CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Peter Chang’s China Grill, the Szechuan restaurant in the Barrack’s Shopping Center famous for delivering heat and flavor, is closing this month.

The restaurant’s lease is set to expire and will not be renewed, manager Deni Suseno told Cville Right Now.

The dining room will close starting Monday but takeout orders will be served until Oct. 31, Suseno said.

Chang, the former Chinese embassy chef, became an award-winning chef and culinary celebrity, despite spending much of his career elusively skipping from kitchen to kitchen as he worked through immigration details.

Chang left the embassy in 2003. By 2010, his story had become widely known. He currently owns at least 18 restaurants all over the region, including nine in Virginia.

He opened Peter Chang’s China Grill – the first restaurant he attached his name to – in 2011.