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The Province
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Province
Hong Kong food tour is a window to Chinese food in Vancouver
Mia Stainsby goes on a food tour with Humid with Chance of Fishballs with founder Virginia Chan trying uniquely Hong Kong dishes. Kung Wo Beancurd Factory, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, has been making soy products since 1803. Photo by Gavin Wilson Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. In the Vancouver area, cha chaan tengs, or uniquely Hong Kong cafés, are potent nostalgia to former Hong Kongers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Locally, I'm talking the likes of New Town Bakery and Restaurant, Ho Yuen Cafe, The Boss Bakery and Restaurant in Vancouver, and the Lido, Cha Don, Cha Kee, and 852 Kitchen in Richmond. At cha chaan tengs, British colonialism insinuated its way into Hong Kong-meets-west dishes like eggs and toast, macaroni soup with ham, French toast, egg sandwiches, pork chops and rice, along with more Asian dishes like satay beef noodles. And always, always, egg tarts, pineapple buns, milk tea with condensed milk, and yuen yueng (a mix of coffee, tea, milk, sugar). The cuisine has been named a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. 'It's what I think the epitome of Hong Kong food is,' said Virginia Chan, a food tour operator in Hong Kong. 'The Cantonese food we eat, like dim sum and Chinese barbecued meats, is from the Canton, or Guangdong, region in China. But the food you find at a cha chaan teng is iconic and unique to Hong Kong. It was invented here. It's influenced by the British but they wouldn't recognize it to be their own. It's ours. We made it our own. Classics like macaroni in soup, egg tarts and French toast, pineapple buns, milk tea — all invented in Hong Kong.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Virginia Chan, a Vancouver ex-pat and founder of Humid with a Chance of Fishballs food tours. Photo by Virginia Chan I love to go on food tours on my travels. And in Hong Kong, it was with Chan, a Vancouver expat and founder of Humid with a Chance of Fishballs food tours. The quirky name riffs on Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs — the multiplatform franchise about a kid and a machine that turns water into food storms. Chan is a machine herself, breathlessly leading us to some iconic foods, elucidating on their whys and wherefores. Cha chaan tengs, Chan says, began as tea houses. 'People loved to have what they called afternoon tea here, usually with a pastry. The British had them at hotels and fancy restaurants, which locals couldn't afford, so they made their own version. 'At dim sum, it's tea with no milk or sweetener but in these cha chan tengs, instead of full leaf tea, they'd use the brokens and the dust.' Tata and Yellow Label Lipton tea are popular go-tos. Brits used fresh milk; Hong Kongers made milk tea with evaporated milk. 'It had a longer shelf life and was cheaper. We call it silk stocking tea because it got strained through a long cloth bag that looked like a stocking.' There's usually a bakery in the restaurant because the British taught them how to bake (whereas at dim sum, most items are steamed). Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The egg tart's origin is debatable, Chan says. 'Some say it's from the Portuguese. I say it's British because it was originally made with short crust. I think puff pastry is more popular these days, though.' The perpetually busy Kam Wah Café in the Mong Kok neighbourhood is one such cha chaan teng, a locals' favourite for pineapple buns and egg tarts. There, we had both, along with French toast with a slab of butter and milk tea. 'They just got inspired by British goods but made Hong Kong versions, due to an unavailability of goods or taste preference. A cool example is chicken pie. Hong Kongers make individual sizes and instead of butter, we use lard for the pastry and the seasoning would be soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. The chicken was tossed in Chinese seasoning and mixed with peas and ham instead of potatoes and mushrooms,' Chan said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A day earlier, I had visited Central's Lan Fong Yuen, the G.O.A.T and longest reigning cha chaan teng when it comes to milk tea. It started as a dai pai dong or streetside stall in 1952. The finest pineapple bun I had, though, was in the entirely different world of the two-Michelin Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons Hotel, where it was beautifully crafted into designer patisserie fare. For the very Hong Kong tradition of dim sum, we went to Luk on Kui, one of the few survivors of dim sum by trolley. In this raucous second-floor room, you scramble for a seat, sharing a table with strangers. On the third floor, you can get table service for an extra charge. 'They're moving away from trolley service as people are getting wealthier and want to be served,' Chan says. 'And dim sum chefs are dying off as it takes a lot of skill and no one wants to do it anymore.