On August 17th, 2025, I hosted my very first Food & History Walk! These walks are a initiative created for a variety of reasons listed below:
Intention
To introduce local perspectives, stories, and challenges to visitors of new places.
Invitations
- Three stories of East Chinatown residents and informers that introduce the past, present, and future of East Chinatown
- Using food to build on these stories; highlighting imported flavors to each story
- Creating opportunities to connect with each story, imploring on the impact on the community.
- Opening a window to explore additional stories in new places.
Desire
For visitors to see the neighborhood beyond its Chinese identity, and rather a place where people from all over gather and draw inspiration from its past & present into the future.
Experiences
What happened?
On this tour, we were able to visit a plethora of different sites, restaurants, and look at some of the community revitalization initiatives that have taken place since the 2010’s.
Restaurants
- Que Ling
- Issho Coffee
- Onyx Chocolates
Sites
- Dr. Sun Yat-sen Statue, East Chinatown
- Charlie’s Meats Original Site
- Hubbard Park
- Toronto Chinatown Archway (Chung Hwa Men)
- Murals of the Wonders of the World
- Chinatown Architecture
Stories
- The Pioneers of Chinatown: The move to Gerrard & Broadview
- Waves of Influence: Exploring the cultural changes in the Chinese Diaspora
- Immersion of Diaspora: How this generation of East Chinatown residents have melded this space into their own
- Grasping of an Identity: Suburban Chinatown to Now (story was not told)
Feedback
- Tour was great, particularly enjoyed the framing of each story from past, present & future
- Liked all of the historical backgrounders that aren’t evident in today’s East Chinatown
Reflection
- Reduce talking portions to engage with the audience with questions and pondering periods
- Be cognizant of the time and set time limits at each stop
- Food stops need to be scattered throughout the tour and not primarily focused at the later portions of the tour
- Dedicate more time to flesh out the characters of each story and ensure they are incorporated at each stop & location
- Reduce rambling, and ensure you are incorporating each food stop into specific stories along the tour
- Prepare photos of each reference to the past, or things you point out
- Be confident during the talk, no self-depreciation.
