L’Orchidée de Chine celebrates 30 years
George Lau and Eva Lau have kept the upscale Szechuan restaurant relevant
It’s an especially stormy night in downtown Montreal. The streets are practically empty, yet both the upstairs and downstairs dining rooms at L’Orchidée de Chine are full.
Having dined here often, I recognize the dishes around me: glistening Szechuan shrimp, cigar-thin spring rolls, luscious peanut dumplings and moist chicken filets paired with crispy spinach. I’m thinking most everyone has ordered the General Tao’s chicken, which is the top-selling dish and the best rendition of this North American/Chinese classic I’ve ever had the pleasure to devour.
Though the decor now looks a bit worn, pristine white tablecloths still cover the tables. I recognize the maître d’ from previous meals here, as well as a few waiters. There’s a familiarity to this restaurant that gives me, as well as many Montrealers I’m sure, comfort.
Open 30 years, L’Orchidée remains a favourite not because it’s the most cutting edge place in town, but because the dishes I tasted here are the same that first seduced me; their heat, soigné presentation, tastes and textures have been enjoyed by Montrealers since upscale Szechuan cuisine reinvigorated the Chinese restaurant scene in the ’80s. Sushi may be more stylish, and bistros are drawing in the crowds, but L’Orchidée remains a Montreal classic on a scene that tends to shed its older restaurants.
Returning for a meal at this downtown institution is always a treat. I think Montreal radio personality and longtime L’Orchidée customer Aaron Rand captured their secret to success when he said: “What I like about L’Orchidée is the consistency. That’s always been a big deal for me. If I like something on the menu and I want to have it again and again, I want it to taste the same way it did when I first enjoyed it, and that’s something I think they’ve managed to do extremely well. It’s kind of like the Moishes of Chinese restaurants.”
I sat down with owner George Lau, 69, and his sister and comanager Eva Lau, 62, to ask them about that consistency, as well as how they have managed to keep their restaurant relevant for three decades on the everchanging and sometimes fickle Montreal landscape.
MG: Set the scene for the opening of L’Orchidée de Chine in the heyday of the city’s Szechuan restaurants. George Lau: I had been working at the Elysée Mandarin on MacKay Street in the ’80s, and at the time, the Piment Rouge had opened up on Metcalfe Street (in 1981) as well as the Abacus, which was the first Szechuan restaurant in Montreal. My first restaurant was Le Chrysanthème which I opened on Crescent Street in 1984.
A year and a half later, I had paid off my debts and this building on Peel became available. I gutted everything and put $1.5 million into this restaurant, a lot of money back then. In China, there are flowers known as the “Noble Ones” that are the plum blossom, the orchid, the chrysanthemum and the bamboo. We wanted a more elegant restaurant so we chose the orchid as the flower to represent it.
At my height, I had five restaurants: Le Chrysanthème downtown, one in St-Sauveur, two in Florida, (South Beach and FortLauderdale) and L’Orchidée. Over the years, I’ve hired 10 chefs from Hong Kong to work in my restaurants, and three are still with me. The others all eventually opened their own restaurants. Eva Lau: It was a glorious time in the ’80s at Le Chrysanthème. It was like, “boom!” By Wednesday night each week we were fully booked. And we had great customers — business people, celebrities, all the prime ministers, especially Trudeau, who was a regular customer. Bourassa as well. Here at L’Orchidée, we’ve had stars like Marlon Brando, Roger Moore, Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Johnny Hallyday and recently Hugh Jackman, who came and waited at the door for takeout.
MG: Has your goal always been to offer consistency over innovation? GL: We have always had daily specials, but people really do come here for the classic dishes like General Tao chicken, chicken with crispy spinach, sesame beef. We couldn’t take them off the menu. And as for consistency, the same chefs who started making those dishes 30 years ago in our kitchen are the ones making them today. The dishes taste the same because they are the same.
MG: The diehard foodies often knock restaurants like yours for lack of authenticity. Some North American Chinese restaurants even offer a separate menu for Chinese customers. What’s your take on this? GL: If we served a dish like the dumplings in peanut sauce the authentic Szechuan way, in an oily sauce filled with chilies, our customers couldn’t take it. But I’d say two-thirds of our dishes are authentic Szechuan, and for the past two years we’ve seen more and more Chinese customers. EL: First of all, there is no separate menu, but we will inform the kitchen if certain dishes are for Chinese customers. But anyone can request dishes be spicier. In general, though, our target market is Montrealers. In Chinese cuisine, the fish is presented with the head and tail, shrimp are served in their shells, and chicken dishes would be made with dark meat, which is tastier. But here we have to serve the fish in filets, shell the shrimp and use white breast meat in our chicken dishes.
MG: What do you think of the Chinese restaurant scene today? GL: Chinatown is finished. There is no parking and it’s tough to run a restaurant there, where most of the customers are tourists. The Chinese community has moved out to Brossard and the South Shore. And as for Chinese immigrants, most go to Vancouver or Toronto.
MG: But would you like to see more upscale Chinese restaurants with people using quality ingredients and trying out new dishes? EL: Yes, of course. We don’t mind the idea of competition. But I don’t see a bright future for anyone opening a restaurant downtown. Our customers are complaining about how hard it is to come here for dinner. Tourism is picking up because of the exchange rate and many of the surrounding hotel concierges send customers here, but there’s not even much competition downtown anymore. The office building next door is half empty and many companies are moving their offices further south into the high-tech areas. People are giving up on downtown.
MG: How is today’s clientele different from that in the early days? EL: Our big problem is aging. Our customer base is getting older and the younger generation is eating sushi. Those who came here in their 40s are now in their 70s. People who once came in with glamorous women are now coming in with walkers or wheelchairs. Or dying. I don’t look at the obituaries anymore. Before, everyone wanted to sit upstairs, but now they sit on the main floor because they can’t climb the stairs. Today, we’re onto our third generation of customers. And many of our customers have left town, moving to New York or Toronto. A lot of the money is leaving Montreal.
MG: How would you describe your 30 years running L’Orchidée? GL: I still enjoy it, especially sharing ideas with the chef. I’m happy. EL: I feel very grateful, very fortunate. What an opportunity it has been to meet all these people. I learned a lot working here and we make a great team, me and my brother — who so many people over the years assumed was my husband, which is probably why I’m still single today.
We cover each other. My brother built this restaurant, but with him it’s black and white. He has a temper. I soften things, settle all the arguments.
MG: What are your plans for the future? GL: I’m slowing down now, semiretired. I only come in at night when we’re very busy. EL: I’m here six days a week and I’m honoured to still be in this restaurant that helped me become who I am today. If I didn’t have this place to come to, I’d be in my pyjamas all day, every day. But I have a responsibility to come here, looking my best, representing the restaurant.