Edwin Zoe wanted to give Boulder an authentic Chinese restaurant — even if he had to move his mother here to do it

A A A Comments (10) By Tyler Nemkov Thursday, Jun 17 2010

Seven hundred and twenty-six steps. Every morning she counts the steps, one by one. She counts them as she walks past frat brothers staggering back home from the night before, past early-morning hipsters in Wayfarers burning butts, past yogis traveling from the cafe to the studio. This is not Indianapolis, where she'd lived for the past seventeen years. It is definitely not Tainan, Taiwan, where she was born and raised. But the 726 steps lead her into the restaurant that is her namesake, a tiny, five-table spot where Anna Zoe feels at home.

Mark Manger

Edwin and Anna Zoe make cooking a family affair at Zoe Ma Ma.

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Zoe Ma Ma

2010 10th St.
Boulder, CO 80302

Category: Restaurant > Chinese

Region: Boulder

2010 10th Street, Boulder

303-545-6262

Hours: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. daily

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Edwin Zoe loves his mother. He makes this clear as soon as you walk into Zoe Ma Ma, his month-old restaurant. While his mother goes by Anna with her contemporaries, it's Ma Ma or Zoe Ma Ma to others. Besides, there are no contemporaries here: No one in Boulder makes Chinese food like Zoe Ma Ma.

But really, there's little distinction between Anna Zoe and Zoe Ma Ma. If you get a noodle bowl from Zoe Ma Ma, you're getting it from Anna. The place is open seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Anna is putting in sixteen-hour days here.

This is her retirement.

Anna and her husband left Taiwan for Washington, D.C., in the early 1970s. They soon moved their growing family to the Midwest, where they started a restaurant called Tsing Tao, after the husband's home town. The food the Zoes cooked professionally was a source of income but not a source of great pride; the deeply battered, doughy sweet and sour pork Anna made in the restaurant bore no resemblance to anything she'd serve her family. At home, she got to make traditional dishes, food that was ferociously simple, with no batter, no cornstarch.

Edwin ended up at the University of Colorado, graduating with a business degree in 1988. He stayed in Boulder and started a successful software company. But he still yearned for the food of his mother, who'd come to visit few times a year. Then his father passed away, and an idea that Edwin had had at the back of his mind for years moved to the forefront. He wanted to open a restaurant and have his mother cook there.

"It was an impetus for me to find a situation where my mother was closer, so I could have closer contact, know that she was taken care of and was doing something she's very passionate about," Edwin tells me over Anna's rich roast duck and wonton soup. "My mom's temperament is not to sit around and do nothing. A small restaurant gives her the opportunity to do what she loves to do, which is cook."

So last October, Edwin bought the spot recently vacated by Spud Brothers, a pothead's dream restaurant that served paper boats of French fries topped with whatever the hell you wanted. His business plan was very different. "First and foremost comes the family," he explains. "Working really hard and doing something you love is good living. The foundation — without my mom, this restaurant wouldn't exist."

In March, Anna moved to Boulder and started counting the steps from her son's home to the restaurant at 2010 10th Street, where floor-to-ceiling windows on sliders open the space to the street. Beyond those are the exposed brick walls, the Chinese newspapers shellacked onto tabletops, the wire-framed tissue-paper red globe lights, the bright-red cafeteria trays, the bamboo plants and the Kung Fu Hustle poster. Three college-age workers take orders from behind a sneeze guard, by steam trays filled with bok choy and green beans; behind them, several Hispanic employees grate carrots and wash dishes.

And next to them, Anna Zoe is doing what she loves. She's wearing (always) a light, floral-print shirt and a sun hat. The tight-fitting back brace and tan wrist band are physical reminders of the endless hours she's already spent in kitchens, as is her slight hunch. Four induction burners are set about three feet off the ground, low enough to make work comfortable. One holds a huge pot of boiling water; another has a pan heating to add a crispy side to her jiaozi: robust, herbaceous potstickers. This space is her lawn chair, her golf course, her cruise ship. Nice retirement.

Edwin tells a story about his mother's pride in product and hard work. He calls it "The Amish, the Chinese and the Free-Range Chicken." When they lived in the Midwest, Anna loved to roam the countryside in her car, with her boys by her side. On one drive, she pulled off the highway and exited onto smaller and smaller roads until Edwin noticed a horse and buggy and people wearing simple black suits and white shirts. They wound up at a farm, and Anna hopped out and knocked on the door, using her hands to conduct some negotiation since she didn't speak much English. Then she instructed her boys to hop the fence and start grabbing chickens from an adjacent field. They each wrangled one or two, threw the truly free-range chickens in the back of their trunk and drove off.

