Longtime Palisadian, Famed Restaurateur Madame Sylvia Wu Dies at 106

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Famed restaurateur, author and philanthropist—and decades-long Riviera resident—Madame Sylvia Wu died at the age of 106 on Thursday, September 29, her son, Patrick Wu, shared with the Palisadian-Post.

“She was a great mom,” Patrick said after her passing. “Very supportive, very kind, very generous, and I loved her very much. I think most everyone who met her did too, she had a terrific personality.”

Wu operated her Santa Monica restaurant, Madame Wu’s Garden, for nearly 40 years, serving a bevy of locals as well as repeat celebrity clientele, including her good friend Cary Grant, Gregory Peck, Elizabeth Taylor, Johnny Carson, Grace Kelly, fellow Palisadians Anthony Hopkins and Steven Spielberg, and so many more.

“A lot of the spotlight is on her accomplishments here in America,” Patrick shared, “but when she was a little girl in China growing up, she lost her parents at an early age, so her grandfather raised her. He was very strict, but he was also very loving.”

When he died, Patrick explained, Wu had to take care of herself and also her stepmother, and that was during the time World War II was going on.

“So I think one of the big accomplishments was her being able to navigate that very dangerous situation,” Patrick continued. Eventually, Wu was introduced to her future husband and went on to study at Columbia’s Teachers College, which Patrick shared was another big accomplishment for her.

Wu was honored by the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors in May 2016 at the age of 101 for a lifetime of noteworthy accomplishments—including her work as a restaurateur.

“Madame Wu’s life has spanned over 100 years, encompassing many amazing events, including the revolution in China, two World Wars, the Great Depression, the reopening of China to the West and the space age,” Supervisor Michael Antonovich shared at the ceremony.

She immigrated to the U.S. in 1944 and “lived the American dream,” Antonovich said. She went on to marry King Yan Wu, an MIT graduate from Hong Kong.

Over the course of her life and career, Wu authored two cookbooks on Chinese cuisine and two commemorative books—one on her longstanding friendship with Madame Sun Yat-Sen, the First Lady of China, and the other on the “many wonderful memories and events that occurred in her restaurant,” Patrick shared.

Her philanthropic endeavors included being a founding member of the Music Center Blue Ribbon 400, serving on the KCET board of directors and being named Mother of the Year by the Chinese American Association.

Wu retired in February 1998, when she received a letter from then-Governor Pete Wilson, who praised her community service as well as her unmatched culinary skills.

At the time of her death, Wu was still living in her Riviera home—which she had resided in since the 1960s.

“One of her last wishes was that she wanted to pass away in her own home, peacefully and painlessly,” Patrick shared, “and that’s what happened.”