A First Look at aKin. The New & Beautiful Asian Fine Dining Restaurant in Toronto

Toronto’s food lovers are no strangers to the names Chef Alvin Leung and Eric Chong. Alvin, a three-Michelin-starred chef renowned for his boundary-pushing creations, and Eric, the first winner of MasterChef Canada, have joined forces to introduce aKin—a modern Asian fine dining restaurant that promises to redefine the city’s culinary landscape. Nestled in the heart of Toronto’s Old Town at 51 Colborne Street, aKin offers a dining experience that is as daring as it is refined. We had the privilege of attending an exclusive preview night, giving us a first taste of this much-anticipated culinary destination.

Community & People, Current Affairs, Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseDecember 5, 2024Food, asian food, Asian Food, restaurant, RestaurantComment

Bringing the Taste of Home to Canada: The Chatime Story

Bringing popular cultural foods and beverages to market in a place as culturally diverse as Canada is an enriching journey for entrepreneurs and consumers. We continue to hone in on bubble tea with another innovator and industry leader that has brought a drink that a majority of our readers are bound to have tried. Drawing on his experience of introducing Chatime to Canada 13 years ago and overseeing its growth ever since, Kenton knows firsthand that the bubble tea market is highly competitive, with new brands constantly emerging. Staying authentic, high-quality, and offering customizable options are key.

Current Affairs, Community & People, Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseOctober 23, 2024Tea Culture, asian food, Asian Food, Food, food, Chinese FoodComment

Pioneering the Love for Bubble Tea in Canada: Ten Ren's Tea

In light of what happened with the Dragons’ Den incident of cultural appropriation of boba, we wanted to shine the spotlight on one of the original bubble tea franchises from Taiwan that opened in Toronto and Canada in the mid-1980s, and one that many readers here might remember as the place they gathered with high school friends, had their first date, hosted a business meeting or simply the place that finally served a drink with Asian fruit flavours that were familiar.

Current Affairs, Community & People, Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseOctober 18, 2024Tea Culture, asian food, Asian Food, Food, food, Chinese FoodComment

Effectively Calling Out Cultural Appropriation: Simu Liu on the Dragon’s Den

Ahead of the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend, an incident erupted on hit television show, Dragons' Den, known for featuring prominent business people who are presented business pitches by entrepreneurs from all over the country. This is the first season that Marvel star Simu Liu stepped up to be a guest Dragon on the show alongside new Dragon Brian Scudamore, founder of 1-800-Got Junk?, joining the experienced tycoons from the den, Arlene Dickinson, Wes Hall, Manjit Minhas and Michele Romanow.

Current Affairs, Community & People, Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseOctober 18, 2024Tea Culture, asian food, Asian Food, Food, food, Chinese FoodComment

Mott 32 Arrives in Toronto, Bringing a Fusion of Tradition and Innovation to the City’s Culinary Scene

Toronto’s vibrant Chinese community and the city's inclusive nature make it relatively easy to find exceptional Chinese cuisine, representing diverse regions across China. Joining this rich culinary landscape is Mott 32, a globally renowned brand known for revitalizing traditional Chinese cuisine. Launched within the Shangri-La Toronto, this three-story restaurant honours its Asian heritage while connecting with the city’s multicultural spirit. This marks Mott 32’s second location in Canada, following the successful launch of its Vancouver branch in 2017.

Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseAugust 16, 2024Food, food, asian food, Asian Food, chinesefood, Chinese Food, restaurant, RestaurantComment

Eva Chin: In a Shifting Culinary Landscape 錢樺溶：「味」力

Born into a family of mixed Asian heritage (her mother is Samoan-Hawaiian, and her father Singaporean-Chinese), Eva Chin was raised on her grandmother’s farm in Kahuku, Hawaii. Growing up, she learned how to harvest vegetables, fish and prepare seafood. She also became familiar with a variety of cuisines and cooking styles, from Thai to Portuguesae to Japanese. But becoming a chef wasn’t a given.

