EATING OUR FEELINGS
David Schwartz: Huá Dàn Xiā Rén by COREY MINTZ
FOR A COUPLE, is there a more loaded question than What’s for dinner? When my wife texts this question at 2 p.m., I know she’s deciding whether or not to have cookies at the office. If I tell her I’m making one of her favourites, I might get a heart emoji response, perhaps even a “My hero!” A less descriptive “Yum,” or the follow up “Do we have salsa?” means that my dinner planning has not satisfied her emotional needs in that moment. For Toronto restaurateur David Schwartz and his wife Lee-Tal Hatuka, the an- swer of what’s for dinner is almost always Chinese. The couple, recently married and expecting a baby, live in downtown’s Chinatown. Two of the three restau- rants where Schwartz is co-owner and executive chef (MIMI Chinese, Sunnys Chinese) are dedicated to the regional specialties of Chinese cooking, which has so far been the central focus of his career. (The third, the recently opened Lin-
ny’s, is inspired by the deli-style food he grew up with, and showcases high-end takes on chopped liver and pastrami.) Schwartz is following a long tradition of Jews in love with Chinese food. Joshua Eli Plaut, who serves as rabbi of Metropolitan Synagogue in New York, wrote a book— A Kosher Christmas —which (as you might expect from the title) explores this affinity. He dates it back to the turn of
Culture mashup The long history of Jewish inter- est in Chinese food takes com- forting shape in these deceptive- ly simple eggs.
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FOOD/PROP STYLING/PHOTOGRAPHY MARISA CURATOLO
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