Boston-area restaurant charged with secretly filming patrons to stay open
Taam China, a famous kosher restaurant in Brookline, Mass., will remain open provided it upholds three conditions.
By NICK GREENHALGH/WICKED LOCAL METROUpdated: JULY 4, 2018 21:50
Wicked Local Metro, Needham, Mass. (TNS) -- About a dozen Brookline residents and others came together at a recent Select Board meeting to support the Kosher restaurant Taam China, which faced losing its license after police allegedly discovered the restaurant's co-owner, Tze Ping Chung, had been videotaping people in the bathroom.Chung allegedly set up two hidden cameras in the handicapped restroom with different angles. One camera was across from the toilet and another next to the toilet looking up, according to the Brookline Police report. The report also stated each person recorded was female and identified one as an employee who has worked there for eight years."Don't let a bad apple destroy a good restaurant the Jewish community is asking and pleading to have," said Stanley Rabinovitz, honorary president of Young Israel Synagogue of Brookline, who came to support the restaurant on June 19.Taam China has been open for about 20 years at 423 Harvard St., and is popular among many in the local Jewish community.Tai-Sheng Ying said he co-founded the restaurant with Chung in 1999, and each of them holds a 50 percent share of the business. Ying, also known as "Chef Ying," works in the kitchen. Chung managed the business.In an interview, Ying said he and employees at the restaurant were "shocked" to hear about the allegations against Chung. He said he and Chung had worked together for more than two decades."He is a serious, energetic and hard working person," he said.After the Brookline Police arrested Chung June 7, the restaurant remained open with eight employees, according to Ying's attorney, Meihuei Hu.Allowed to remain open, with conditionsAt the June 19 meeting, the Select Board voted unanimously to add three conditions to Taam China's license. They would be allowed to stay open, so long as they satisfied each condition.