A photograph of chef Ying Jing Ma overlooks the dining place Feb. 8, 2017, at Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmand Restaurant in Overland.
Ying Jing Ma, whose singular cooking in an erstwhile Taco Bell in Overland gained him devoted buyers and critical acclaim, died Aug. 4.
Ma was 59. The induce of dying was not out there.
The Hong Kong indigenous manufactured his title in St. Louis with Chef Ma’s Chinese Gourmet Restaurant, which opened in 2015 at 2336 Woodson Highway, a former Taco Bell setting up that has since housed many independent restaurants.
In the restaurant’s original site, a photograph of Ma in crisp chef’s whites disregarded the little eating room. His menu featured equally regional Chinese dishes — Hainan chicken rice was a signature product — and American Chinese fare.
Ma’s cooking drew praise from St. Louis foodstuff media. Between its plaudits, Chef Ma’s was a 4-time STL 100 honoree.
He attracted countrywide notice, too.
In January 2016, Time Out named Chef Ma’s 1 of the country’s 17 very best Chinese eating places alongside such observed establishments as Chengdu Taste in Los Angeles and Yank Sing in San Francisco. The New York Write-up republished Time Out’s listing.