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Dim sum at Luk On Kui, one of the few survivors of dim sum by trolley in Hong Kong. Photo by Gavin Wilson There's a shelf under the table for newspapers and papers for business meet ups (safe from the messier business of eating). If someone pours you tea, tap with three fingers in a 'thank you', an ancient tradition from when an emperor secretly visited tea houses. When he poured tea, his entourage would tap with three fingers, symbolizing a bowed head and prostrate arms, while concealing the emperor's identity. Chan poured tea from a bowl into smaller tea bowls. 'Green tea is cooling and black tea is warming,' she said, in traditional Chinese medicine parlance. 'Tea was also the commercial driving force in Hong Kong and the reason it came under British rule.' With hours of sampling ahead of us, we settled for just two dumplings. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At Mammy's Pancakes in Central Market, the first Michelin-recommended street food stall, they don't do pancakes, they do egg waffles in umpteen flavours (like pork floss and sesame, white sesame and chocolate, lemon). The egg-rich light waffles, originally inspired by the Dutch dollar waffles or stroopwafels, were hot and crisp and delicate. Then, another egg tart stop. Why not, when they're in the top five of Hong Kong snacks. Tai Cheong Bakery, an egg tart go-to for 71 years, often ranks as the best. Another why not! We joined a lineup at a Michelin Bib Gourmand ice cream shop in Kowloon for a black sesame ice cream cone. Heartwarming is known for stone-ground black sesame (ground by two stone mills by the door) products. As the Michelin Guide points out, the products are prized for their intense flavour and chewy texture. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. At Lau Sum Kee, a Bib Gourmand in Sham Shui Po run by a third generation of operators, we had noodles made using a bamboo pole, a dying technique. The pole is hooked to the wall above the noodles and the noodle master bounces, see-saw like, sitting on the other end, flattening dough that is made with Canadian flour and duck eggs. It's then fed into a roller and cut into noodle strands or wonton sheets. The technique gives the noodles a firm, springy texture. I could taste the artisanal love in the prawn and pork wontons, the lo mein with dried shrimp roe, and noodle soup. Noodles at Lau Sum Kee, a Bib Gourmand in Sham Shui Po run by a third generation of operators. Photo by Gavin Wilson Nearby Kung Wo Beancurd Factory, another Bib Gourmand, has been making soy products since 1803. 'It's my favourite place to have tofu pudding and tofu,' Chan said. 'I love the silken texture. No one else does it quite like them. The tofu fragrance is light, subtle and the texture is sooo light, airy and silky.' Although the pudding is often served with red beans or black sesame, this place spotlights the tofu. 'Kung Wo is so confident, they only let you add some sugar. That's it.' The shop offers other dishes like chicken wings, pig's feet, dumplings and noodles, too. But yes, the tofu pudding is like silk and cream. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. After wandering through the Nelson Street wet market, with an amazing display of seafood (including frogs, butchered fish still twitching from muscle contractions, fresh fish maw) we managed one more tasting at another Michelin-recommended street food spot. The rice rolls, or cheung fun, at Hop Yik Tai are humble but with a wonderfully silky texture. With peanut, hoisin or hot sauce, it grabs you by your lapel to take notice. Too crowded inside, we happily ate (was it with toothpicks?) in an alley. Side dish Times are tough for so many families and corporate kindness matters more than ever. The Glowbal Restaurant Group has a history of helping to feed families in need and on Canada Day, they'll be holding a fundraising 'Great Canadian Patio Party.' Proceeds will go to Snacks for Kids, a program run by volunteer Vancouver firefighters, providing nutritional support to 10,000 food insecure youths in over 90 Vancouver schools and after school programs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Head to the patio at Glowbal Restaurant at 590 West Georgia Street and from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on July 1, there'll be music (Gift Shop, a Tragically Hip tribute band), a barbecue with burgers, hot dogs and other grilled items, side dishes, Canada-inspired desserts like poutine bar, cotton candy, snow cones and more. For kids, there's a bouncy castle and face painting. Tickets are $30 ticket ($40 at the door). Glowbal group of restaurants (Glowbal, Coast, Italian Kitchen, Five Sails, Black and Blue, The Roof, Riley's, Trattoria) will be providing 250 meals a week in the next school year to families in need in Vancouver elementary and secondary schools, which will be delivered by volunteer firefighters. miastainsby@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Canucks World BC Lions NHL
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Brightline station food hall in Miami reopens with popular local favorites
