March/April 2007
By Hope S. Philbrick
Salute to Women
Anna Hsu owns and operates Atlanta’s Silk, Hsu’s Gourmet Chinese and Pacific Rim Bistro along with her husband, Raymond. A Korean native of Chinese descent, Hsu met Raymond while attending college in Seattle; the two married and dreamed of owning and operating their own business. Hsu had discovered that she “thought corporate life was boring” while working as a teller and then in the loan department for a bank in Seattle, so turned to the restaurant industry, a natural fit for the couple: his family has over 20 years of restaurant experience and hers has more than 30. After moving to Atlanta they first realized their dream with Empress of China II in Marietta. Restaurants in Buckhead and Sandy Springs followed, but the Hsus were eventually lured downtown by Atlanta’s energy. Hsu was a founding member of the GRA and today is on the board of the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau and chair of the restaurant council for the Midtown Alliance.
Though Hsu says a glass ceiling doesn’t exist-“a lot of time at GRA meetings there’s more women than men,” including in 
“key roles”-she has felt the sting of sexism: “Because we’re an Asian restaurant, most chefs are Chinese or Japanese. Not that they look down on the woman, but usually in Asia they don’t do business with a woman. Sometimes when I talk to the chefs I can tell they’d rather my husband talk to them. They do give me the respect and all that, but it’s our culture.”
“Dealing with people” is an ongoing challenge. As an example, Hsu says that her customers are warned that certain dishes are spicy. “Some say it’s not hot enough, some say it’s too hot. Pleasing people is hard. You pretty much have to know how to read their mind.” In this regard, perhaps, females have an advantage: “I feel like women are more sensitive than men. I can stand in the dining room, look around and say, ‘This customer wants something,’ but my husband does [not necessarily see that; he’s more focused on] detail things.”
Secret of Success
“Don’t let them intimidate you. Show them how serious and sincere you are and the good job you do. Some women sometimes feel like men don’t respect them. I feel like if you wear a skirt, people will look at your legs; if you don’t want them looking at your legs, wear pants. If you want something bad enough and work at it you will get it, especially in America.”
-Anna Hsu
