Madame Sylvia Wu would exit her Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud while wearing a floor-length silk gown and pile her long black hair on top of her head. With a big smile, she would then push open the crimson double doors of her pagoda-style restaurant, which was already bustling with patrons.

Wu's beef, stir-fried pieces of flank steak with onions and oyster sauce, was a favourite dish of Frank Sinatra and his young wife, Mia Farrow. Gregory Peck and Paul Newman liked the shrimp toast and crab puffs, while Mae West regularly visited and had the cold melon soup. Priscilla of Monaco, Princess Grace, enthused about the Peking roast duck.

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For many years, finely dressed Hollywood A-listers gathered at Madame Wu's Garden in Santa Monica to gaze at the Imperial Room's jade and rose quartz statues while birds chirped in antique cages and koi leisurely floated in the beautiful fountain.

The restaurant's menu was a step up from the days when chop suey and General Tso's chicken were considered authentic Chinese dishes, but it was still a far way from the variety and authenticity of today's Los Angeles culinary scene. Wu was always the centre of attention as she moved from table to table, huddled with the chefs, or picked up the phone to accept takeaway orders, so it didn't really matter.

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“Everybody in this town knows Madame Wu,” the late television presenter Merv Griffin expressed the city's admiration for the restaurant in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “One of the dearest, sweetest, most elegant women I’ve ever known.” Wu, a ball of energy who only slightly slowed down in retirement, passed away on September 29 at 106.

When it was at its busiest, Madame Wu's Garden was a bustling hub on Wilshire Boulevard, crowded with celebrities. It included stone waterfalls, vivid red paintings, and 300 seats. Tang dynasty horses were painted on the walls to appear as though they were trotting toward the kitchen.

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Following the premiere of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," Elizabeth Taylor entered. Robert Redford routinely requested the remote, dark Booth 55. The restaurant owner learned how to prepare shredded chicken salad from Cary Grant, and it rapidly became a household favourite.