Brightline's Central Fare food hall in downtown Miami has reopened with brand-new vendors, more than a few of them very familiar to Miami diners. The Central Fare Food Collective features 12 concepts, all but one of which are Miami born-and-bred, including Stanzione Pizza; a sushi concept from the creator of Mr. Omakase; a couple of Michelin-recognized spots; and the insanely popular pop-up The Wolf of Tacos, the first permanent spot for them. The vendors were curated by Felix Bendersky of F+B Hospitality Brokerage, in collaboration with Brightline. Working with Brightline, Bendersky said, made this one of the best projects he has ever worked on. 'They were so cool when I pitched them the 305 idea,' Bendersky said. 'I believed the vendors had to be local and upstarts. I knew if we could make it affordable for them and allow them to make money and keep costs lower to customers, it would work.' Vendors will also have the ability to offer delivery options, Bendersky said, a good plan considering the population density of that part of Miami. 'For this to work, it had to be local people foodies want,' he said. 'We've got the Beaker & Gray guys running the bar! It really does feel like a community.' Central Fare vendors Cotoita: This concept by Ecuadorian chef Alejandra Espinoza, whose restaurant Cotoa was named to the 2025 Michelin Guide earlier this year, will offer empanadas de queso, bowls and patacones with sweet paletas for desserts. El Turco Express: From the creators of the Michelin Bib Gourmand El Turco in Upper Buena Vista, this spot will serve kebabs, hummus, baklava and other Turkish specialties. Guchi's Handroll Bar: Andrew Mayer, the founder of Poke OG, Mr. Omakase and Miss Crispy Rice, is offering sushi handrolls, including the Surf & Turf made wit hA5 Wagyu Beef and crab. There are also poke bowl options. Icy-N-Spicy: Owner Xiaoli Liu offers artisan desserts like chocolate-covered strawberries and Dubai chocolate bars made with phyllo, pistachio and chocolate. Josh's Corner Diner: If you've never visited the Michelin-recommended Josh's Deli in Surfside, here's your chance to see what the fuss is. This diner offers classic breakfast fare like pancakes, French toast, bagels, breakfast sandwiches and more. At lunch, try tuna melts, po'boys, burgers and other diner fare. Peel!: Peel! from Valeria Alvarez offers natural, vegan desserts that start as bananas and coconut milk and turn into creamy soft serve. Peppi's Steaks & Hoagies: The creator of Peppi's Pizza brings the best of Philly to Miami with hoagies and cheesesteaks (either the Philly classic or something a little different, like a buffalo chicken cheesesteak). Rosetta Bakery: Expect Italian-style baked goods Stanzione Pizza: Franco Stanzione started making his Neoapolitan pizzas in Miami in 2013 and will serve them here, along with pasta dishes like spaghetti pomodoro. Stephanie's Crepes: This spot offers sweet creeps (with fresh fruit, custard or yogurt) or savory crepes (with greens, proteins and sauces). Switchpoint Station Bar: The Unfiltered Hospitality team mans Central Fare's bar, offering cocktails and mocktails as well as tea and coffee drinks The Wolf of Tacos: Chef Eduardo Lara started his beloved brand in 2020, selling tacos out of his home and eventually popping up around Miami. This is his first brick-and-mortar kitchen, offering the street tacos that made him Miami famous. Central Fare Where: 600 NW First Ave., Miami Hours: 7 a.m.–10 p.m. daily; hours of actual vendors may vary day to day More information:
The Herald Scotland
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Celentano's chef: I turned up with no experience but a hunger to learn
Celentano's was awarded a Michelin Bib Gourmand within the first six months of opening and has been recognised by the Good Food Guide. (Read more: Celentano's celebrates three years of success in Glasgow) This week, Parker steps up to the plate for our chef Q&A. Pictured: Parker outside Celentano's in Glasgow (Image: NAOMI VANCE PHOTOGRAPHY) What was your first kitchen job? My first restaurant job was at Harlem in West London in 2004. It was a late-night American restaurant serving the best gumbo, blackened salmon and New York cheesecake with a lot of Latin American influence. The head chef, Fiona Ruane, was a real kitchen mother to me; she took me under her wing. I turned up with no experience but just a real hunger to learn. Where is your favourite place to eat out? Having spent so much time in London, there are always new places in London I want to try when I go back to visit. Perilla in London is a favourite, Ben Marks is a truly gifted chef, and I'm sure I would try Wildflower from Arron Potter. Another on my list is Anglo Thai's new restaurant. What is your guilty pleasure meal? Chocolate mousse with salty oats. Can you share a memory of your worst kitchen disaster? It's usually got some sort of electrical or plumbing or gas fault over a weekend when no one can come out having to use some sort of bushman mechanic technique to get a temporary repair. What is your signature dish? Probably the malted barley affogato because it's hugely popular and is a staple on