By Ashley McLeod, Staff Writer
Jun 24, 2013, 15:36
HOPEWELL — A new restaurant officially opened its doors in downtown Hopewell, and it could just be an appetizer for those craving to see the area revitalized.
Owner Herman Lam opened Harvest Asian Bistro & Bar, located at 264 E. Broadway, along with support from the Hopewell Downtown Partnership and the Hopewell-Prince George Chamber of Commerce, on Wednesday, welcoming the public to come and get a taste of what they have to offer.
Evan Kaufman, director of the Hopewell Downtown Partnership, spoke at the ribbon-cutting for the new restaurant. Kaufman said he is confident the new restaurant will help with the revitalization of the downtown area.
“Restaurants are a big part of any revitalization, and people will drive to restaurants if they’re good,” said Kaufman.
The restaurant offers Chinese cuisine, as well as Thai and Vietnamese dishes. Lam hopes the variety in his restaurant will encourage people to come in and enjoy their dishes.
“We’re serving a variety of different food, at a reasonable price and trying to get people to see what we can do, and it’s different,” Lam said.
Lam began his venture in Philadelphia, where he lived before relocating to Hopewell to open the restaurant. After researching the area, and liking what he found, Lam relocated his family to Hopewell and began working on his new restaurant.
Taking over the location of the old Pearl River Restaurant, Lam had a goal to make the business a quality restaurant, as well as more upscale than the previous one located in the building, which according to Kaufman, is exactly the goal in revitalizing the area.
“He’s put so much into this place, and his vision, and that’s really what we’re going for in this revitalization and everything that we do down here we want to be very high quality, “ Kaufman said.
After completely revamping and remodeling the building, which took about three to four months, Lam was ready to unveil the restaurant.
Lam and his chef traveled to Colorado, where the received training from Chef Yufang Zhuo on cooking modern Asian cuisine.
City Councilman Wayne Walton showed his support at the grand opening, wishing Lam luck and giving hope this would push Hopewell into a better direction.
“We hope this will bring more success to downtown, get projects going, and we will have more success stories,” Walton said.
Kaufman echoed this, saying that success will breed success.
“If people see that one place is doing well, then other people will come and open something next to it or around it, and they’ll see that success can happen,” said Kaufman.
“We need entrepreneurs, and we need people with a vision, and he has that,” Kaufman added.
The restaurant features staples of Chinese food, such as Wonton Soup, Crab Rangoon, and fried rice. Also on the menu are Thai favorites such as Pad Thai and Drunken Noodles. The restaurant offers Pho as well, a Vietnamese dish, which has gained popularity in recent years.
For more information, call the restaurant at (804) 458-2222.
