How 2 like-minded chefs are celebrating Chinese diasporic gastronomy in Montreal

“I always feel eating food is so fulfilling, so comforting and I feel it’s a common language,” Yu explains. “A table is always fixed, but what we eat always changes, and people change, move. I wish to create a platform, or a community, where people can enjoy food and socialise without boundaries.”

Although Yu and Lou were born and raised in China, their aim is not to present traditional Chinese cooking. Instead, they explore culinary influences from regions where Chinese people have migrated, using local ingredients and cooking techniques.

Previous pop-up menus have featured dishes such as deep-fried chicken with sai oua (a punchy Thai sausage), jasmine rice wine ice cream with sticky and crispy rice, spring onion croissants, and pandan mooncakes.

How burnout led to cooking

Before graduating with a degree in business English from Heilongjiang University in Harbin in 2018, Yu was recruited as a junior consultant by an IT company. He was quickly plunged into a routine of long working hours.