International Chef Opens His First U.S. Dim Sum Location in Old Pasadena

International Chef Tony He, who owns one of Vancouver’s best elevated Chinese and dim sum restaurants as well as Rosemead’s venerable 17-year-old Sea Harbour Seafood, has soft-opened his new dim sum restaurant in Old Pasadena, simply called Chef Tony Pasadena, with a Grand Opening slated for Saturday, March 14.

On Grand Opening day, Chef Tony will away two free dim sum dishes to the first 300 guests, and everyone else coming gets 1 free dim sum all day, says a post on Chef Tony’s Facebook page.

“Thank you so much for the continued support, patience, and excitement! We can’t wait to serve #cheftonydimsum in Pasadena! TAG who you’re bringing to our #GRANDOPENING! We’re so excited to be part of the community here and we want to thank Pasadena for welcoming us!” the post said.

Chef He runs his restaurants under his Oriental Garden F & B Management Ltd., which focuses mainly on food and catering services as well as food processing and sales business. It serves high-end Cantonese cuisine with its prestigious marques of “Sea Harbour,” “Yi Dong” and “Dong Yi.” It also provides comprehensive business, management and consultation services to Chinese food and beverage companies in China, Hong Kong, Macao, the U.S. and Canada.

Chef Tony Pasadena is now located at 2 E. Colorado Blvd., which used to be occupied by 800 Degrees pizzeria, at the corner of Colorado and Fair Oaks Ave. The store follows two separate dim sum stores in Canada – one in Burnaby, BC and another in Edmonton, Alberta.

Familiar patrons from Sea Harbour Seafood in Rosemead will surely recognize some noticeable signature dishes, although Chef Tony Dim Sum’s menu and atmosphere will be distinct.

In Pasadena, Chef Tony has a full bar featuring Chinese spirits such as baijiu with brands like Wuliangye and Chu Yeh Ching Chieu, Tsingtao beer and a selection of wines.

Located in the historic Bear Building built in 1929, the 1,260 square-foot restaurant allows the historic art deco walls to shine, red-accented booths and chairs and the original opulent chandeliers remain in the main dining room. The bar section seats 6 at the bar and 10 seats at the counter.

Guests looking to host private events can reserve the private dining room downstairs for a party of 30.

Chef Tony’s Grand Opening is at 11 a.m. To RSVP, visit Chef Tony’s Facebook event page, www.facebook.com/events/500020067563236.