As a network TV writer, social-justice documentarian, and the founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Curtis Chin is used to spinning many plates at once. But it was growing up inside Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, his family’s restaurant in Detroit, where Chin learned much of what he knows about himself and America.

His debut memoir,“Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant,” is mostly a light, humorous read. But his portrait of a slowly declining Detroit, his family’s proximity to the racially motivated killing of Vincent Chin in 1982 by two white autoworkers who never served jail time, and his challenges coming out as a gay man during the AIDS crisis are dealt with quite seriously.

下巴将庆祝他的回忆录的释放at Green Apple Books on the Park at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 30. The Chronicle spoke with the Los Angeles author about growing up in Detroit, Vincent Chin and the immigrant experience.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What made you want to write a memoir?

A:I think it was just this need to write down the stories to share with my nieces and nephews, because after my dad passed away, the rest of my family moved out of Michigan, and when my siblings started having kids in California, I just felt like they knew nothing about that history, and I wanted to be able to share that with them. That’s how I started writing the project. With the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes, I started exploring how I felt about the Vincent Chin case.

Q: He frequented your restaurant and was part of your family association, and you were a teenager when he was murdered. You write that “Before his killing, I had felt secure as an Asian American. … But the incident clarified any misunderstandings. We were outsiders.” Did Vincent Chin’s murder and the light punishment his attackers received influence your political activism?

A:The Vincent Chin case was sad because of that personal loss, but on a greater level, it was this loss of an idea of America because prior to that, I bought into the whole marketing campaign of America being a just place. I thought that our country was further along in terms of equality. To have that happen really devastated me. The justice system wouldn’t protect us. Because even if you were killed (or attacked), at least you always hoped that justice would prevail, and whoever did this would go to jail, but they didn’t. So yeah, (it was) a real loss of innocence, a real defining moment.

Q: What do you think about this recent trend of book banning in red states, particularly for books that are like yours, which have content with queer people in it?

A:It’s scary to be a debut author and to think that your book might be banned even before it hits shelves. I’ve had events canceled already. There’s no way of proving why these things happen, but when you hear about all these things going on, you do have to worry. As a debut author, I don’t want that publicity. Sometimes people say that all press is good press, but I don’t know if that’s necessarily true. I want you to talk about the book because I think the book itself will lead to discussions about things that I think are more important.

Q: Since you grew up in a Chinese restaurant, let’s talk about it. When you go to a Chinese restaurant, do you have pet peeves?

A:Because I worked as a waiter, I’m very picky about bad service.

Q: Really? I would say Chinese waiters are generally not known for great service.

A:I know, but I was really good. That’s maybe why I got such good tips and maybe why people were so surprised, because at our restaurant, you actually got good service.

Q: What are a few of your favorite Chinese restaurants in San Francisco?

A:I go to R&G Lounge. The place with the best chicken wings is Capital Restaurant.

Q: One of the great things about the book is that it’s very clear about how your awareness of your sexuality evolved from the time you were a child to when you’re openly gay. You first come out to yourself and then your friends in college, but the book ends before you come out to your family. Why was that?

A:The reason I waited so long was not necessarily fear that my family was going to disown me, because we’re not Christian. We don’t believe in going to hell. But there was an issue for me of disappointing my parents. I didn’t want to do that. I never feared for myself or what would happen to me, but I did fear how my parents would react and them feeling sad and hurt and feeling like they had failed because they had sacrificed so much for their kids. I think that was weighing on my mind more than anything in terms of why I decided not to come out earlier. I was trying to protect them.

Q: When you did come out to them, did they receive it well?

A:Well, that’s book two.

Leland Cheuk is a freelance writer.