Chatham's A Taste Of Asia 'Hanging In There' During Tough Times

CHATHAM, NJ—Like virtually all other businesses in the U.S., Chatham's A Taste of Asia was forced to shut its doors abruptly last March as the coronavirus spread through the state. Suddenly a booming, long-term business evaporated.

"We could have stayed open," said Steven Chia, owner of the restaurant, "but my staff didn't want to come in. With no staff, I can't operate."

Chia, who owned a restaurant in Montclair before starting A Taste of Asia in Chatham 20 years ago, suddenly found himself with nothing to do, a situation he doesn't handle well.

"We were closed for six weeks," said Chia, a native of Malaysia, "and during those six weeks I was really miserable. I didn't know how to spend my day."

The restaurant owner explained that he was used to the fact pace of running a business, and found staying home made him restless. There were no customers to be had, but Chia soon found a way to do what he does best: start serving food to hungry people. So, he began cooking for essential workers.

"I saw people posting on Facebook about feeding front-line workers," he said, "and I knew I could help. So we started delivering meals to Morristown Medical Center."

Chia, who describes his food as Malaysian/Chinese with other Asian influences mixed in, said he offers outdoor dining and has arranged his dining room to seat 25 percent capacity, so about 18 customers can eat indoors. He said that additional sanitizing and social distancing precautions are taken in the dining room, in accordance with the department of health.

As tough as the shutdown and subsequent restrictions have been, Chia said he feels lucky for several reasons, noting that certain other industries have been almost completely erased by the pandemic.

"I have a very helpful landlord," he said, "and about 95 percent of our business was takeout before. Of course, it's not what it was, but I'm lucky I have a business that can operate that way."

The restaurateur added that although the next few months may be uncertain in terms of the pandemic, his attitude towards the future is not.

"We are surviving," Chia said. "A common theme right now is 'hang in there' and that's what we'll do, hang in there."