our menu. We have seasonal veggie secondi which are gems, this year we did a BBQ cauliflower walnut ragu hedgehog mushrooms. Read more: Who would you say is your biggest inspiration? There have been a few over the years, but my mum was probably my biggest inspiration. She never said no to any new hobby or interest. Later in life, she took up macrobiotic cooking (after being diagnosed with cancer). She was given six months to live but managed to survive for another three and a half years without medical intervention. This cooking involves healing through consuming certain foods. The art of fermentation touches on a bit of this as well. What is one of your pet peeves as a chef? Lack of punctuality and wasting produce. If you weren't a chef, what do you think you would be doing with your life? I used to draw plans of houses and swimming pools as a side-line hustle while studying at school so probably an architect What's your favourite trick for making cooking at home easier? Pre-cooked short-grain brown rice, really good quality soy sauce and miso paste from that dinner can be rustled up with a few vegetables in a matter of minutes. Since having a little boy thrown into the mix my home cooking feels like a 'ready steady cook'. Possibly the most stressful service of the week.. What has been the one highlight that stands out in your career so far? Opening Celentano's with my wife, she has been a superstar to work with. Someone with a real eye for detail and a driving force like no other.
Eater
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
Austin Food Truck Distant Relatives Expanded With No Investors
A version of this post originally appeared on June 11, 2025, in Eater and Punch's newsletter Pre Shift , a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world. This send is the last in a four-part series on restaurant growth, presented by Square . Organize all your orders — dine-in, online, and third-party — and fulfill them in a flash, right from your POS . The growth: After a career creating fancy dishes in a starched white chef coat, Damien Brockway wanted to cook food more like what he made at home. Inspired by meats he smoked in his backyard pit, Brockway dreamed up Distant Relatives in 2018 to showcase the flavors of the African diaspora, and it opened as a pop-up serving out of his home kitchen in 2020. He moved to a food truck the following year and racked up accolades: one of Eater's Best New Restaurants in America, a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and two semifinalist nods from the James Beard Awards. Here, Brockway shares how he is building his restaurant intentionally, without investors. Size of restaurant in 2020: Brockway's home kitchen, 1 employee Size of restaurant now: Food truck, 5 employees I knew it was going to be a difficult project because cooking modern African American food may seem polarizing for some people. But to me, it's not. I'm the only investor in Distant Relatives because I needed to control the narrative, the style, the aesthetic, and the ethos of what we're doing. But this control came with financial limitations—I could only borrow enough to set up a food truck. With the pop-up, I had a schedule for pickups from a cooler outside my gate. People would Venmo me or throw a couple bucks in the cooler for their plates. But I was getting my reps in: I spent this much, I sold this much, I got my yield percentages hammered out. At home, I cook like a grandma — a pinch of this, a spoon of that — but as I scaled up I had to set ratios. When I was doing 40 to 50 plates per pop-up, I knew I needed to move to a food truck. The pop-up ended up costing me a lot: I destroyed my stove at my house and had to redo the plumbing in the kitchen. I didn't open with brisket on the menu because I wanted to focus on large, subprimal cuts of animals, but it was a rude awakening to see the number of guests that walked up, saw there was no brisket on the menu, and left. The crazy thing is that people will complain about $30 a pound for brisket. If you are running 30 percent food costs, we'd all be charging $40-plus a pound. There's a cap to how much you can charge, and all of us barbecue guys have banded together on this. In culinary education, we call dishes like this a dog: It's on your menu and it loses you money. With brisket, we want it to sell out — like, we want it available, but we also need it to sell out. Math is important. I average 35 percent food cost. If I was a chef anywhere else, I'd be fired already, but that's pretty standard for a barbecue-focused trailer. Food trucks have higher costs because we serve on disposable flatware and we don't have beverage revenue. Selling barbecue by weight involves loss from trimming and cooking it, so using that fat in sausage or sides is paramount. Our food costs are sustainable with proper controls on labor, rent, and overhead expenses—and a very modest profit margin. Barbecue is supposed to feed the masses. We use everything to keep costs affordable. We use tallow. We smoke bones. We don't buy ham hocks. Go visit the farmers you work with — they're sweating and working out here in the summer just like we are. They're not making a ton of money either. So when you use their product, respect it. Be conscientious about your price point. I made mistakes in the first four years, chasing expansion and buying more equipment. I needed to do those things, but now I need to show that all of this investment [became] profitable, which we are. But to get into a building, I need to show that I can handle an increased debt load. There's definitely a vision for a brick-and-mortar, but it's a process. A lot of the guys that I looked up to when I was starting with barbecue have taken up to 10 years to get into buildings. I'm not thinking that I'm the exception to the rule — it's gonna take time. See More: Chefs Expansions Food and Restaurant Trends
