My Favourite Neighbourhood Restaurant

Just finished having lunch at my favourite neighbourhood Chinese restaurant. I've been coming here ever since they opened a few years back. This is...indeed...a "family restaurant". The food here is fair and reasonably priced...but it is the inustry of this family that is so impressive. The mother and father owners...both in their forties...are the driving force behind this endeavour. Two high school aged offspring...chip in on the weekends...and take customers orders and answer questions...in flawless Canadian accents...but speak Chinese to rheir parents. Two older female relatives...are often seen sitting at the back. One of them...welcomes me joyfully...as if I were a long lost friend...when I come through the door...once again. Other helpers...some likely relatives...work here as waitresses...or help out in the kitchen. The owner couple...are both tiny people...the wife interacts charmingly with the customers...and the husband prepares meals for much longer than an eight hour day in the kitchen. From my artist's universe...where living in "slow time" is imperative...I look at their daily work load...delivered day after dasy...in wonder. They too...must look at me...wondering why I take so much time at my lunches there...reading the newspapers always provided...and after...scribbling away in my journal...as I am doing today. They have never done anything to move me "outward bound"...once my meal is finished...helping to make this place...one of my "homes away from home". I wish that this family effort...continues to prosper. It deserves to do so..........Quester.