When we first visited Vancouver's Chinatown, we were excited and intrigued to see a storefront that appeared to be an Italian deli. We tried to enter but it remained a mystery since the doors were closed and we never saw people enter or exit. Had we looked closer, we would have seen a sign indicating that you need to ring a doorbell. It wasn't until a friend of ours pointed that out to us and we tried again. Why the bell? The area can be a bit shady and unfortunately dangerous for storeowners.
After ringing the bell of Tosi & Co. and waiting for a few brief moments, we saw an adorable older man appear, wave at us, and buzz us in. I felt as though I stepped into one of my grandfathers garages back on the farm. Everything in his garage had meaning and its own place even if it looked a little out of sorts. Spread over 6000 sq. ft. and oozing with history, you will find a combination of food and antique items.
We were warmly welcomed and quickly struck up a conversation with the owner, Angelo Tosi. He told us his store is 101 years old and was passed down to him from his father, Peter Tosi. He went on to explain that a long time ago, Little Italy used to exist in the area and Chinatown only spanned one block on Pender Street. He reminisced about the past, telling us the area used to be full of Italian shops and businesses. His mother would sometimes sit in a chair outside the shop and converse with customers. Between 1930-1960 the Portuguese and Chinese arrived and bought most of the houses in the area. Many Italians rebuilt better homes and moved over to Commercial Drive. Today he tells us more Italian shops are located around Nanaimo Street on East Hastings. As Chinatown began to grow, he remembers it being extraordinarily beautiful, and recalls such things as people smoking water pipes amongst all of the fresh produce they were selling.
My grandfather was born in 1906 and I remember listening to stories about all of the changes he witnessed over time. People like him and Angelo have incredibly rich information and stories to share. Angelo started working with his father at the age of 5 and points out the cash register that sits amongst the goods can only ring up a maximum of $9.90. Back in those days, it was extremely rare to ever sell somebody that many groceries. People would normally walk out with 2-3 bags full of groceries for under $2.00. Items cost pennies. The occasional time that they would exceed $9.90 in sales, he would yell out Holy mackerel, $9.95! That breaks the cash register!
Angelo still caters to many of his loyal Italian customers and hopes to keep his store alive by passing it down in his family. A lot of his goods come directly from Italy, including Sagra olive oil and the delicious organic Parmesan cheese ($2.35/100g) that he imports from his cousin, north of Parma in Salsomaggiore. He continues to sell the same pasta his father sold decades ago why change it if you have a good thing?
When I ask Angelo what his favorite dishes are, he tells me you cant beat a good plate of pasta and offers a few pointers on how to prepare a simple dish with tomatoes, onion, and garlic. He advises to eat lots of vegetables and fruits and only one small plate of pasta. He says he used to eat two plates of pasta but when he cut back he lost 23 pounds. He enjoys eating polenta and risotto and was telling us how his wife will be preparing a dish that evening which included parsnips and rapini. Eat wholesome food and enjoy a glass of wine, he tells us.
So we ask, how have things changed? Angelo thinks that Vancouver is missing out on a lot of great Italian products but due to the Canadian Food Inspection requirements of having nutritional facts and languages printed on packages, many Italian producers are not willing to spend the additional money for packaging. The demand in our area wouldnt be great enough for it to make sense. Also, orders are now placed by Angelo on-line or by fax. The quality of some goods that producers offer have declined as it is more about making money nowadays. The mentality is what can you buy for cheap to show the best profit. We all have witnessed that. Angelo continues to service restaurants but stresses only on a cash basis. He smartly says that if you go into business, you should have your own capital to start it up.
Some things havent changed though. Angelo has kept the store the same way that his father arranged it and likes it so much he wont change a thing. He has pictures of his family members behind the counter.
As we waited to have our groceries packaged to dash home and make a pasta dish, the conversation shifts to the Internet and searching for stock quotes through various search engines like Google and Yahoo Finance. We were both impressed at Angelos knowledge of hard drives and Gigabytes, desktops and laptops. Aside from learning a bit of history and more about food, this smart businessman gives us a little bit of financial advice too, which is: never keep cash always convert it into something that will appreciate.
It was nice to see other customers ringing the bell as we chatted. Tosi & Co. is
located on 624 Main Street between Keefer and Georgia.
Click
here for more pictures. If you're in the area, ring the bell and pay Angelo a visit.
Tagged as: [
canada
chinatown
deli
italian
tosi
vancouver
]
Posted by Kimberley Slobodian on February 11, 2007
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