Following a few days of business interruption to allow for the ownership transition, Wong’s Restaurant re-opened Friday with Allan and Betty Wong eager to serve the community while gearing up for the busiest day of the year – Mother’s Day.
Learning from the previous owners, Chuck and Cora Wong, the new owners have an idea of what to expect on Sunday – the challenge of filling so many orders, eat-in and take-out, that by the end of the day every member of the staff will be utterly exhausted and the pantry and coolers will be nearly empty. Chuck and Cora have made an offer to return from Saskatoon to lend a helping hand to meet the challenges posed by Mother’s Day.
Both Allan and Betty were familiar with Wong’s Café long before even contemplating an offer to purchase. Betty’s sister, Myra, is married to Chuck’s brother, Louis, and shortly after she immigrated to Canada, she went to work for Chuck and Cora at Wong’s Café in 1992. When Louis and Myra bought their own restaurant in Moosomin, she worked for them for many years. Shortly after marrying her first husband, the newlyweds purchased the Moosomin Motor Hotel. After tragedy struck in 2001 and her husband was killed in a motor-vehicle accident, she continued to run the hotel for a few years.
For Allan, he faced his major career change in 2004 when he emigrated from China. From having an office job for a shoe manufacturing company, his first job in Canada was beside Chuck Wong in the kitchen at Wong’s Café. In 2003, he married Betty and shortly afterwards, the hotel was sold and they purchased a restaurant in Moosomin. They ran the restaurant for 10 years, selling it earlier this year so that they could make a deal on the Canora business.
All of Wong’s Café customers will see very little change due to the ownership change, said Betty. Technically, the name will change to A&B Wong’s Restaurant Ltd., but everyone is welcome to continue calling it Wong’s Café.
Initially, there will be no change in the menu and the goal will be to maintain the standards established by Chuck and Cora – quality food, generous portions and friendly service, said Allan. As time goes on, customers will notice a few additions to the menu such as a special wonton soup that evolved out of Allan’s own recipe. Customers will likely be exposed to new items first at the buffet table.
Wong’s Restaurant will continue with a noon buffet from Tuesday to Friday, said Betty. The Sunday evening buffet will have a bigger selection than during weekdays.
In addition to Allan and Betty, also new to the Wong’s Restaurant kitchen staff will be Betty’s nephew, Gordon Liu (Betty’s family name) and Allan’s nephew, Michael Wong (Allan’s family name). Yuon Shun Mai, who has worked in the kitchen for Chuck Wong for almost nine years, will continue working in the kitchen.
Customers will also be seeing quite a bit of Allan’s son, Ming Wong, who attends the University of Regina.
Michelle Kosar, who worked as a waitress for Chuck and Cora, will continue as a waitress for Wong’s Restaurant.
Betty and Allan say they are happy to be back in Canora. “Nice town – Nice people.”
People from the Canora area are very friendly and have already been very welcoming, said Allan.
“We know a lot of people from when we lived here before and a lot of people know us,” said Betty.
