Chefs teaming up to bring one of Toronto's most iconic lost restaurants back to life
Two Toronto chefs are joining forces to bring one of the city's most legendary now-defunct restaurants back to life for one night only.
Spend enough time with anyone who lived in Toronto during the '70s, '80s and '90s, and eventually the question "remember Ginsberg & Wong?" is bound to come up.
For my part, being born in 1999 and all, I never got the chance to experience the legendary Jewish and Chinese proto-fusion restaurant that held court at Village by the Grange for years before quietly closing down in the '90s, but its legend has always loomed large.
A perhaps unlikely combination of cuisines at the time, Ginsberg and Wong combined all the staples of a Jewish deli with Chinese classics. If one person was in the mood for a Reuben sandwich and another wanted Szechuan chicken, everybody was happy.
Frankly, it sounds about as close to a utopia as you could possibly get.
While many of the restaurant's print and radio ads from its heyday, as you may be able to imagine, haven't aged terribly well, the notion of combining Chinese and Jewish cuisines actually has. Heck, David Schwartz, the chef behind two of the city's best-known Chinese restaurants, just opened a deli of his own.
Chefs Anthony Rose (Fat Pasha) and Trevor Lui (founder of now-defunct Kanpai Snack Bar) seem to feel the same way, because, later this month, they're teaming up for a special one-night-only event where they'll be bringing Ginsberg and Wong back to life.
Taking place at Fat Pasha on May 27, "Ginsberg & Wong – a Dinner of Memories" will feature a $129 per person set menu that features some of what I can only glean were the restaurant's greatest hits, including Pastrami Egg Rolls and Matzoh Ball Dumpling Soup.
You can also get your hands on some more contemporary-seeming offerings, like Woks N Lox, a salmon poke dip served with wok-fried wonton chips and a Bao Sando Platter with Char Siu chicken smash patties and KFC cauliflower, that still pay homage to the G&W spirit, while bringing the old-school spot into the 21st century.
Whether you grew up on Ginsberg and Wong or, like me, have always dreamt of learning what the hype is all about, you can reserve your spot online now via OpenTable.
