Chef Katie Chin Brings One-Woman Show Holy Shiitake to St. Paul
Award-winning celebrity chef and cookbook author Katie Chin is bringing her one-woman show, Holy Shiitake: A Wokstar Is Born, to the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, sharing the remarkable journey of her immigrant mother, the late restaurateur Leeann Chin. The production explores the culinary dynasty’s roots, spanning from modest beginnings to a multi-million-dollar dining empire.
From Seamstress to Culinary Empire: The Leeann Chin Legacy
According to reporting from Twin Cities, the theatrical performance traces how Leeann Chin transformed her life after immigrating to the United States in 1956. Born in China in 1933, the matriarch initially worked as a seamstress earning 50 cents an hour, mending clothing and crafting wedding dresses before launching a catering business out of a basement on 47th and Bryant in Minneapolis.
Demand for her authentic Chinese cuisine quickly escalated, driven in part by high-profile early supporters. In 1979, a socialite friend secured a catering gig for a party hosted by Minnesota Twins owner Carl Pohlad to welcome actor Sean Connery to town. Connery was visiting Robert Redford, who was filming Ordinary People in the region. Impressed by the food, Connery became an original investor alongside Pohlad in her first restaurant, paving the way for rapid expansion.
“My mother endured so many hardships, from being in an arranged marriage, being a marginalized businesswoman, my father was emotionally abusive,” Katie Chin stated during a phone interview with Twin Cities. “She endured so much and, through cooking, she escaped all that pain.”
The Evolution of a Fast-Casual Staple and Brand Equity
By 1985, the enterprise encompassed more than 40 restaurants before being sold to General Mills. After regaining ownership three years later, the family steered the operations toward the fast-casual format that remains a Twin Cities fixture today.
Katie Chin’s stage production details the personal cost of building that commercial footprint. Growing up, she and her siblings worked in the family business while peers spent time at the mall or ice skating. The narrative also touches on local pop-culture milestones, including a fundraising concert thrown with Prince, whom Leeann Chin famously evaluated with the observation, “That Prince, he can really play the guitar.”
Healing Through the Kitchen and Touring the Production
The mother-daughter dynamic shifted years later after Katie Chin graduated from Boston University and worked as a film and television marketing executive in California. While preparing a dinner party, she struggled to replicate her culinary training and repeatedly called her mother for advice. Leeann Chin ultimately flew out with frozen lemon chicken, cooked the meal, and let guests believe her daughter had prepared it.
“I decided to quit my job and leave my husband all in the same month,” Katie Chin told Twin Cities. “My mom came to my rescue. She spent hours with me in sort of meditative healing sessions where we cooked together. And through that simple act, she began to heal me.”
As the tour expands to venues like the Minnesota History Center in St. Paul, the production offers audiences a rare behind-the-scenes look at the resilience required to build a lasting culinary brand, bridging immigrant perseverance with modern entertainment.