For chef Shuai Wang, heritage cooking has always been a journey. “I was never a great student, so I kind of just fell into the culinary world,” he says. His family immigrated from Beijing to Queens, in New York, when he was nine, and though traditional Chinese food was central to his home life, it took many years before he embraced it as a career. Instead, in his early twenties, the chef transitioned from architecture classes at the Art Institute of New York City to the school’s culinary program, and went on to cut his teeth in restaurants across the city. His focus, however, was never the Chinese cuisine of his childhood; instead, Wang worked to master the styles of other traditions, eventually landing a gig as chef de cuisine at Chez Sardine, a Japanese izakaya where he met his now-wife, Corrie, a young adult novelist and fellow veteran of the restaurant industry.
by RACHEL HAHN
video by MIKA ALTSKAN AND MATVEY FIKS
A dazzling hybrid, the Encore azalea thrives no matter the weather—or season
Miracle Blooms
In 2014, the couple moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to work for a friend’s budding restaurant venture, but when those plans fell through, they agreed they were ready to launch a project of their own. While searching for a restaurant space, a friend suggested they try the food truck route, and soon, Short Grain was born. The roving truck specialized in “untraditional” Japanese fare, serving rice bowls and karaage (Japanese fried chicken) to ever-growing crowds. To Wang and Corrie’s surprise, Short Grain was a hit not only among their neighbors, but on the national food scene. In 2017, Shuai was nominated for one of the most prestigious honors in the business: the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year.
In October 2020, celebrated garden designer Linda Vater watched from her window as a once-in-a-lifetime ice storm hit her Oklahoma City neighborhood, sending the limbs of her front yard’s century-old oak tree crashing to the ground. Some were more than two feet in diameter and destroyed the azalea plants underneath—blooms she had been carefully cultivating for years. The oak tree had provided copious amounts of shade, but now that it was shorn, the amount of sunlight had increased dramatically. So, when it came time to replant, she chose Encore azaleas, a hybrid of traditional spring-blooming azaleas and a rare Taiwanese summer-blooming variety that grows to a more manageable size than its traditional counterparts and yields striking flowers in spring, summer, and fall. “The benefit is obviously that they bloom more often, but they are also much more tolerant of heat and sunlight,” Vater says. “I couldn’t go back to those old-fashioned azaleas when Encore azaleas are such a wonderful alternative.”
Vater calls herself a “gardening evangelist.” She’s self-taught and has meticulously maintained the grounds of her 1932 English Tudor house in one of Oklahoma City’s most historic neighborhoods. After growing up in Tennessee, she says azaleas are the quintessential Southern plant. “They are a very important part of what I consider to be the orchestration of spring,” she says. “I plant about one thousand tulips in my front yard, and I don’t know how many linear feet of creeping phlox, pansies, and emerging hostas. The Encore azaleas are a beautiful backdrop to that entire spring show.”
Encore azaleas are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary in 2022, having come to market in 1997 via the work of Louisiana horticulturist Robert “Buddy” Lee. Bred to be tougher and more forgiving of environmental challenges, they rebloom well in full sun and partial shade, giving way to vibrant reds, pinks, purples, whites, oranges, and bicolors that are far superior to those of typical azaleas.
“The benefit is obviously that they bloom more often, but they are also much more tolerant of heat and sunlight. I couldn’t go back to those old-fashioned azaleas when Encore azaleas are such a wonderful alternative.”
—Linda Vater
To learn more about these extraordinary plants, visit EncoreAzalea.com
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The Encore azaleas also provide a seamless design effect both outside and inside. Southerners enjoy a tremendous amount of outdoor living time, and the emphasis on usable outdoor space has never been higher. In turn, the brilliant, long-lasting palette of Encore azalea blooms offers the opportunity to be as creative with garden design as many are with their interiors. “A perfect use for them is in containers surrounding a pool,” Vater says. “They also make a beautiful cut flower that can make the interior of the house much more dramatic.”
In February 2021, Vater’s city was hit with another historic cold spell. This time, however, the Encore azaleas she had planted in the fall were able to survive. “They were a little bruised and battered, but I would definitely put Encore azaleas in the category of warrior plants,” she says. “They’re just amazing.”
—Linda Vater
“The benefit is obviously that they bloom more often, but they are also much more tolerant of heat and sunlight. I couldn’t go back to those old-fashioned azaleas when Encore azaleas are such a wonderful alternative.”