Hong Kong family part of dining revolution in Canadian prairies’ heart, where cultural diversity inspires young restaurateurs
Maple-glazed, cherry-wood-smoked bacon fried rice with Chinese barbecue pork is just one of the inventive dishes created by chefs using local produce from Manitoba and Saskatchewan
A trip to Canada’s vast empty centre is an eye-opening culinary experience. “It’s one of Canada’s best kept secrets,” says Mandel Hitzer, owner of innovative Winnipeg diner deer + almond, of his hometown in the heart of the prairies. “We have an amazing community here, there is so much cultural diversity.”
And he isn’t exaggerating. Like many Canadian cities, Winnipeg (population 800,000) is very multicultural. It has big Filipino, Icelandic and Indigenous communities as well as significant Ukrainian, German, Chinese and French populations.
“As a young chef there’s a lot of inspiration to draw from,” says Hitzer.
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One of those inspired by the Canadian prairies’ diversity is Hong Kong-born Andy Yuen, who opened a restaurant with his wife, Rachel, in 2014 in the fast-changing Riversdale neighbourhood in Saskatoon, eight-and-a-half hours west of Winnipeg.
The area is home to a growing array of independent coffee shops, microbreweries and restaurants, but the Yuens' establishment, Odd Couple, is easily a standout.
Yuen landed in empty rural Saskatchewan from densely populated Hong Kong at the age of 15 with his parents, who had come to work in his uncle’s restaurant. Two decades later, his parents now work in the kitchen of the couple’s friendly restaurant.