The Age-Old Tradition of Rice Dumplings for Duan Wu Festival

It's time for the annual Duan Wu Festival 端午節! This special occasion falls on the 5th day of the 5th month of the Lunar calendar, around the Summer Solstice. It is also known as the Dragon Boat Festival, 龍舟節.⁠

Food and Lifestyle, Design DialogueGuest UserJune 13, 2023Food, Recipe, Chinese Food, taiwa, rice dumplings, Dragon Boat FestivalComment

Chef Mickey Zhao 趙健彬: Baking Bread, Breaking Boundaries「用心」烘焙無邊國度

Chinese bakeries are famous around the world for their unique selection of ‘Chinese Western Pastries’: buns, cakes and tarts that are best described as a combination of Chinese bakers’ imaginations and Western-style baked goods. Colonial life in Hong Kong brought together different ethnicities and demographics whose cultures and ideas inevitably co-mingled over time. Egg tarts, pineapple buns and coconut cocktail buns are perfect examples of this gastronomic mélange and can be credited to the legions of bakers colloquially referred to as ‘beng lou’ or ‘min baau lou’ — this literally translates to ‘bakery men’ or ‘bread men.’

Long Reads, Personal StoriesFête ChinoiseMarch 22, 2022Asian Representation, Food, PastryComment

Chef Ken Yau 邱璟琛: Elevating the Ordinary 舌尖上的人情味

After returning to Canada from years of working at groundbreaking restaurants like the Michelin 3 Starred The Fat Duck in England and Liberty Private Works in Hong Kong, Chef Ken Yau launched k.Dinners, a pop-up supper club concept in Toronto. These were multi-course, experiential tasting dinners for just 16 guests in a different location every week. Those lively evenings of great food and convivial conversations around a communal table came to an abrupt stop when the pandemic hit. Suddenly, Ken was left scrambling to think of another source of revenue.

Long Reads, Personal Stories, Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseMarch 8, 2022Asian Representation, Food, Chinese FoodComment

Chef Craig Wong: Food + Sustainability 王智榮: 永續的飲食革命

We caught up with Chef Craig Wong, the Toronto-based owner of the award-winning restaurant Patois and upcoming Bar Mignonette, to explore his views on sustainability. We wanted to know what the actual practice of this word versus lip service means to him as a chef, restaurateur and cultural champion. During the pandemic, he was a part of a collaboration with IKEA that focused on cooking with scraps. That exercise, in turn, inspired the images in our feature. In this special conversation, we examine the concept of sustainability through three lenses: first as a culinary philosophy, then towards the preservation of culture and, finally, the conservation of the restaurant industry.

Long Reads, Personal Stories, Food and LifestyleFête ChinoiseFebruary 23, 2022Asian Representation, culture, Food, SustainabilityComment

Making Rice Dumplings at Home with Ann

Food brings back fond cultural memories for all of us, no matter what age we are living in! Renowned culinary instructor Ann shares with us a childhood favourite of hers — rice dumplings (in Taiwanese style). Not only delicious, this traditional staple is also simple to make. This recipe is from history that dates back centuries ago, and is now rooted in our modern culture through the home kitchens of millions around the world.
暖心的食物是記載歷史的秘訣。知名烹飪老師Ann 與我們分享她與丈夫兒時最愛的台灣棕子食譜，不僅易做，還帶回了美好的回憶。

Food and Lifestyle, Design DialogueGuest UserJune 1, 2021Food, Recipe, Chinese Food, taiwa, rice dumplings, Dragon Boat FestivalComment

POPO'S KITCHEN 婆婆廚房 : Shanghai Braised Pork Belly 祖傳紅燒肉

Join Billy as he cooks with his Po Po (Grandma) and shares their family recipes and personal stories of culture, this time, let’s sample their special braised pork belly!