Edsel Ford Fong

Edsel Ford Fong (AKA Eddie Fong, d. 1980s) was a Chinese American restaurant server from San Francisco, California. [cite web|url=http://www.homeandabroad.com/c/11/Site/75999_Sam_Wo_s_visit.html|title=Sam Wo's|accessdate=2007-09-12|publisher=home & abroad] He has been affectionately called the "world's rudest, worst, most insulting waiter."cite web|url=http://www.fudcourt.com/samwo.html | author=Guest Joe Franko | title=Sam Wo |date=2002-06-14|accessdate=2007-09-12|publisher=Fud Court]

Details

Edsel Ford Fong was born and raised in San Francisco's Chinatown. He worked the third and fourth floors of Sam Wo's Restaurant on Washington Street, while his brother Henry Ford Fong worked the first two. As head waiter, Fong greeted visitors with an admonition to "sit down and shut up." [cite web|url=http://www.portolasanfrancisco.com/history.html?lang=en&type=6&cityid=202|publisher=Portola San Francisco|accessdate=2007-09-12|title=San Francisco Information] He is also known for calling patrons "retarded" and "fat", criticizing people's menu choices before telling them what they should order, slamming food on the table, complaining about receiving only 15% tips, and groping female patrons. An imposing man with a crew cut hair style, he was also notorious for seating people with strangers, forgetting orders, cursing, spilling soup on customers, hazing newcomers, refusing to provide forks or English menu translations, and busing tables before diners were finished.cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/3348/articles1.html|accessdate=2007-09-12|title=Curry Noodle Time:The Sam Woh Experience|author=Eric Ehrmann|date=1996]




Fong was made famous by columnist Herb Caen, who often described the misanthropic Fong during his visits to Sam Wo's. Caen would interview Fong on matters of local politics and gossip, then reprint Fong's Yogi Berra-like responses, which Fong would in turn proudly show to his loyal regulars. Caen included Fong in his guide of things to do in San Francisco, under "58. See the world's rudest waiter." [cite web|publisher=Coast News|url=http://www.coastnews.com/restaurant-guide/chinatown.htm|accessdate=2007-09-12|author=Nina Wu|title=San Francisco Restaurant and Dining Guide|date=2007] Although genuinely rude, his style was self-conscious and his role at the restaurant was not just to serve food but also to be a resident "entertainer" and "madman."

Legacy

Fong is remembered fondly for his rude behavior. He was a regular recurring character in Armistead Maupin's series of Tales of the City novels, and was played by Arsenio 'Sonny' Trinidad in the 1993 BBC miniseries. [cite web|publisher=IMDB|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106148/combined|title=Tales of the City|accessdate=2009-09-12] Robin Williams referred to Fong in his 1997 eulogy of Herb Caen: "'Oops, she (Pamela Harriman) is missing our table, going right to God's.' I hope they have a waiter like Edsel Ford Fong who goes, 'No water here. Only wine!'" [cite news|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=2007-09-12|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1997/02/08/MN35074.DTL|title=Robin Williams|date=1997-02-08] A series of club-level bistros at AT&T Park are named "Ford Fong's" in his honor. [cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/2000/03/26/SPECIAL445.dtl|accessdate=2007-09-12|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|title=There Are Lots of Things to Do ... Even If You Don't Watch the Game|author=Rick DelVecchio|date=2000-04-11] [cite web|url=http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/ticketing/ballparkguide_list.jsp|title=Access Privileges|publisher=San Francisco Giants|accessdate=2007-09-12] He is also memorialized by a portrait on "Gold Mountain", a mural depicting Chinese contributions to American history on Romolo Place in North Beach, a few blocks from the restaurant. [cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/12/BAH0S2TVJ.DTL | publisher=San Francisco Chronicle| title = S.F. mural depicting 9/11 flight attendant scarred by taggers | author= Jim Herron Zamora | date = 2007-09-12 | accessdate=2007-09-12]

Sam Wo's Restaurant continues to operate (as of 2007) in Chinatown, and is still listed in tourist guidebooks as being where Fong practiced a "wicked sarcasm [that] took on aspects of performance art." [cite news|accessdate=2007-09-12|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/12/TR11762.DTL|title=Tourist at home: Why not enjoy here what others travel the world to find?|author=John Flinn|date= 2003-10-12]

References

External links

* [http://adwinans.mysite.com/article_3.html Charles Bukowski] - account of Charles Bukowski meeting Edsel Ford Fong