‘IT’S BEEN AN HONOUR’
Landmark L’Orchidée de Chine closing
Those Montrealers of a certain age still fondly recall Ruby Foo’s, a classic Chinese restaurant, one of the go-to city spots of its epoch, located not in the heart of Chinatown or even downtown, but on a not terribly exotic stretch of Décarie Blvd., not far from other popular eateries of the day like Miss Montreal and Piazza Tomasso. Though the uber-posh Ruby Foo’s has been closed for 34 years, its faithful diners continued to fantasize and rhapsodize about, among other delights, its … mmm … famed dry garlic spareribs. George Lau could feel their pain and hunger. So the former waiter-turned-restaurateur replicated the Ruby Foo’s spareribs when he opened Le Chrysanthème downtown in 1984. And so began the start of a Chinese restaurant mini-empire, created by Lau and his sister Eva. In their heyday, the Laus ran five restaurants: four Le Chrysanthèmes, the downtown location, one in St-Sauveur and two in Florida; and their landmark L’Orchidée de Chine, on Peel St. The four Le Chrysanthèmes are gone, but L’Orchidée has been going strong for nearly 32 years. It has been the destination Chinese resto for captains of industry, politicians and luminaries from the world of culture as well as regular folk. And not just for its mouth-watering signature Szechuan shrimp, sliced chicken with pepper and crispy spinach, Singapore noodle dishes and, yes, spareribs, but also for the fact that the place felt like home with the ever-gracious Laus greeting and treating customers like family. So it will come with much sorrow to longtime customers that the Laus will be calling it a career and closing L’Orchidée after Christmas. Simply put, they want to move on. George, 71, has been in the restaurant trade for more than 40 years, beginning as a waiter at Elysée Mandarin downtown. Eva, 64, has been in the business almost as long. L’Orchidée is open every evening, and it serves lunch as well as dinner on weekdays. Consequently, the Laus had been putting in 70- to 80-hour weeks for many years. George would now like to spend time travelling with his wife while Eva, who never married, wishes to pursue her work as a clay-jewelry artist and do volunteer hospital work. The Laus have also been players on the local philanthropy front. They have been forever donating their food and time for Taste of the Nations and Jewish General Hospital and breast-cancer fundraisers, among other events. “We’re just tired,” George says. “Running five restaurants was a lot of work. There was a lot of running around, between the restaurants here and in Florida. “My two kids (living in Hong Kong) are not interested in taking over the business. So we decided the time had come to close it down and try to enjoy a little retirement while we still have our health.” “We’re not that young anymore, but we’re still at an age where we can devote time to other interests. In my case, it’s concentrating on my clay jewelry and volunteer work,” Eva says. “All good things must come to an end, but it won’t be easy leaving behind all the wonderful people we’ve met over the years. It has been such an honour to serve them.” Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that they won’t miss shmoozing with regulars. Among those regulars were Pierre and Justin Trudeau. Celebs like Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman and the late Marlon Brando and Roger Moore flocked there. And Hugh Jackman got takeout when he shot a film here a few years back. “So many of our longtime customers were really like family to us,” adds the Hong Kong-born George, who, like Eva, moved here in the mid-’70s. “Even though so many of them moved away from the city, Montreal has always been one of the best cities in the world for us.” George insists there’s been no secret to their success: “It has always been about quality. You don’t last all these years in the restaurant business, here or anywhere else, without that ingredient.” Montreal Gazette fine-dining critic Lesley Chesterman has long sung its praises. “L’Orchidée is an iconic Montreal restaurant,” Chesterman notes. “The upscale Szechuan cuisine of L’Orchidée is unique to Montreal. You won’t find anything like it anywhere else in the country. It was my family’s go-to restaurant for birthdays. It will be so much missed by so many.”