties or balance each other’s strengths and weaknesses?

Even though I’m comfortable with a customer-facing role, my mom, she’s the most extroverted person I know. It almost seems like she’s becoming even more extroverted the older she gets. She’s extremely friendly. When we started doing the farmers market, she loved telling people walking by our tent, she would say, “Hi, if you come and try our food, you’re going to come back because it’s so good!” She would say this to new people we’ve never even met. Like, yeah, I just know you’re going to come back already. So bold! 

So I’m fine being the one in the kitchen and developing the recipes, and having a vision for how things should be plated. I would be more or less behind the scenes. My sister decided to go back to school part way through our first year at the farmers market; I was really happy for her, but I had to find other help. That’s just part of the growing process. She found her calling as an occupational therapist assistant so I haven’t had the joy of her continuing on as part of the team, but she still helps out. 

When I started looking at restaurant spaces, my mom recommended my dad for the general contractor role. I didn’t know he had done restaurant jobs because for as long as I can remember, he’s only done residential. It took me a moment to think about what that would look like and if it would be complicated because I’ve never worked with my dad on that level. 

Wow, so truly a family operation! That speaks to the progressiveness of your parents. Working with our parents can be awkward because they are still your elders, but you would still need to assert yourself as a business owner. 

Yeah the dynamic is very strange sometimes! When you work with somebody on something like building out a space, you have to work very closely. Communication is key. So yeah, there’s been a lot of personal development that has come about as part of the process of growing Gu Grocery. 

Was there the intention or some significance to landing a space in Chinatown? 

Chinatown was where I felt we should be. It’s where I started doing pop-ups. It’s really where I always felt like I had a sense of identity and where I felt rooted. Two years ago, a friend told me about this new space. They knew I was looking and they told me they saw a for lease sign. I gave that number a call, and it turned out that space was too small, but the person on the other end of the line was one of the family members who owns the building. 

It’s a family-owned building managed by the grandson of the original owner. He was interested in what my business concept was, and when I told him the space was too small he said, “Well, tell me about your concept because I have another space.” I just thought, this is so crazy! Nothing in that conversation turned out the way I expected. I wasn’t even expecting him to answer the phone so when it turned into a conversation where he was like, “I like this idea for the grocery store. I’ll show you my space this week.” I was like, what? Awesome!

I got to see the space that same week. My Mom came with me to check it out. We learned that we had some connections with his family. Our families had gone to a church that was connected to them or something. There was a deeper connection. 

I had to look at financing the project because the space, even though it’s sufficient in size, does not have a kitchen. This dilemma made me question whether this was really the right space. One year later, a friend told me about a grant that was being offered by LA County for food businesses in neighborhoods that need more healthy food options. I gave that application a shot and we ended up getting a grant from the county. That was the missing puzzle piece. 

How do you anticipate the brick-and-mortar being different from what you’ve been doing with pop-ups. What are you thinking with your menu?

I’m super excited about offering prepared food for people to purchase that’s ready to go. One of the core missions of our little shop is to offer food that you can buy using EBT. That’s just, you know, with the people of Chinatown in mind. 

I want to sell produce from some of my former farmers market neighbors. Once we are established and have the routine down, I want to invite friends to do pop-ups after hours. The plan is to have friends get involved and share our space with our community. We eventually want to host produce distributions for free food. That is something I’m going to set up with my friends who run a non-profit. And we’ll have a takeout window feature. 

We will have our black sesame noodles with pickles and we’ll be able to offer more protein options, whether it’s pork meatballs or braised tofu. We’ll have our rainbow zhou (congee) with various toppings. We’ll also have pre-packed cold dish sides. There’ll be a wood ear mushroom side, which we haven’t sold before. We’ll have a bunch of different, wonderful sides and pickled things that I’m excited about. My Mom is the snack queen and I’m sure she’ll want to do things like peanuts and anchovies. She’s also very wild and hard to plan with sometimes so we’ll have Peggy’s Specials here and there. Working with our strengths and weaknesses, right?

Advocacy seems like a big part of your work. Have there been more cross-generational conversations happening between you and your family members regarding the issues and causes you choose to support?

Working more with my parents, I’m able to see what they need day to day. My parents are both seniors in their early 70s and a lot of Chinatown’s demographic leans elderly and senior. In terms of food access and affordability, we want to keep in mind what a good price point would be for a senior to get lunch. 

A couple years ago, I saw a position for a part time job for a non-profit that I volunteer at for an EBT enroller. My mom had some extra time and she’s always volunteering her time. I told her about this job and she ended up getting the job, which has her stationed regularly at the Chinatown Library. She helps people understand how to apply and also maximize their benefits. It’s a bilingual service that she offers. I think the stories I hear from her about people she encounters through tabling and understanding what their lives look like, the challenges they face in the application process, have been informative and have helped shape what I hope to offer, to hopefully meet the needs of people who are coming through our doors. 

If you had 24 hours to spend in LA’s Chinatown, where would you go and what would you eat?

I’d start at Long’s Family Pastry and try a selection of baked and steamed goods. My favorites are the curry puff, red bean pancakes, taro cake, lotus leaf wrapped sticky rice and fried dim sum bites. Since they only offer takeout, I would take the food to enjoy at LA State Historic State Park and then take a walk around the park. 

I’d stop at Far East Plaza for coffee at Endorffeine, the only place I can trust the barista for pure espresso. I’d pop into Now Serving to browse cookbooks and cook’s tools. Just across the street is the Chinatown Library, where there is free programming and an impressive bilingual section of books to browse in a quality air-conditioned space with clean bathrooms. If you’re feeling active, walk up to Ord & Yale Street Park and take the stairs next to the terraced garden for a view of Chinatown. 

If I’m starting to get hungry for a substantial snack or lunch, there are a few options: 

• Fried street snacks and popcorn chicken at Quickly
• If it’s a Thursday, there’s the LA River Farmers’ Market from 3 to 8pm
• Zen Mei Bistro for their salty fried fish rice all the way!
• Phillippe’s (since 1908!) for their French dip (beef or lamb) sandwich and a slice of pie

I’d finish the day with a nice dinner at Lasita Filipino Rotisserie where they take care of customers like family. I’d order a glass of something fun to go with the meal and make sure to order dessert too!

Gu Grocery is a “dream come true” Chinese Taiwanese online store offering high quality pantry staples and a collection of everyday home goods. They regularly pop-up around LA to serve a bakery deli menu of sorts, featuring nostalgic snacks, some surprises, and familiar comfort foods to nourish the surrounding community. Learn more about Gu Grocery here and follow them on Instagram here.

Tiffany Ran is a chef and writer based in Seattle, Washington. Her writing has been featured in Seattle Magazine, Vice Munchies, Goldthread, Seattle Weekly, Lucky Peach, and more. She runs a Taiwanese pop-up called Babalio Taiwanese Pop Up, showcasing lesser known dishes and aspects of Taiwanese cuisine. She is very passionate about tracing and contributing to the growing recognition of Taiwanese cuisine in the U.S.

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