Restaurant owner accused of setting fire at rival eatery

Times Picayune ^ | October 21, 2009 | Mary Sparacello

[BBell]

A Kenner restaurant owner was caught on video setting fire to a competitor's restaurant one block away, police said Tuesday.

Mae Fong, 74, of 2225 Florida Ave. in Kenner, will be booked with arson of Young's Garden Chinese Restaurant at 2039 Williams Blvd.

Fong's Chinese & Cantonese Restaurant is at 2101 Williams Blvd., just across 21st Street from Young's.

Fong was caught on video surveillance approaching Young's on Oct. 2 after 3 a.m., about the time a liquid accelerant was used to start the fire, Police Chief Steve Caraway said.

The video was "extremely valuable" in solving the crime, Caraway said. "It's hard to refute that type of evidence."

Investigators were still working to determine what kind of accelerant was used to start the fire, Jefferson Parish arson investigator Todd Landry said.

Damage to Young's was estimated at $50,000 to $60,000.

"It's certainly very alarming," Caraway said. Young's is in a strip shopping center between a beauty supply store and a barroom, he said. Neither of those businesses was damaged.

Caraway didn't know Fong's motive.

Young's owner Julia Ieong was outside her restaurant Tuesday afternoon supervising the placement of a sign that advertised that her restaurant would reopen as soon as possible. She said the restaurant will reopen in about three or four weeks.

Surveillance video links woman to the Kenner blaze, police say

The fire started at the restaurant's front doors, and the smoke, fire and water damage required the front room to be gutted, she said.

She wouldn't comment on the video she provided to police or on her relationship with the Fongs.

"I'm just working hard, taking good care of business," she said. "I (don't) talk. I (don't) ask."

In her restaurant a block to the north, Fong's sister denied Fong's involvement.

[BBell]

Me thinks Grandma has been watching too many mobster movies.

[trumandogz]

Kenner.

[rahbert]

[NavyCanDo]

Whatever happened to the ageless “drop off a few rats” trick.

[Responsibility2nd]

"I'm just working hard, taking good care of business," she said. "I (don't) talk. I (don't) ask."

Love how the media is so PC.

ACTUAL QUOTE:

"I no talk. I no ask."

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

You wouldn’t believe the competition here in Cleveland’s Chinatown! Mostly over chefs. The restaurants make scads of money with Dim Sum, and each one just has to have the best Dim Sum chef in town! If Bo Loong gets the best chef, sometimes stealing him from another restaurant, Li Wah’s owner will fly to Hong Kong to find a better one! It’s wild. If you want Dim Sum, you drive past all the places, and see which one has the most Hondas and Toyotas in the parking lot. Whichever one does, that’s where you eat!

[Mila]

This is certainly a sad situation. Looks like it was done to eliminate the competition.

Mae Fong

[subterfuge]

It’s a dog eat dog world out there.

[Charles Martel]

Looks like it was done to eliminate the competition.

Yeah, it appears so. Mae just wasn't swift enough to know about stuff like video security systems.

[montag813]

Now of course arson of any Olive Garden should be legal.

[BBell]

I had never heard of Dim Sum so I looked it up. It sounds wonderful.

[BBell]

Her face was on the front page of the local paper today but I could not find it on the web. Thanks for posting.

[BBell]

I have to concur. I’ve eaten at the Olive Garden.Once.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“I had never heard of Dim Sum “

Ya gotta try it! You need to find a “traditional” restaurant though. Your neighborhood Cantonese/American places don’t serve it. It’s a great production, and fun to try. I always go on Sundays, because that’s the day all the Chinese go, and the food is even better. You might try some odd things that you’d never think you’d like. I always get tripe, chicken feet, and , if I’ve got the extra cash, jellyfish, which is incredibly good. A good Chinese chef could cook dirt, and make it taste sublime!

[Neidermeyer]

Whatever happened to the ageless “drop off a few rats” trick.

**************************************************

And maybe a big handful of german roaches...

[murron]

I love Olive Garden! Especially their lasagne. I always have to wait in a 20 minute line to get in.

[montag813]

I love Olive Garden! Especially their lasagne. I always have to wait in a 20 minute line to get in.

I hope you bring an X-Acto knife to cut through their rubbery "mozzarella cheese", or whatever that really is.

[murron]

I’ve had their mozzarela cheese and never had that experience. Maybe different O.G.s are of different qualities.

[dragnet2]

Louisiana

[BBell]

I think they differ by location. The only one I have been to,once, was bad. My wife was out of town on business, don't remember where, and ate at one with her colleagues. She said it was good.