This weekend took us to an old familiar spot! Phoenix Inn Chinese Restaurant. Last nights experience wasn't anything to write home about, but the memories are!
Being from San Francisco I've enjoyed plenty of Chinese food over the years, so I have enjoyed the memories food always brings ... Some of the more eclectic places like Spices Restaurant just off of Clement Street in the Inner Richmond District, and So on Irving Street out in the Sunset District, have the memories of my youth. Sitting at Spices with my Uncle Jose and ordering the Spicy Beef with Flaming Hot Oil an both of us being in tears because of it. That started my love affair with peppers and heat! The times we went to So and enjoyed the So Fish, a lightly breaded white fish with a sweet and just slightly spicy sauce. That opened my eyes to the world of fish that I had closed off as a youth.
Yesterdays journey reminded me of my wife's Grandfather! About 11 months ago Grandpa died but in the 3 and 1/2 years I knew him I got to build up a reservoir of memories. I guess a lot of them start with Phoenix Inn Restaurant. The first time I met Grandpa was at Phoenix, I was dating my soon to be wife and she wanted me to have dinner with the family. Grandpa was a funny man, it took quite a bit to rock his boat. When I met him he was just over a hundred years old and showed no signs of stopping. He was interesting, when you looked at him he would look you in the eyes for a moment then he seemed to be looking past you but what he was doing was studying you with his peripheral vision.
Over the next few months dinner with Grandpa was a recurring thing. It was a date that I never wanted to miss. How often do you get to sit and have dinner with a centenarian? I mean here was a man that had come to the States before my own grandfather had even been born. After that perilous crossing (for a lone 16 year old) he spent time at Angel Island and started a new life with barely $40 in his pocket. Later in life he owned his own restaurant, brought his wife and son over from Hong Kong all the while supporting them from afar, he worked in the kitchens at CBS studios, he sent his son to college, and then even later in life he was part of the best memories of my wife's life!
You can understand why I wanted to get to really get to know him. The time finally came when I would get the chance. In early 2011 I quit my job and Grandpa needed someone to take him to the doctor and to go shopping. I volunteered. On our first trip Grandpa had the day planned out, we would go to his doctor visit, then to the Asian markets in Alhambra and the he would take to eat some lunch.
His doctor visit went well enough and I knew exactly where the Asian markets in Alhambra were. I took him there with pride. At first on our shopping trips he would be ahead of me the whole time, looking at fish, meat or produce, grabbing what he wanted, sometimes not happy with the quality or selection. Then it was time for lunch. As we sat inside Phoenix Inn it might have looked funny, and older Chinese man with a relatively young Caucasian man. From our monthly trips to the restaurant over the last few years the staff had gotten to know me and even they were surprised.
Grandpa ordered his usual lunch, some House Style Won Ton Soup. For him the soup and the won tons were easier to eat. I ordered the congee, Chinese style porridge, just slightly savory because it was made with chicken broth. And in this case with ground beef, ( that wasn't ground beef, actually steak that the cooks in the back ground to order with two cleavers) green onions, ginger, and just a taste of white pepper. The best part was when they brought out my porridge first, Grandpa just a bit surprised said "I didn't order that!"
Confused the waiter almost took it back. And I stepped in and told Grandpa it was mine. His shocked reaction, "YOU like that?"
To this day it gives me a chuckle, especially when I bring it to work for breakfast, and someone says "YOU like that?"
