2020—I can see clearly, now…as I look back at The Great Food Search 2019. Over thirty-five different places where I’ve eaten over the year. Which were the best? My top five?
I’ve written about this place, before: twice in articles on places where I eat during the Fresno Rogue Festival, once as a special mention in a piece on ice cream places.
Thanksgiving Day is a particularly big holiday in North America, especially for Canadians and Americans. It’s a special and festive time that brings families together, reminding them to be thankful, giving perspective and encouraging thoughtfulness in life. It’s so important that folks in foreign lands will rush back to be with their families for this holiday season.
Menus are important to restaurants and customers. They tell you what to expect. They are the advertisements of coming attractions for your plate. But…are they necessary?
Imagine walking into a spacious room where delectable dishes are laid before you, fresh and hot, ready for your repast. That is the lure of the buffet, and one has recently opened in Sanger.
Restaurants are risky businesses. They cost a lot to start, it’s hard to keep them going, and they can disappear overnight.
For decades in Sanger, Tea Garden was “that Chinese restaurant on 10th Street.” It’s gone. In its place at 1335 10th Street is Sun China. Gone are the boxing pictures of Muhammed Ali in the ring.
Before we started traveling, we often went out to eat Chinese food. Even in Europe, we usually visited Chinese restaurants. We liked Indian and Thai dishes, too. Now we were in Asia, and face-to-face with the real thing. Foods in restaurants are altered to appeal to local tastes and often the real thing is quite different.
I received an email from our editor: “Sending a reminder that your column is due next weekend–any chance of something springy feeling?”
Springy?
Considering that I’d just spent more than a week tromping through the Tower District, seeing 31 Rogue shows and writing reviews, I couldn’t think of…
As part of my work for the library, I visit several of the communities on the east side of the Valley, so I look for places to eat, because eating is one of my hobbies (I do it frequently). One restaurant kept coming up on lists of places to try: OC’s China Garden. A Chinese restaurant in Orange Cove? It seemed ridiculous. Then…I tried it.
This year I will have the good fortune of being with my family around Chinese New Year, which is celebrated for up to two weeks after the lunar New Year. Naturally, a whole lot of food is involved with this. Traditionally, the big New Year’s dinner has to happen on the eve of the New Year. I will miss this part with my family, but my mother will send me pictures of the family dinner, I’m sure. There will be plentiful dishes of dumplings, rice, noodles, meats, seafood, tofu, and vegetables, making sure to have food left over to signify abundance in the coming year. With a small circle of friends that represent family to me in New York, I have come up with a way to maximize the food, friends, and family.
When people find out that I'm originally from San Jose, California, there are typically a few responses that I get. "What are you doing out here?" "Why would you leave the beautiful weather?" and often times a rendition of, "Do you know the way to San Jose?” followed by, “Are you even old enough to know that song?" These are all legitimate questions, I suppose.
