In opening his new Dragonfly Asian Bistro in Tigard, owner Jason Liang wants to make one thing clear: “We are back.”

That’s no small sentiment considering Liang was the owner of Lake Oswego’s Hunan Pearl, a renowned Chinese restaurant, for 27 years. He opened his new venture at the end of March in the Tigard Walmart Superstore complex, 7700 S.W. Dartmouth St., No. 110.

Using the original recipes that have made the Hunan Pearl so popular all these years, Liang said his plan is to get back to basics — providing “great food with quality service.”

That great food includes such notables as General Tso’s chicken and sautéed green bean potstickers, all cooked by head chef Michael Shu. Over the years, the talented Shu has created his own signature dishes, with sesame salmon being one of those.

No stranger to the Asian cooking scene, Shu has cooked for four decades. He started in the business by cooking in his father’s restaurant – the now-closed Hunan Restaurant in Portland – when he was only 15 years old.

Liang is a restaurant veteran as well. After immigrating to the United States from Taiwan in 1986, he first met Shu when he picked up his own father, also an employee at Hunan Restaurant. Not long after, Liang also began working there, according to his daughter, Connie Delhaye.

Delhaye is joining her father as a business partner at Dragonfly Asian Bistro, pointing out that she, too, is proud of the restaurant’s cuisine.

“Our appetizers are all handmade, in-house, including the dough. Everything’s made from scratch,” said Delhaye, who also works as a full-time nurse for Legacy Hospice.

Not only does the bistro serve a variety of specialties made from meat but they can also create vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free dishes.

“Kind of the beauty of Chinese food is you can make it really customizable,” said Delhaye, a 2010 Wilsonville High School graduate and Sherwood resident.

Keeping it all in the family, Delhaye’s husband, Von Delhaye, has joined the restaurant after working in construction for the last decade.

Shu is training him to create all the restaurant’s recipes with plans that he will eventually become the head chef.

Liang said over the years he’s gotten to the point where he can look at a customer’s face and see if things are going right or wrong.

As a result, he said he tries to ensure that each customer has a “happy in and a happy out.”

In addition to having a full-service bar, Dragonfly Asian Bistro has a party room, offers catering and will soon have outside patio seating.

A grand opening is set Sunday, May 18.