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Tyler 06/23/2010 4:49:00 AM

Thanks all for the comments. I would like to clarify, as pointed out, that this is not a restaurant critique. In my past few stories, I have been focusing on interesting topics/relationships that are emphasized through food. This article had critique-like aspects, but they were more of a side note on what I thought was a human interest story...and ok, their food is awesome and I want more people to know about it. As always, I appreciate the comments and criticism. -Tyler
Mantonat 06/22/2010 7:15:00 PM

Readership person, it seems as if you and I are on the same page, I also do not want someone to "spoon feed readers subjective ratings towards a binary thumbs up or down" and I do want "a restaurant review that is compelling." And I don't care if the writing is different or similar to the previous critic's. If I want to read Jason Sheehan, I can always check out the Seattle Weekly website. Mostly I want (and I think Denver needs) a consistent voice offering analysis, not simply praise. Not that I equate criticism with negativity; quite the opposite. I equate criticism with objectivity in which cuisine and environment are judged fairly and accurately based on a knowledgeable background over a period of time. The objectivity is generally balanced with the writer's own preconceptions and prejudices. Over time, it becomes possible for a reader to develope a sense of the critic's inclinations and overall knowledge and thus we can decide for ourselves whether a particular restaurant will suit our own needs. I have no problem with the majority of weekly food features that have come out since Jason's departure, but we have not been given a consistent voice and we have been given almost exclusively positive, glowing, one-sided stories. I have not attempted to compare the writing style of the previous critic with the recent crop of writers because I think any one of these writers could become a permanent voice in the long term. I understand that it is difficult to fill a role that has so many expectations, and maybe Westword does not even want to attempt to fill the vacancy but is leading us in a new direction. Food writing and restaurant criticism are really two different things and I like them both, but I feel like Denver needs a food critic. None of the other publications in this town really satify that need (at least not for me) so I have come to rely on Westword - Sheehan or not - for honest, fair, and entertaining evaluations.
Greg 06/21/2010 6:08:00 PM

Edwin is proud to have introduced Boulder — a town where Panda Express sits atop the food popularity pyramid What
The Readership 06/18/2010 10:49:00 PM

Montonat, Sorry but I don't agree with your assessment that this article doesn't come from the voice of a food critic. I don't want a food critic to spoon feed readers subjective ratings towards a binary thumbs up or down. I neither want wondering prose about wives, ranting & raving hatchet jobs or obscene metaphors (that [insert food item] was like a blowjob/ was like snorting coke off a nipple) the likes of the former critic. I want a restaurant review that is compelling enough that it makes me want to go out to try the restaurant for myself. This article does exactly that. From the quotes below, I would say Tyler is reviewing with the eyes, ears, touch, mouth of a food critic: Anna's chicken noodle soup, a light broth stuffed with thin rice noodles and bright pieces of bird. This dish could be the Tylenol of Eastern medicine: good for whatever aches and pains seem to be encroaching on daily life. The dish is the definition of "rib-sticking," with each chewy noodle barely coated by a simple sauce created from the pork and pasta water. For diners used to Americanized Chinese restaurants, the zong zi is as foreign as not getting a fortune cookie at the end of a meal. A bamboo leaf is wrapped around a pyramid of sticky pearl rice, which hides chunks of marinated pork belly and crunchy, meaty, chickpea-sized lotus seeds. This is authentic Chinese food, Edwin tells a customer; by looking at the shape of the zong zi, you can tell what region of Taiwan Anna came from. The sublimely simple bao — a steamed bun with marinated pork inside — is another giveaway. The stark-white bun is light as air; the rich pork filling hugs the tongue — not spicy, not particularly sweet or salty. It all tastes of experience.
Yvonne 06/17/2010 10:41:00 PM

I agree with all the comments, except the first one. I especially applaud Mantonat. With no real replacement for Jason, I finally stopped rushing to the site each week to see the latest review because I was too often disappointed.
Mantonat 06/17/2010 8:43:00 PM

Tyler has always provided well-written articles, but that doesn't mean that this piece is any more of a restaurant review than what Westword has published since the beginning of the year. In fact, I would say that the majority of the Food section weekly pieces have been well crafted and entertaining. Some of them have even come close to being critical reviews, but none have come from the voice of a food critic. And I suppose that's OK, as long as the expectation is set up in advance that we aren't getting a critical analysis of a restaurant but rather human interest articles that celebrate the Denver food scene without really analyzing it. But eventually I think Westword will need to fill the void; Denverites need to know the highs and lows, the quality of the sauces, the price-to-value ratios, the marketing vs. reality of new restaurants and the ups and downs of existing ones. Cheers to Edwin and his mom for opening what seems to be a restaurant with promise, and thanks Tyler for bringing it to our attention with care and eloquence, but we're all still clamoring for a razor-sharp mind to dissect the scene as neatly as a chef breaking down a chicken.
LL 06/17/2010 6:32:00 PM

It's a great story and I'd love to go try the food. I don't think Edwin is using his mother to make money since the restaurant isn't that big to make a lot of money. To lot of Chinese/Taiwanese elders, it makes them feel great being needed and doing things they love to do. Sometimes you're actually killing the elders by asking them sitting at home and do nothing.
The Readership 06/17/2010 5:58:00 PM

Dear Westword and Patty: Thanks for the nice food review piece. After a six month famish filled with countless filler articles that have not been of the caliber expected for a historically excellent restaurant section, The Readership sincerely hopes this fine article finally signals a return of a true food review section. Regards, The Readership
T 06/16/2010 11:19:00 PM

M, Edwin does not need anymore money. This restaurant was opened (1) so that we in Boulder could finally experience authentic (and delicious) Chinese food and (2)so that Anna Zoe could provide it for us. Reread this article; the words "I just love to do it" don't sound like the words of an elderly Chinese woman exploited by her son for profit. Actually just go in and try the damn place instead. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
M 06/16/2010 9:55:00 PM

I think Edwin is using his mother to make money...At her age she should not be couped up in the kitchen for 16 hours a day cooking. It's no way to spend her retirement. If his computer business is indeed doing well? Trust me no honorable Chinese son would have his mother working these kind of hours. None.