inthekitchen
plays on
pickerel
North Garden’s Chinese renditions on
our provincial fish have us hook, line,
and sinker.
by Joelle Kidd
It was 1988 when North Garden opened its doors. What was then a
small and unassuming eatery tucked into a University Crescent strip
mall has blossomed into a 130 seat space that churns out hundreds
of dishes. Serving everything from quick take away to extensive dim
sum lunches to multi-course banquets, the restaurant, like the food,
is modest and modern, a hidden gem that has become a beloved
favourite across the city.
“I want to make people feel comfortable in the space,” says owner
Tony Chow. While North Garden’s goal is to offer authentic cuisine
that may push the boundaries of Canadian food sensibilities, the
clean and contemporary setting makes adventurous eating easy.
Tony’s one décor rule? “No red and gold,” he says with a wink. “Those
are the 2 colours I won’t allow in here.”
From the beginning, the restaurant’s simple goal was to serve the
recipes that were beloved by Winnipeg’s Chinese population but
missing from the city’s restaurant scene. Having recently graduated
from the University of Manitoba, Tony knew the difficulties of
trying to find his favourite dishes so far from Chinatown. His family
bought China Garden, and after two years of cutting his teeth in
restaurant ownership, Tony opened North Garden.
The original plan was to foray temporarily into the restaurant
business, but after 4 or 5 years, Tony realized he was hooked. “I never
looked back,” he says. “When you own your own business, you have
stress, you have loans – but you’re happy.”
10
ciao! / feb/mar / two thousand sixteen