Award-winning Taste of Asia restaurant re-opens after October fire
In October of last year, Vancouver restaurant Taste of Asia was named by the Chinese Restaurant Association among the top 100 in the nation.
And then a fire gutted the kitchen, and the restaurant closed.
The Oct. 28 fire took the punch out of the prestigious award and forced the three-year-old family-run business to consider its options. With three main competitors near the buffet’s location at 2605 E. Fourth Plain Boulevard, and facing the fact that seven of 10 restaurants fail in the first three years, the accident threatened to sink the ship.
But they were armed with a top award, so they chose to rebuild.
Using more than $100,000 from insurance, and with the labor of more than 20 family members and friends, Taste of Asia re-opened its doors Feb. 7, sporting new décor as well as a new sign announcing the October award, and still serving their buffet mix of Chinese, Thai and sushi, along with a large salad bar and desserts.
Assistant manager and company family member Xien Zhen greeted customers at the door, many of them regulars who had waited for this day.
"We were already a very busy restaurant (before the award)," he said, "so we were concerned about how the award would affect our daily traffic."
Zhen said before the fire, they planned to hire an extra kitchen helper and one more server to handle the expected volume.
New day, new digs
The Zhen family took the opportunity to revamp the look of the restaurant’s two main dining rooms, moving from the old framed travel posters from China, to blond wood walls and a display of Chinese art, hand picked by the family. Calligraphy scrolls and wooden plates painted with traditional Chinese symbols now grace the walls.
"We did the (west) room in older Chinese art and chose newer pieces for this room," said Zhen.
What luck
Just two months before the fire Zhen had returned home from service as a Military Policeman in the Marine Corps after severely injuring his leg in an accident.
"To be honest with you, running a restaurant is more stressful than being in the Marines," he said. "There are so many things to do between serving customers, ordering ingredients, hiring and bookkeeping, I sometimes wish I could re-enlist."
Still, he at times gets to keep company with his comrades. Taste of Asia also runs a catering business, serving the Marine and Naval Reserve stations on Swan Island in Portland, and the restaurant also serves Christmas dinner to the sailors and Marines stationed there.
Amid the hectic pace of running a newly remodeled, award-winning restaurant, the former Marine still finds time to laugh.
"When I went to the Staples Center in L.A. to receive the award for the restaurant, I stood in a long line for more than an hour," he explains, "and I couldn’t believe so many people were going to the Chinese Restaurant Association award ceremony, until I realized I was in line for World Wrestling Smack-down."
