For San Francisco restaurateur Cristina Wu Feng, growing up in Venezuela as the child of Chinese immigrants was not easy. She avoided bringing traditional Chinese foods like duck and pork to school and made sure to only speak Cantonese at home.

“For people like me, sharing those two cultures, carrying those two cultures on our shoulders, it’s a lot,” Wu Feng, 25, told SFGATE.

Today, as the owner of Cantoo, a Venezuelan Chinese restaurant in San Francisco’s Tenderloin, Wu Feng is celebrating the connection between those two cultures. San Francisco has no shortage of restaurants that meld different cuisines together, like Palestinian Cuban Asúkar or Persian Mexican Movida. But it’s not very often you find a restaurateur who has lived in both of the countries their fusion represents.

When she eventually moved to China for boarding school, she felt like an outsider there, too. People could tell immediately that she was not from the country by the way she dressed and the slight difference in her Cantonese intonation.

“That’s the time I was able to find my own identity, and the crisis was not as harsh anymore,” she said about connecting with fellow immigrant students.

Wu Feng opened Cantoo, alongside her father, a lifelong restaurateur, in 2022. The restaurant’s name has a double meaning: It’s short for Canton, her parent’s home in southern China, and also means “We can do it too,” she said. The entire menu is a celebration of traditional Venezuelan staples alongside a mishmash of dishes from various regions in China. Think pabellon, traditional Venezuelan braised and shredded beef, or empanadas with carne molida (ground beef), as well as Yanchow fried rice or tingly, mala-spiced pork dumplings in chili oil.

With Wu Feng’s dad, Michael, helming the kitchen, San Francisco’s first Venezuelan Chinese restaurant stands out for its lengthy menu, hefty portions and affordable pricing. Nearly 85% of the menu — 123 items — is priced at $20 or less. One dish in particular shines a light on the Chinese diaspora to Venezuela — the combo Valenciano, which costs only $9. Cooked the traditional Venezuelan way on a rotisserie spit, the quarter chicken has tender, juicy meat with a crispy, browned skin that is studded with bits of garlic. A small mountain of fried rice brings in Cristina’s Chinese sensibilities, and a side of Venezuelan coleslaw adds a tang of sweetness.

It’s hard to find a plate of food this big and bursting with so many flavors at such an affordable price in San Francisco. Cristina intends for this dish to stay affordable forever.

“You know how Costco has their hot dog [priced at] $1.50 for so many years?” she said. “We want that same model for the combo Valenciano. It represents the entire Venezuelan Chinese cuisine.”

She said she learned all about the “foundations” of running a business from her father, but has changed one thing.

“He taught me that the customer is always right,” she said. “But I have corrected that, and now I know it’s OK to put my foot down and set my standards in order for all people to appreciate what we are doing.”

Her parents, who immigrated at different times in the 1980s and met in Venezuela, opened their first restaurant in Valencia in 1999, three months after Cristina was born. It was a Chinese restaurant, not a hybrid joint, and enjoyed 20 successful years. They closed up shop in 2018 before moving to Panama, where they quickly established three other restaurants. 

A Chinese food restaurant in South America, especially Venezuela, is not far-fetched.

While the first Cantonese immigrants arrived in the mid-1940s, the real boom started in 1999, after Hugo Chavez rose to power and the two countries established an alliance that brought money and labor into Venezuela in exchange for its natural resources, namely oil.

While many immigrants came on government contracts, others came as entrepreneurs, to feed those workers. The Wu Fengs were used to feeding not only Chinese immigrants longing for typical food from back home, but also Venezuelans craving Cantonese cuisine.

Cristina arrived in San Francisco in 2017 to attend San Francisco State University, where she studied hospitality management. Her parents followed a few years later, settling in the Bay Area in 2021. Upon graduating in 2022, Cristina worked in the food service industry for a few months before telling her parents her idea for opening a fusion restaurant. Her dad was skeptical, but Cristina was steadfast in her decision that it could work in a city like San Francisco — and with her SF State education.

She felt the combination of Venezuelan and Chinese would set her apart. “It was impossible for us not to do it,” she said. “I didn’t want to compete with the other Cantonese food in San Francisco.”

Her gamble has paid off. After opening in December 2022, 80% of her clientele has been returning customers, she said. “Some of my customers come in every Friday, but each time, they bring in a new group of friends,” she said.

“When he came through the front door, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you Victor?’ It was so funny,” she laughed.

Aguilera was shocked with excitement when he saw the menu. “As a kid [in Venezuela] I remember my family bringing take out home — the different smells and flavors that you would think to find familiar with other Chinese cuisine, but with its own touch,” he told SFGATE via direct message. “It sure makes me feel closer to home.”

On a recent cloudy Tuesday, around mid-day, the cavernous restaurant was already half-full with hungry customers. Cristina, dressed in black, was working the floor, going from table to table, speaking in Spanish or English, to make sure her customers were satisfied. Many were eating the combo Valenciano, likely because of its price, but also because they knew it would perhaps remind them of home — whichever home that might be.

“They are not just customers or paying patrons anymore,” Cristina said. “The relationships have built up, like friendships and family.”

Cantoo, 572 O’Farrell St., San Francisco. Open Sunday through Tuesday, noon-10 p.m., and Thursday through Saturday, noon-11 p.m. Closed Wednesday.