Owner of James Beard Award-nominated restaurant Lucky Palace in Bossier City has died

Shreveport Times

The owner of the James Beard Award-nominated restaurant Lucky Palace, Kuan Lim has died.

Lim was a restauranteur known for converting his customers into "family" who also served as the consummate barman at Lucky Palace. Born and raised in the small city of Batu Pahat in Malaysia, Lim's cooking multicultural influences included Chinese, Malaysian and Indian cuisines.

While Lim studied mechanical engineering at Southern Illinois University, he was drawn to the restaurant industry and worked in various Asian restaurants in Carbondale, Illinois. When he and his wife Evelyn made their way to San Antonio, Texas to look at purchasing a restaurant that had become available, they made a pit stop in Bossier City for some relaxation and a few rounds of blackjack and never left.

Kuan Lim, owner of Lucky Palace, tastes wine from his award-winning collection. Lucky Palace is a semifinalist in the 2020 James Beard Awards in the category of Outstanding Wine Program.

Holiday Inn on Hamilton Road is where their restaurant ownership journey began, turning it into what is now known as the Lucky Palace. Lim capitalized on the casino crowds and created meals geared towards Asian high-stakes gamblers and upgraded the wine list to entice them to stay.

More about Kuan Lim:James Beard Awards semi-finalists include Bossier City.

With the upgraded wine selection, Lim studied and researched the art of wine pairing and soon developed a first-class wine menu and learned to pair it with his multi-cultural cuisine.

This hard work earned him three nominations for Outstanding Wine Program at the James Beard Awards and national recognition.

Lim's osteosarcoma cancer diagnosis in 2016 which resulted in the amputation of his right leg never kept him from making his rounds in the dining room to talk with his "family" of patrons.

Chef Kuan Lim, owner of Lucky Palace, shows off the wide selection of wine available at the Bossier City restaurant that opened in 1997.

"The TrueSouth family experienced a terrible loss: the force of nature named Kuan Lim, who loved wine, laughter and his friends, has died. The Lucky Palace crew and all the people of Shreveport and Bossier (and beyond) who loved him will never replace him. We will miss him always and think of him whenever a great bottle of wine is opened, or a plate of food is shared, or a sacred room is filled with the spirit of friends present and departed. God Speed, Lim," said TrueSouth host John T. Edge on Instagram.

Meredith G. White is the arts and culture reporter for the Shreveport Times. You can find her on Facebook as Meredith G. White, on Instagram and Twitter as @meredithgwhite, and email her at mgwhite@gannett.com.