Please Steal my Business Idea: Reinvest in Old School Chinese Canadian Restaurants

IMHO, Chinese-Canadian restaurants across the country deserve some recognition and reinvestment. 

Above: Screen cap from Episode 17, "The Fantastic Mr. Fawkes"from Season 17 of Murdoch Mysteries. The character Terence Myers is enjoying a plate of ginger beef!

I've got a business idea but as I have zero business acumen, I'm offering it up here for whatever enterprising individual is looking for a new opportunity: I think the Chinese Canadian restaurants across the country deserve some recognition and reinvestment.

Though perhaps not UNESCO-worthy, unglamorous, even boring or kitschy cuisine is special. Just look at the success of Mennonite Girls Can Cook! Chinese-Canadian cuisine absolutely deserves a place among the hallmarks of Canadian heritage and culinary culture. Like, did you know that ginger beef is a Canadian invention? It's so famous that it's even mentioned in an episode of Murdoch Mysteries (see episode 17 of Season 17; you know you've made it in Canadian culture when...)

First, this idea was inspired by a few things I've read recently:

• Have you heard the news? Kelowna, right here in B.C., has been the first Canadian city to be recognized by UNESCO for its food cuisine and culture 
• I read this article about how young Canadians are investing in "boring" businesses, forgoing flashy start-ups
• I'm actively reading Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging by Rachel Phan, and at the end of last year I read Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Café and Other Stories From Canada’s Chinese Restaurants by Ann Hui

Above: Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui

The two books in point three, among others like Diamond Grill by Fred Wah prove that Chinese Canadian cuisine, though perhaps not Michelin star-worthy or the most glamorous, is its own unique cuisine. It has a rich story and history, and its a part of Canadian culture that likely already exists in many small towns and cities across Canada (i.e. towns sans a Chinatown, or even a robust food delivery service like Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes) in a way that TikTokable restaurants do not (see S1, E3 of Locals Welcome on Richmond)

Japanese Canadian cuisine, which is my background, has been similarly been adapted, and many argue that it is also its own unique fusion of Japanese and Canadian culinary traditions. We even have our own cookbooks.

I propose to enterprising folks my age -- if you can swing it, please consider reinvesting in our old-school Chinese Canadian restaurants. No gentrification, no need to modernize (though as your muse, I humbly ask you to consider adding a few vegetarian items to the menus). These restaurants are their own heritage institutes with retro, comfort food appeal, much like a White Spot.

Above: Restaurant Kid by Rachel Phan 

Put the old kitschy logos on cool t-shirts and totes for some small town pride. Collaborate with local breweries to make a special beer just for your restaurant. You can sell books mentioned above (Rachel Phan's book, Ann Hui's, Diamond Grill, Have You Eaten Yet?, and the cookbooks) in the lobby to help support the idea, and you might also consider selling relevant, locally made products that complement Asian-Canadian cooking like Angkor Harvest (Cambodian-Canadian), Haute Foods, Midori Foods (Japanese-Canadian), etc.

Ready to invest? Start looking around smaller cities and towns for a restaurant to buy out-- for example, I was in Salmon Arm in August and noticed that, at the time, Wing's Kitchen opposite the Barley Station Brewpub was up for sale. This is precisely the type of restaurant I'm talking about -- and the brewery is already there for you to collaborate with. And please, remember to send me an invite to your restaurant opening!