Winnie Chen's next restaurant foray brings her even closer to her roots, and she hopes it can add to the positive momentum of change in Edmonton's Chinatown.
Boa and Hare, which Chen co-owns with her brother William and business partner Wilson Wong, will open in mid-December in Pacific Mall at 9700 105 Avenue NW.
Chen has received several accolades over the past two years as the head chef of Fu's Repair Shop. William Chen and Wong, meanwhile, took over Chinatown business Van Loc last year in an effort to help revitalize the neighbourhood.
The trio aspires for Boa and Hare to build on Van Loc's success in bringing younger clientele to the area.
"Cool places do exist in Chinatown," said Winnie Chen. "We want people to say, 'We want to go there and we have to go to Chinatown to go there.'"
Boa and Hare is named after William and Wilson's respective Chinese zodiac signs. "'Boa and Hare and Goat' doesn't have quite the ring to it," laughed Chen about why her zodiac animal was left out.
The concept behind Boa and Hare is a dual café and bar. "It's a day-to-night kind of thing," said Chen. "As Wilson likes to describe it, a place where you can start your day, and a place where you end your night." When Boa and Hare opens, it will launch with daily café hours of 9am to 3pm and cocktail hours of 5 to 11pm, Wednesday to Sunday.
Chen has spent a lot of time in the Chinatown area, having grown up nearby in McCauley, near the Italian Centre. She recalls riding her bike to Chinatown often and enjoying dim sum with her family at the banquet restaurant in Pacific Mall as a child.
"One of my fondest memories of being in the mall was when we were done having dim sum, we got to go buy candy at one of the stores," said Chen. "Now, when people have a family dinner at Dynasty, they can pop downstairs and have a cocktail – the equivalent of sneaking out to buy some candy as an adult. That's what is most exciting to me about this location and project. We want to breathe more life into this mall."
Those family connections will also translate into other aspects of Boa and Hare. While Chen is intensely involved in shaping the food and drink menu, the day-to-day execution will be led by chef Tommy Chung, her uncle.
"I'm really excited for my uncle to shine," said Chen. "[Chung] and my dad were head chefs of a restaurant in Chinatown more than 10 years ago. Some of my favourite dishes from my parents' restaurant will make a comeback. Back then I remember those dishes were some of my favourite things I ever ate. They get a second chance to be featured again. I don't think people gave it that chance. It was too ahead of its time."
Boa and Hare is expected to open in mid-December in Pacific Mall. From left to right: Wilson Wong, Winnie Chen, and William Chen. (Sharon Yeo)
For example, Boa and Hare will offer a Chinese-style jia jiang mian. Chen said in Edmonton, some restaurants serve a Korean version. By comparison, the Chinese dish is more savoury and less sweet, served with a meatier sauce, and has noodles that are thicker and chewier. "I'm really excited to showcase that style of noodle that people may not be familiar with," said Chen.
Chung trained as a chef in Japan, and some of the dishes will play up his culinary background, but also include Chen's own training in a wide variety of cuisines. "A lot of people think because I'm Chinese that my food defaults to Chinese, and I'm trying to break out of that. Fu's is my first foray into Chinese food," said Chen. "My background in food is French, Italian, and steakhouses. We'll have a beef tataki but garnished with ginger granita, so Italian-inspired. And a korokke, a Japanese-style potato croquette. It will marry Japanese flavours with a risotto and gruyere arancini. It will be very different from anything you'd find in the city."
On the drinks side, the restaurant will have a robust whisky selection because of William's interest in that spirit, and unlike Fu's, Boa and Hare will serve wine. For cocktails, Chen has chosen to primarily utilize Chinese ingredients like baijiu and glutinous rice, distinguishing the drinks from Fu's more pan-Asian approach.
As Chen intended, Boa and Hare will be unlike anything currently in Chinatown. "When I was thinking about writing the menu for this place, I didn't want to overshadow other places in Chinatown," said Chen. "This is in addition to other places in Chinatown."
Ultimately, she hopes that Boa and Hare will encourage more diners to give the neighbourhood a chance. "The coffee is great, the food is going to be really good," said Chen. "Everything that you are looking for in a great spot to hang out and eat, it's this place. The added bonus of being a part of something that we're trying to do, Chinatown revitalization, that is really exciting. All the reasons that you might not want to come, to me it doesn't outweigh the reasons that you should come. If this were a business somewhere else, there's absolutely no reason not to come. By coming, you have the potential to help us be a catalyst for the neighbourhood."