D.C. area restaurant shares special bond with former President George H.W. Bush

WASHINGTON – The night before his inauguration, president-elect George H.W. Bush celebrated far from fancy D.C. restaurants favored by many politicians. 

Tucked away in a small shopping center in Falls Church, Virginia, 8 miles from the White House, Peking Gourmet Inn served the elder Bush and his family the usual.

“Quite a few dishes, he loved,” Peking owner George Tsui said. “Peking duck, lamb chop, jumbo shrimp, green beans.”

Tsui met the Bush patriarch 35 years ago when he was vice president after the youngest Bush son, Marvin, introduced him to the restaurant.

Over the decades, Tsui served Bush 41 more than 100 times, by his count; always at table N17, in the “president’s room,” in a chair with his name on the back, next to a bullet-proof window.

“Most of the time, actually, he came in here, dining with (his) family,” Tsui said. “Grandchildren, small babies, you can see (him) tell everybody, go have dinner, and he is holding the baby.”

Perhaps in part because of the former president’s fondness for the restaurant, Peking has welcomed dignitaries and celebrities of every kind in its 42 years. Their pictures cover the walls. 

“To our friend, George,” Bush 41 wrote on one blown-up photo of him, his late wife and Tsui. “With sincere, best wishes.”

“Me too,” Barbara Bush wrote. 

“Twenty years ago, when my father passed away, my ... cellphone rang,” Tsui said, speaking softly. His father and mother established the restaurant and were also close to Bush 41.

“You know what, President Bush (was) on the phone,” Tsui said. “He (offered) his condolences over the phone with me, and (chatted) with me for 15 minutes.”

The Bush family tradition at Peking has never stopped. Bush 43 dined at the restaurant the night before his inauguration, too. 

The elder Bush visited Peking as recently as two years ago and ordered the usual. 

“Everybody (at the restaurant) was sad” to hear of his passing, Tsui said. “We pray for the president’s family.”