Johnny Kan

Who was Johnny Kan?

Johnny Kan was a Chinese American restaurateur in Chinatown, San Francisco, ca 1950-1970. He was the owner of Johnny Kan's restaurant, which opened in 1953, and published a book on Cantonese cuisine, Eight Immortal Flavors, which was praised by Craig Claiborne and James Beard. Kan's restaurant is an early example of a premium restaurant designed around an open kitchen plan so that diners could observe the preparation of food. The concept was popularized in the 1980s.

"Kan's was the first restaurant in Chinatown to win the Holiday Award for fine dining; that award was given to Kan's for 14 consecutive years. Its name was frequently on top ten lists of San Francisco restaurants. World-famous celebrities, movie stars, the rich and the powerful came to Kan's, and their appearances were written up by San Francisco columnist Herb Caen."

The introduction of an innovative version of the Lazy Susan to Chinese restaurants has been attributed to Kan's: "The trail of the Chinese Lazy Susan finally picks up in the 1950's, which is when Chinese food got its makeover.