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Chrysanthemum Tea and First Times

Audrey is a puzzle, a mix of Burmese culture, Chinese heritage and American influences. With parents originally from China, a husband from Hong Kong and an aunt whose passion for Burmese food inspired her young niece, Audrey manages to fit seamlessly into this Chinese restaurant.

Before our interview, she conversed with each waitress, and laughter filled the empty restaurant with warmth. The patches of her journey are woven together with an infectious love for life and a blissful refusal to acknowledge obstacles or allow them to hinder her growth.

“Would you like some chrysanthemum tea?”

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“Would you like some chrysanthemum tea?” I nod eagerly and Audrey sets a gorgeously crafted teapot and cup at the table before settling across from me. I clench the ballpoint pen in my hand in hopes to assuage my nerves and Audrey smiles uneasily. The steaming teapot begins to sweat.

The first thing that strikes me about Mrs. Audrey Lo is her vivacity.

She is a force of nature and one has to be in order to manage Szechuan Heat. Her attire is crisp a cloak of professionality adorns her. It’s 11:00 am on a Sunday morning and the restaurant is decidedly empty. However, it is alive with the sounds of pans rattling in preparation for the coming lunch rush. At a table across the restaurant two young waitresses debone piles and piles of chicken.

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When she slides the form back across the table, it is sparsely filled, and I can feel her tenseness. However, as we fall into conversation, I witness Audrey Lo blossom. I leave the interview with a filled in form, a beautiful story and a new friend.

I begin by asking her to fill out the biographical form and at first, she is skeptical, seemingly uncomfortable at the prompts. “What should I put here?” she asks, referring to the Ethnicity blank… “Asian, Chinese…Burmese…?” I assure her that this form is an opportunity for me to get to know her and she should authentically express how she self identifies. I later see that she has written ‘Asian (Chinese).’

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Table for one Please

The restaurant is rather unassuming. Tucked away in Cary in a small, upscale strip mall, Szechuan Heat is a hidden gem. The bright red letters are deliberately slashed across the uniform beige bricks and the parking spaces are decidedly empty because it is only 4:00pm.	The neat white script on the glossy glass doors reveal that they will again open for dinner at 4:30pm.	Having opened in February 2017, Szechuan Heat is the latest in a welcome rise of Asian cuisine establishments in Cary.
The article sings praises to the dishes’ ability to reach both Chinese and American customers and everyone in between	There are white boards with the trademark Coca-Cola logo in its corner, but they are covered in Chinese characters.
The column that stretches from ceiling to floor in the center of dining room is clad in sparkling iridescent mosaic tiles.	The neat rows of black chairs beneath the masterpiece beckon for visitors.	Noticing my enraptured stare, the waitress hurries to illuminate the restaurant. I am gifted with a beautiful explosion of color. The lights bathe the top of the column in a beautiful fuchsia and the spokes of the wheel melt into a stunning golden hombre.
The neat rows of black chairs beneath the masterpiece beckon for visitors.		The far wall is covered with circular tiles of all different shapes, a beautiful aqua contrast to the sleek black seating arrangements.
Stalks of bamboo resting along the bar add a spruce of life to the already vibrant environment.	Pot and pans clank behind the sleek, swinging doors.	The wallpaper is like molten gold, with big, soft folds to create a mesmerizing pattern.
The bar is centered with a large flat screen TV and the shelves are tiled in the same iridescent mosaic as the beautiful column. Soft yellow lights dangle above the bar and the aura is just perfect.

Chrysanthemum Tea and First Times

“Would you like some chrysanthemum tea?”

Table for one Please

The restaurant is rather unassuming. Tucked away in Cary in a small, upscale strip mall, Szechuan Heat is a hidden gem. The bright red letters are deliberately slashed across the uniform beige bricks and the parking spaces are decidedly empty because it is only 4:00pm.

The neat white script on the glossy glass doors reveal that they will again open for dinner at 4:30pm.

Having opened in February 2017, Szechuan Heat is the latest in a welcome rise of Asian cuisine establishments in Cary.

The article sings praises to the dishes’ ability to reach both Chinese and American customers and everyone in between

There are white boards with the trademark Coca-Cola logo in its corner, but they are covered in Chinese characters.

The column that stretches from ceiling to floor in the center of dining room is clad in sparkling iridescent mosaic tiles.

The neat rows of black chairs beneath the masterpiece beckon for visitors.

Noticing my enraptured stare, the waitress hurries to illuminate the restaurant. I am gifted with a beautiful explosion of color. The lights bathe the top of the column in a beautiful fuchsia and the spokes of the wheel melt into a stunning golden hombre.

The neat rows of black chairs beneath the masterpiece beckon for visitors.

The far wall is covered with circular tiles of all different shapes, a beautiful aqua contrast to the sleek black seating arrangements.

Stalks of bamboo resting along the bar add a spruce of life to the already vibrant environment.

Pot and pans clank behind the sleek, swinging doors.

The wallpaper is like molten gold, with big, soft folds to create a mesmerizing pattern.

The bar is centered with a large flat screen TV and the shelves are tiled in the same iridescent mosaic as the beautiful column. Soft yellow lights dangle above the bar and the aura is just perfect.