The trendification of Chinatown: good news or bad for the city’s celebrated “ethnic buffet”?
Last week, the New York Times published a glowing tribute to Toronto and its ethnically diverse food scene. The first-person travelogue, titled “Sampling Toronto’s ethnic buffet,” described a rambling food tour through some of the city’s most prominent cultural enclaves. Author Francine Prose reminisced about snacking on dim sum at Lai Wah Heen, lamb kebabs at Lahore Tikka House and soon tofu at Tofu Village. She posited that Toronto has succeeded where dozens of American cities, including New York, have failed: it’s managed to find the ideal sweet spot between cultural assimilation and discord. “[T]he city succeeds at simultaneously dissolving the borders between disparate cultures,” she wrote, “and preserving what’s best and most valuable about each one.”
The story comes at an interesting time for Toronto, and particularly for Chinatown, the neighbourhood to which Prose devotes the majority of her 2,061 words. Chinatown is one of the last super-concentrated cultural zones in downtown Toronto. While other neighbourhoods’ names have become more titular than descriptive—Little Italy harbours few Italian bakeries, for instance, and Little Portugal’s churrascarias have been outnumbered by cocktail bars for years—Chinatown is the exception. It’s held out, more or less, against the assimilating forces that might have turned its dim sum halls into gourmet grocery stores.
That could all be changing, though. This spring, the team behind 416 Snack Bar is opening People’s Eatery, a multi-floor restaurant next door to Chinatown noodle shop Swatow. The focus of the menu will be Chinese and Jewish cuisine, as whimsically interpreted by former Acadia chef Dustin Gallagher. Around the same time, the brothers behind the Banh Mi Boys chain will be launching Lucky Red, a trendy Chinese bao joint next door to their parents’ traditional Vietnamese sub shop. As The Grid’s David Sax recently pointed out, these projects promise to bring new culinary variation to a neighbourhood whose restaurants, despite having inspired some of the city’s most resilient dining trends, have generally prized tradition over innovation.
Words like “innovation,” of course, exist in tension with other words—like “dilution” and, in some cases perhaps, “appropriation.” In a recent interview, Anthony Bourdain mused aloud about the ethical implications of chefs hijacking foreign recipes and cuisines. “Is it okay,” he wondered, “for a white guy to cook traditional northern Thai food and make money off it?”
The more basic fear is that the influx of trendy, expensive restaurants will eventually wash away the grit and authenticity that make Chinatown feel like an exciting place to visit and eat. This time, perhaps, we’ll overshoot the cultural mark the New York Times gives us credit for landing on.
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/chinatown-gentrification-new-restaurants/&title=The trendification of Chinatown: good news or bad for the city’s celebrated “ethnic buffet”?&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/3940155899_5e37be0c9f_o-624x395.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_262769" align="aligncenter" width="656"] (Image: David/dbking)[/caption]
Last week, the New York Times published a glowing tribute to Toronto and its ethnically diverse food scene. The first-person travelogue, titled “Sampling Toronto’s ethnic buffet,” described a rambling food tour through some of the city’s most prominent cultural enclaves. Author Francine Prose reminisced about snacking on dim sum at Lai Wah Heen, lamb kebabs at Lahore Tikka House and soon tofu at Tofu Village. She posited that Toronto has succeeded where dozens of American cities, including New York, have failed: it's managed to find the ideal sweet spot between cultural assimilation and discord. “[T]he city succeeds at simultaneously dissolving the borders between disparate cultures,” she wrote, “and preserving what’s best and most valuable about each one.”
The story comes at an interesting time for Toronto, and particularly for Chinatown, the neighbourhood to which Prose devotes the majority of her 2,061 words. Chinatown is one of the last super-concentrated cultural zones in downtown Toronto. While other neighbourhoods’ names have become more titular than descriptive—Little Italy harbours few Italian bakeries, for instance, and Little Portugal’s churrascarias have been outnumbered by cocktail bars for years—Chinatown is the exception. It’s held out, more or less, against the assimilating forces that might have turned its dim sum halls into gourmet grocery stores.
That could all be changing, though. This spring, the team behind 416 Snack Bar is opening People’s Eatery, a multi-floor restaurant next door to Chinatown noodle shop Swatow. The focus of the menu will be Chinese and Jewish cuisine, as whimsically interpreted by former Acadia chef Dustin Gallagher. Around the same time, the brothers behind the Banh Mi Boys chain will be launching Lucky Red, a trendy Chinese bao joint next door to their parents' traditional Vietnamese sub shop. As The Grid’s David Sax recently pointed out, these projects promise to bring new culinary variation to a neighbourhood whose restaurants, despite having inspired some of the city’s most resilient dining trends, have generally prized tradition over innovation.
Words like "innovation," of course, exist in tension with other words—like "dilution" and, in some cases perhaps, "appropriation." In a recent interview, Anthony Bourdain mused aloud about the ethical implications of chefs hijacking foreign recipes and cuisines. "Is it okay," he wondered, "for a white guy to cook traditional northern Thai food and make money off it?"
The more basic fear is that the influx of trendy, expensive restaurants will eventually wash away the grit and authenticity that make Chinatown feel like an exciting place to visit and eat. This time, perhaps, we’ll overshoot the cultural mark the New York Times gives us credit for landing on.){kind=link}
Cultures evolve, do they not? I don’t have a problem with this since people who aren’t Anglo shouldn’t be considered museum exhibits. If cultures in the “old country” aren’t what they were, say, 10 years ago, we shouldn’t expect them to be the same in their adopted homeland (yes, I realize that some immigrants are stuck in a time warp, but maybe they need to get out more or you know, invest in a few DVDs to see what things are like back “home.”) My parents are from Hong Kong and I was born here. Because they came to the country as adults and I was raised here, my exposure to culture and cultures is a bit different from theirs. I’m still of Chinese descent, however. But my outlook is more of a mix of Anglo and Chinese – more so than theirs (despite having been in Canada since the 1970s). I’d like to see a mix of everything here. That’s what Toronto is about.
:( This article is horrible. Caroline, perhaps you should research the restaurants that have existed in Chinatown and then rewrite the article. I actually do not believe you have ever set foot in this area because of what you wrote. Really dissappointed by your lack of research and your absolute disregard for history. I lived in this area, shopped in this area, ate in this area for over 25 years…..
Intern?
For an interesting look at Toronto’s various Chinatowns and how they have evolved over the years, check out:
http://livingtorontojournal.wordpress.com/torontos-chinatowns-shop-eat-read-heal-watch/
Bourdain is changing his stance, I suppose. I remember when he said it was racist to think only people from a culture could cook its food (I.e. all his cooks at les Halles were Mexican). Preserving heritage vs. being a true reflection of the times is always an issue. No one likes change. But trying to maintain the city as a museum isn’t authentic either.
Have you written a piece on the subject? Share, please!
“Chinatown” at Spadina and Dundas is only the latest version of “The Ward” which was home to immigrants of all nations throughout most of Toronto’s history. Even “Chinatown” itself has evolved with the arrival of large numbers of Vietnamese and ethnic Chinese groups from South East Asia, as well as larger numbers of Chinese people from central and northern China.
This arrival of gourmet food is just the latest in a long line of changes and reflect on new generations of Chinese Canadians who are adapting their traditions and Canadian tastes.
Another example of this is the explosion in demand for “halal” western foods and “Hakka Chinese” restaurants throughout Toronto and Mississauga. Young people want to try new things that reflect their tastes.
As for the “grit and authenticity” of Chinatown…that’s just dumb thinking. I don’t go to Chinatown because it offers “grit and authenticity” and I think anyone who does is thinking strangely.