Eater
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
How to Build a Restaurant With No Investors
A version of this post originally appeared on June 11, 2025, in Eater and Punch's newsletter Pre Shift , a biweekly newsletter for the industry pro that sources first-person accounts from the bar and restaurant world. This send is the last in a four-part series on restaurant growth, presented by Square . Organize all your orders — dine-in, online, and third-party — and fulfill them in a flash, right from your POS . The growth: After a career creating fancy dishes in a starched white chef coat, Damien Brockway wanted to cook food more like what he made at home. Inspired by meats he smoked in his backyard pit, Brockway dreamed up Distant Relatives in 2018 to showcase the flavors of the African diaspora, and it opened as a pop-up serving out of his home kitchen in 2020. He moved to a food truck the following year and racked up accolades: one of Eater's Best New Restaurants in America, a Michelin Bib Gourmand, and two semifinalist nods from the James Beard Awards. Here, Brockway shares how he is building his restaurant intentionally, without investors. Size of restaurant in 2020: Brockway's home kitchen, 1 employee Size of restaurant now: Food truck, 5 employees I knew it was going to be a difficult project because cooking modern African American food may seem polarizing for some people. But to me, it's not. I'm the only investor in Distant Relatives because I needed to control the narrative, the style, the aesthetic, and the ethos of what we're doing. But this control came with financial limitations—I could only borrow enough to set up a food truck. With the pop-up, I had a schedule for pickups from a cooler outside my gate. People would Venmo me or throw a couple bucks in the cooler for their plates. But I was getting my reps in: I spent this much, I sold this much, I got my yield percentages hammered out. At home, I cook like a grandma — a pinch of this, a spoon of that — but as I scaled up I had to set ratios. When I was doing 40 to 50 plates per pop-up, I knew I needed to move to a food truck. The pop-up ended up costing me a lot: I destroyed my stove at my house and had to redo the plumbing in the kitchen. I didn't open with brisket on the menu because I wanted to focus on large, subprimal cuts of animals, but it was a rude awakening to see the number of guests that walked up, saw there was no brisket on the menu, and left. The crazy thing is that people will complain about $30 a pound for brisket. If you are running 30 percent food costs, we'd all be charging $40-plus a pound. There's a cap to how much you can charge, and all of us barbecue guys have banded together on this. In culinary education, we call dishes like this a dog: It's on your menu and it loses you money. With brisket, we want it to sell out — like, we want it available, but we also need it to sell out. Math is important. I average 35 percent food cost. If I was a chef anywhere else, I'd be fired already, but that's pretty standard for a barbecue-focused trailer. Food trucks have higher costs because we serve on disposable flatware and we don't have beverage revenue. Selling barbecue by weight involves loss from trimming and cooking it, so using that fat in sausage or sides is paramount. Our food costs are sustainable with proper controls on labor, rent, and overhead expenses—and a very modest profit margin. Barbecue is supposed to feed the masses. We use everything to keep costs affordable. We use tallow. We smoke bones. We don't buy ham hocks. Go visit the farmers you work with — they're sweating and working out here in the summer just like we are. They're not making a ton of money either. So when you use their product, respect it. Be conscientious about your price point. I made mistakes in the first four years, chasing expansion and buying more equipment. I needed to do those things, but now I need to show that all of this investment [became] profitable, which we are. But to get into a building, I need to show that I can handle an increased debt load. There's definitely a vision for a brick-and-mortar, but it's a process. A lot of the guys that I looked up to when I was starting with barbecue have taken up to 10 years to get into buildings. I'm not thinking that I'm the exception to the rule — it's gonna take time. See More: Chefs Expansions Food and Restaurant Trends
