Mr. Eddie was the king of chinese restaurants back in the 1970's. He had a bunch of them as clients. What would happen is that he got a couple and then the waiters or cooks would get together and open their own joint. Or take over the lease of somebody who failed in some spot.
When we walked in to work they would all run around and screech "Mr. Eddie kuài jì se" which means accountant in Chinese. We would come in between lunch and dinner. I worked with Eddie during the summer off from school. I would help him write up the general ledger and do the bank reconciliations and do the payroll cards. And we would always get a free lunch. All of the workers would sit at a big table and they would eat a meal family style. But it was always some disgusting stuff with fish heads or something. I choked it down a few times but I couldn't really take it. So the owners started taking pity on me and give me a plate of chop suey or some beef and broccoli. Sometimes I would get there before Eddie and do all the work and he would come later and check it. His wife had moved to Florida then so he had no reason to go home. So he would hang around and keep me late. So we would have dinner too. And I would always get some of that great Chinese beer. Tsingtao. They would always give to me for free. No matter how many I had. And since Eddie would want company it could be five or six beers. I can still taste them.
Later I took over the accounts and would do all the work for them. What we would do is help them get relatives into the country by writing letters to the Chinese Consul to help them to get into the country so they were always very grateful. So they wouldn't even wait for the owner to bring it out. When I would be out bouncing with my buddies we would pile in to eat. And guess what? They would always give us the beer for free! So of course they always wanted to eat there. But I didn't abuse it. I just loved my Tsingtao! So much so that when I would come in and the waiters would all scurry around and shout: "Tsingtao Mr. Jimmy" is here get the beers.
8 comments:
Every Chinese restaurant I've ever been in either had this horrible red lacquer look or had zero, I mean absolutely no interior decoration. And there's nothing about a Chinese restaurant's appearance that gives a clue to the quality of the food. But they all used to have those little black and white hexagonal tiled floors. That was nice. I guess it's a culture of you came for the food here's the food, no waste money for decoration on you, long nosed people.
For years, I mean years, my family went to the same Chinese restaurant on Pitkin Avenue. This was before "the great change." It was one of those 2nd floor joints, though I shouldn't call it a joint, by Chinese restaurant standards it was pretty ample. Anyhow, we'd always have the same meal: Won Ton soup; egg rolls; spare ribs; then for the main course both Moo Goo Gai Pan and Lobster (I can't remember what they called it, maybe Lobster Cantonese, but it was lobster in a gloppy white sauce; and dessert was always chocolate or vanilla ice cream. About a million Jewish families did the same and by doing so - it was practically a Sunday ritual - kept the wolf from the Chink door for decades.
Hey, I left out fortune cookies. Who could forget fortune cookies with their strange hint of oranges taste? God knows what those things were made of, closest thing to plastic in the food world.
I pinched an amazing morning/weekend loaf.
It slid out of my pucker like a small child flying down a water slide in the summer.
It splashed ever so delicately into the bowl and swam around looking for a place to call home.
I examined its details. Lines, edges, contours, folds, a mushroom, whipped like a garlic potato at the edges. My head tilted while examining it. My emotions were filled with awe. I was pleased.
loaf pinched.
thank you.
Clouds.
Why is that that when guys talk about beer, they never mention Chinese or Japanese? Both countries produce good beers, but you will never be offered one or see a 6 pack in someones home refrig.
Are we just racist?
There is also a great Thai beer called Singha Beer. It is a very tasty lager just perfect for spicy foods. Just like Tsing Tao.
Italy has a great lager as well called Peroni which is perfect for a spicy meal as it is cool and refreshng and does not conflict with the tastes of the food.
That is what these lagers do and it makes sense that you would only order them in the paticular ethnic joint you might be in at the time.
I like Singha. I lived in Thailand for six months. I understand that Tsing Tao is actually pronounced 'Ching Dao'. I read that the Tsing Tao spelling was created by French Missionaries.
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