From Betelnut to China Live to Asia Live — George Chen, Cindy Wong-Chen and veteran restaurateur Bill Upson reunite to bring a new level of culinary energy and hospitality to Silicon Valley
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. —A celebrated Bay Area restaurant partnership is coming together again — this time in the heart of Silicon Valley.
George Chen and Cindy Wong-Chen, the husband-and-wife team behind San Francisco’s acclaimed China Live and the recently opened Asia Live at Westfield Valley Fair, are joining forces with longtime restaurateur Bill Upson and Real Restaurants Group for the next chapter of the ambitious Santa Clara dining and lifestyle destination.
Upson has joined Asia Live as a prominent investor, while Real Restaurants will take on operations management for the multifaceted culinary complex, which opened in July 2026.
The partnership brings together three veterans of the Bay Area hospitality world whose shared history stretches back nearly three decades. Their reunion also gives Asia Live something unusual for a newly opened Silicon Valley destination: a direct connection to several restaurants that helped shape Northern California’s dining scene.
“For Cindy and me, this feels like a true homecoming,” said Chef George Chen. “Bill and I built something extraordinary together at Betelnut, a restaurant that helped define decades of new Asian cuisine in America. With Asia Live, we have the opportunity to capture that same energy, hospitality and sense of dining ‘magic’ that was Betelnut and is presently at China Live, now in Silicon Valley.”
From Betelnut to Silicon Valley
The reunion reconnects Chen and Upson nearly 30 years after their collaboration on Betelnut, the pioneering Pan-Asian San Francisco restaurant that opened in 1995 and introduced generations of diners to the breadth and excitement of Asian-inspired cuisine.
“Betelnut remains one of the most meaningful and favorite restaurants of my more than 40 years in the business,” Upson said. “George and I have a long history of building concepts with real soul, and Asia Live represents an exciting opportunity to bring that same spirit of hospitality, energy and culinary ambition to a new South Bay audience.”
Chen brings more than three decades of restaurant experience and 17 concepts to the project. His career has ranged from Betelnut and Shanghai 1930 to Roosevelt Prime in Shanghai and China Live in San Francisco. China Live earned Eater’s Restaurant of the Year recognition, while the intimate Eight Tables by George Chen was included among TIME magazine’s World’s Greatest Places .
The story of Real Restaurants reaches even further back. Its roots date to 1985 and Mustards Grill in Napa Valley. During the following four decades, the organization became involved with more than 25 restaurants, including recognizable Northern California names such as Bix in San Francisco, Buckeye Roadhouse and Picco in Marin, and Mustards Grill and Tra Vigne in Napa Valley.
That history matters because Asia Live is considerably more ambitious than a single restaurant.
Created by George Chen and Cindy Wong-Chen, Asia Live is a multidimensional culinary and lifestyle destination at Westfield Valley Fair in Santa Clara. Restaurants, bars, Japanese dining, experiential retail and private-event spaces are designed to coexist within one destination centered on the cuisines, craftsmanship and cultures of Asia.
The new partnership combines Chen’s culinary vision and Wong-Chen’s eye for design and retail with Real Restaurants’ decades of operational experience.
Asia Live Enters Its Next Chapter
Launching a restaurant complex of this scale comes with challenges, and the partnership represents a reset and evolution for Asia Live as it moves beyond its opening phase.
With construction of the overall complex now substantially complete, attention is shifting toward execution: hospitality, culinary programming, service and fully activating the different experiences within Asia Live.
“This was always conceived as much more than a restaurant,” Chen said. “Asia Live is being built as a true culinary destination — a place where guests can dine, drink, shop, discover, celebrate and experience Asia through food and culture.”
That positioning is particularly interesting in Silicon Valley.
The South Bay is one of the most internationally connected regions in the United States, with a population and business community closely linked to Asia. Yet the ambition behind Asia Live goes beyond serving a collection of Asian dishes. Chen and Wong-Chen are attempting to create a destination in which food, cocktails, design, retail, hospitality and cultural discovery are part of the same experience.
It also builds on lessons from China Live, their San Francisco culinary destination, while adapting the concept to a different audience and a much different setting at Westfield Valley Fair.
Shopping Becomes Part of the Culinary Experience
One of the more distinctive aspects of Asia Live is what happens away from the dining table.
Cindy Wong-Chen has personally curated the destination’s Marketplace, drawing on products and artisans discovered during travels around the world. The idea is to make retail an extension of the culinary experience rather than an afterthought.
The evolving collection includes house-created condiments, snacks and preserves, organic teas, artisanal cookware, distinctive tableware, gifts, children’s items and products celebrating Asian craftsmanship and culture.
China Live’s signature pantry products are also part of the selection, including Chili Bean Sauce, Chef Chen’s Chili Crisp and the decidedly conversation-starting Peking Duck Fat Popcorn, all recipients of Good Food Awards.
“It is a passion of mine to search for beautiful things from all around the world, and it brings me so much joy to share those discoveries with our guests,” Wong-Chen said. “Whether someone is looking for an Asian ingredient for their pantry, beautiful tableware or a special gift, we want the Marketplace to inspire curiosity and exploration.”
That creates a different rhythm from a conventional restaurant visit. Someone might come to Asia Live for dinner, stop for a cocktail, browse the Marketplace and discover an ingredient or piece of tableware to take home.
For travelers, it also introduces an element increasingly important to destination dining: the opportunity to bring a tangible piece of the experience home.
More Than a Place for Dinner
The next stage for Asia Live will be about making its individual components work together as one destination.
Its combination of restaurants, bar experiences, Japanese dining, retail and event spaces means Asia Live can potentially serve very different occasions — from an everyday lunch or cocktail to destination dining, private celebrations, corporate gatherings and larger events.
That versatility is particularly relevant in Silicon Valley, where international companies, business travelers, technology conferences and a highly diverse local population create demand for distinctive places to gather and entertain.
“We want to completely redefine what people expect when they walk into Asia Live,” Chen said. “This isn’t a food hall or an Asian mash-up. Our goal is to create a sophisticated, exciting culinary destination with serious food, great hospitality and experiences guests will want to return to again and again.”
Real Restaurants’ involvement adds another layer to that ambition. The company has spent more than four decades operating and developing independent restaurants, with a portfolio that has included Mustards Grill, Bix, Betelnut, Buckeye Roadhouse, Picco and Bar Bocce.
For Upson, joining Asia Live therefore represents more than another management assignment. It reconnects him with a restaurateur with whom he helped create one of San Francisco’s memorable dining concepts of an earlier era.
For Chen and Wong-Chen, it brings an experienced operating partner into their most ambitious South Bay project.
And for Asia Live, the partnership connects three generations of ideas: the energy of Betelnut, the culinary theater and sophistication of China Live, and a new Silicon Valley destination designed on a considerably larger canvas.
Nearly 30 years after Chen and Upson worked together at Betelnut, the circle has closed — but in Santa Clara, the intention is clearly to start something new.
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