FOSTER’S Restaurant

Known in New Haven county for his warm hospitality and his impeccable way with restaurants, Ming Lau has been the proprietor of a number of stylish eateries, including Miso Japanese Restaurant, a Ninth Square success story since 2002.Born in Hong Kong to a blue collar family, Ming came to this country in 1980. “We were dreaming of the Western life,” he says of he and his siblings. At first, the Western life wasn’t much to write home about: Ming’s first job was at a Chinese restaurant in Brooklyn where he worked for no pay. “I was a busboy, no tip sharing, no nothing,” he recalls. “Just $2 a day for train fare.”

Life got better when he found work in Manhattan and moved up the “food chain,” from waiter to assistant manager to manager.

In 1985 he opened his own place in Milford, and called it Ming’s Dynasty. “We earned three stars in the New York Times,” says Ming, “but the location was not good, and we failed miserably.”

Ming moved into retail and had an import/export business for 15 years.

But he couldn’t stay out of the restaurant game for long, and became a partner in a highly-respected Malaysian eatery in Westville called Ganang Tahang (now known as Kari).

In 2002, he and Chef Wong San opened Miso. Featuring “green” architecture and sustainable materials like bamboo, Miso was an instant hit and continues to draw crowds.

It wasn’t long before Ming met David Foster at a charity event. “He grew up totally Western, I grew up totally Eastern,” says Ming. “Our contrast is important, but we have a lot in common, too.”

Their odd-couple friendship has resulted in Foster’s, a fascinating Ninth Square restaurant that has Western food but also Eastern sensibilities, which can be seen on Foster’s menu as well as in its interior. “We have yin and yang,” says Ming with a smile.