A room full of loyal customers had come to watch him cook, eat four courses of Chinese food, laugh at Wong's jokes and be part of the warm atmosphere created by his family.

Wong walks with arms raised into the banquet room of his Fort Mitchell restaurant in a red chef's coat and white chef's hat, just soaking up the applause.

A table is set up with an array of Chinese ingredients and a round-bottomed wok set on a high-BTU burner, with a video camera and screen so the 40 people in the room can see demonstrations of several Chinese dishes from Wong and his executive chef, T.C. Long.

Wong's wife, Helen; daughters Susanna Wong Burgess and Angela Wong and Susanna's husband, Guy Burgess, are on hand, between handling customers in the Fort Mitchell restaurant's main dining room.

Wong, who gives the classes twice a year, has been teaching neighbors and friends a little bit about Chinese cooking for the last 25 years. His teaching impulses started soon after the family moved to the region, when a Chinese family was a novelty in their Mason neighborhood.

"When we lived in Mason, all the neighbors have parties," Wong says. "So we have a party and my wife makes shrimp fried rice. She teaches all the ladies how to make it, and the whole week, all my neighbors are cooking shrimp fried rice."

Wong also introduced many people in Northern Kentucky to Chinese cooking.

After working several years for other people, Wong was ready to open his own restaurant. In 1977, he opened the first Oriental Wok in Edgewood.

"I saw there were no Chinese restaurants in Northern Kentucky, so we open the first one. Right, away, there were lines out the door."

His natural role as a host made Wong's restaurant a success.

COOKING CLASSES

Interested in a class? Mike Wong gives cooking classes twice a year, in October and May. To get on a mailing list for the next session, go to www.orientalwok.com and send an e-mail at "contact us." There are two Oriental Woks: 317 Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell, (859) 331-3000, and 5038 Old Taylor Mill Road, Taylor Mill, (859) 431-3000.

"He's a natural marketer," says Kate Schumate of Fort Mitchell, who's taking the class. "If you're waiting for take-out, he'll give you a drink. He truly makes you feel like he's glad you're here."

"I never take a marketing class," Wong says. "But when I invent the Chinese pizza, I gave a customer one. Next week, they order 15."

Customers became extremely loyal. "It's really like being part of the family, says Monica Warde of Taylor Mill. "I really mean that. We eat here once a week."

"We've been coming to Oriental Wok for birthdays and celebrations forever," says Susan Hatfield of Crescent Springs, who was at the cooking class with her mother, Judy Schulte of southern Kenton County. "We missed a couple of classes, this year but we try to come to all of them,"

First on the menu for the class is the Chinese pizza.

"When people ask me, 'Mike, why you have pizza on the menu?' I tell them about my two Italian girlfriends," Wong quips.

"We call my dad NATO: No action, talk only," says Susanna after he's finished that story. She keeps the cooking class on track, explaining what's going on and teasing her father at every opportunity.

Next up after pizza is peppercorn steak, a stir-fry that executive chef T.C. Long cooks in a matter of minute.

The other two courses, spice-dusted tofu on spinach and delicious date-ginger won tons with ice cream, are Susanna's addition.

Those are the four courses on the menu for the class, but there are a few extras: homemade egg rolls (they make 5,000 a week), and a demonstration of the rice noodles used with Mongolian beef. (they puff up dramatically to oohs and ahs).

Finally, Wong decides he wants to show us his shrimp fried rice. As he stirs it up in a minute, it's easy to see how this dish - and the Wong family's spirit - converted a neighborhood to Chinese cooking.

E-mail pcampbell@enquirer.com