--- title: "Awkwafina cooks her way toward a family restaurant that closed in 1982 in Apple TV series The Unlikely Cook" description: "The eight-episode Apple TV series sends Awkwafina across the US to learn from Asian American chefs, with her family's long-closed Cantonese restaurant as…" url: https://tv-movies.skoop.news/ny-special-screening-of-awkwafina-the-unlikely-cook--11-05/ published: 2026-11-06T11:47:16.754859-05:00 modified: 2026-11-06T11:47:16.754868-05:00 section: "TV & Movies" publisher: "skoop.news" language: en keywords: ["awkwafina", "Apple TV", "House of Nanking", "Asian American", "Actor Jimmy O Yang", "Awkwafina Is Nora", "Crosby Street Hotel", "Nov", "Cantonese", "Chinese-American"] hashtags: ["#AppleTV", "#HouseOfNanking", "#AsianAmerican", "#Series", "#movieclips"] image: https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/New_York_City_%28New_York%2C_USA%29%2C_Wall_Street_--_2012_--_6614.jpg/1280px-New_York_City_%28New_York%2C_USA%29%2C_Wall_Street_--_2012_--_6614.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail --- # Awkwafina cooks her way toward a family restaurant that closed in 1982 in Apple TV series The Unlikely Cook > The eight-episode Apple TV series sends Awkwafina across the US to learn from Asian American chefs, with her family's long-closed Cantonese restaurant as the goal. Published 2026-11-06 · Updated 2026-11-06 · TV & Movies, [skoop.news](https://skoop.news/) ## In brief - The family restaurant Lum's closed in 1982, before Awkwafina was born. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) - In the series, Awkwafina travels across the US to learn from a new generation of Asian American chefs. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) - Awkwafina dined at and filmed part of the series at House of Nanking, a landmark Shanghainese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) ## A restaurant that closed before she was born The family restaurant Lum's closed in 1982, before Awkwafina was born. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) The stated goal of her new series is for her to possibly revive that long-closed Cantonese restaurant. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) The series is new on Apple TV, and its eight episodes are set to premiere on Nov. 6. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) A special screening of Apple TV's Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook was held on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026, at the Crosby Street Hotel in New York. [[3]](https://www.rutlandherald.com/ap/national/ny-special-screening-of-awkwafina-the-unlikely-cook/image_f2471ab3-33e2-5c73-961c-5e351c88d5e2.html) ## What the series does In the series, Awkwafina travels across the US to learn from a new generation of Asian American chefs. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) It is a cross-country road trip in which she learns to cook in honor of her great-grandfather, who opened one of New York City's first Chinese American restaurants, Lums. [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) Actor Jimmy O Yang, Awkwafina's real-life best friend, has a starring role in the series. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Awkwafina, whose real name is Nora Lum, is 38 years old and is best known as a rapper, comic actor and writer. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Her 2020 comedy television show was titled Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) ## The House of Nanking stop Awkwafina dined at and filmed part of the series at House of Nanking, a landmark Shanghainese restaurant in San Francisco's Chinatown. [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) The restaurant opened in 1988. [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) House of Nanking is known for signature dishes including sesame chicken, chili oil-tossed pork wontons and garlic noodles. [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) Its co-owner, chef Kathy Fang, wrote on Instagram that she never thought she would share a screen with Awkwafina. [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) ## How the Lum family restaurant began Awkwafina's great-grandfather Jimmy opened one of New York's first Chinese-American restaurants, called Lum's, in Flushing, Queens, in the 1950s. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Lum's helped popularize Chinese-American food such as orange chicken and BBQ ribs. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Awkwafina said the restaurant is how her family came to the United States. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) ## A love letter to her grandmother Awkwafina's paternal grandmother raised her after she lost her mother at age four. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) The series is described as a love letter to that magnetic, occasionally foul-mouthed grandmother. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) She had also appeared in the MTV series Girl Code, in an episode titled Bad Sex, Grandparents, Eating Habits. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Her grandmother died after the series was filmed. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Her grandmother's own restaurant failed, and her grandparents were forced to file for bankruptcy, losing both their business and home. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) For a while, the whole family lived in a one-bedroom apartment. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) ## What it means for viewers If you want to watch, the eight-episode series on Apple TV is set to premiere on Nov. 6. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) [[2]](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) Expect a road trip in which Awkwafina learns from Asian American chefs while she works toward possibly reviving her family's Cantonese restaurant. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) Awkwafina said that giving back, if she is in a position to do so, feels like a full-circle moment in which she could still make her family proud. [[1]](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) ## Sources 1. [‘I felt bad for my exes’: Awkwafina on making deeply personal TV – with her grandma](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2026/oct/30/i-felt-bad-for-my-exes-awkwafina-on-making-deeply-personal-tv-with-her-grandma) — theguardian.com 2. [Emmy Award-winning comic films new TV show at S.F.’s House of Nanking](https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/movies-tv/article/awkwafina-house-of-nanking-22501593.php) — sfchronicle.com 3. [NY Special Screening of "Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook"](https://www.rutlandherald.com/ap/national/ny-special-screening-of-awkwafina-the-unlikely-cook/image_f2471ab3-33e2-5c73-961c-5e351c88d5e2.html) — rutlandherald.com Image: Photo: Dietmar Rabich / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:New_York_City_(New_York,_USA),_Wall_Street_--_2012_--_6614.jpg) --- Written from the sources above and checked twice (rules and an independent model) before publishing. 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