“I had assumed the small-town Chinese restaurant was a fading piece of the country’s history, a relic of the past. But, at least on Fogo Island, that didn’t seem to be the case. I wanted to know more.
“They are, in very much a weird way, a Canadian thing,” said Lily Cho, a York University professor who has written a book on Chinese restaurants. Of course there are Chinese-American restaurants in the United States, but the story up here – from the way the restaurants spread across the country along with the railroad, to the invention of dishes like Alberta ginger beef and Thunder Bay Bon Bon ribs – is uniquely Canadian.
These restaurants serve many purposes, said Cho. They create jobs and opportunities for newcomers and they fill a void for the entire community, often providing services and infrastructure that don’t otherwise exist. For a century and a half, they have been quintessential small-town Canadian institutions.” Ann Hui
Heard this woman when she was doing the radio rounds. Yup, these restos are an important part of my life. Perennial and ubiquitous.
One of my earliest memories is Sunday lunch at “Lee’s Cafe” where one of the staff knew my mom as a little kid who used to go with her folks to the laundry where he worked. There were kind feelings between them, and a joy about introducing a new generation. The place was around into my late adolescence, and I always had a warm feeling towards it. An important institution assisting the civic integration of our society.