Unity, By Way of Chinatown
Editor’s Note: When our friend Jim Solomon, former chef/owner of the dearly departed Fireplace restaurant in Brookline’s Washington Square, reached out late last summer with an op-ed in support of Chinatown and its restaurants, we knew we wanted to publish it. Jacqueline Church’s story, Preserving Chinatown: A Neighborhood in the Crosshairs, was already in the works for our most recent Winter 2021 issue, and Jim’s piece seemed a perfect online accompaniment—a call to action to support the neighborhood, reject xenophobia and eat a lot of delicious food in the process.
As we look towards Chinese New Year and the one-year mark of COVID’s onset in the US, we hope you’ll do what you can to support local Chinese restaurants in your neighborhood and in Chinatown. {This piece was written prior to the events of January 6th, 2021.}
A new year, and a total reset has never been more in order. Between a rancorous election and the cultural polarization wrought by COVID-19, unity is both an urgent need and a tall order.
My modest proposal? Let food, both a common need and a communal pursuit, sit in service to the herculean task of bridging our divide.
To take the idea one step further: Let’s emerge from the human and economic destruction of a virus that originated in China by spending our dining dollars—both via takeout for the moment and, with a vaccine, on those first, glorious indoor restaurant outings—in Chinatown. Unfortunately, due to race-driven rhetoric and unfounded bias that marked the pandemic, some of the hardest-hit restaurants are Chinese, and we are in danger of completely losing Chinatown as we know and love it.
Back in the spring of 2020, I grew alarmed by the growing misinformation, labeling COVID-19 the “Chinese virus” and confusing Chinatown with actual China—fomenting fear and xenophobia. I was disturbed by reports of outright racism, and passed restaurants I loved, boarded up, unable to make the rent. As a former restaurant owner, I readily understood the devastation of an industry that survives on thin margins to begin with: no diners, fewer takeout orders, no demand for catering. And, due to xenophobia, a fear that Chinese people are somehow more contagious than others, or misplaced anger towards Chinese Americans, it appeared many Chinese restaurants carried an additional burden. A Boston without a Chinatown? No more of the neighborhood’s hidden gems and family-owned establishments passed down through generations? Unfathomable. I decided to do something.
Among other acts of learning more and putting resources in the right places, I was moved to act in the best way I know how. I embarked on thirty days straight of eating Chinese food, to prove that one is no more likely to get COVID-19 from interacting with people of Chinese descent or eating their delicious recipes, than from abstaining from their restaurants in the name of fear.
I ate Wontons with Chili Oil, Sesame, Shrimp & Pork. I delighted in Chongqing Small Noodles with Baby Shrimp & Peanuts. The Szechuan Style Whole Fish with Black Bean Sauce from Qingdao Garden in Cambridge was 10/10. Unsurprisingly, I encountered no bad omens or unfavorable fortunes, but rather readily available sanitizing gel, cashiers donning masks and gloves—and business owners yearning for customers to serve, and extremely grateful for the orders.
Equally unsurprising: After thirty days of Chinese food bliss—a combination of dining in before lockdown and gloved and masked takeout and delivery after—and the appropriate incubation period for scientific integrity, I emerged healthy and happy, my palate deeply satisfied.
As we work to pick up the pieces in a world with an effective COVID vaccine, let’s do away with this sense of “the other” in the name of fear. An us-versus-them mentality will only invoke hatred and deprive us of the multicultural delights we typically enjoy as Bostonians. They are us. We are them. We are one city. Let’s celebrate our differences through our shared love of food from every corner of the planet—from the little corner spot in your own neighborhood to Boston’s culture-rich Chinatown.
If we don’t support our favorite Chinese restaurants, or any restaurants for that matter, they won’t be there the next time we want to go. They all need you more than ever. And our city and its essential diversity needs you too. As Big Papi put it: This is our f*cking city. All of ours. We haven’t always gotten it right, but let’s not ditch the “We the People” spirit that brought us to this town in the first place.
Here are some of my favorites:
CONGEE & ME POP-UP at MEI MEI: Everything Bagel Congee—Smoked Tofu, Everything Spice, Kale, Lazy Egg. To that, I opted to add Sesame Broccoli & Spicy Bamboo Shoots
OTHER Dishes I ate and Loved, not pictured:
HOME TASTE, Watertown
Hand-Pulled Noodles, with Sichuan Peppers, Red Chili Oil, Bok Choy and Baby Shrimp
HAPPY HUNAN KITCHEN, Brighton
Sesame with Beef Larou
JO JO TAIPEI, Allston
Braised Pork with Steamed Bun, Topped with Peanut Powder
SUMIAO HUNAN KITCHEN, Cambridge
“Beef on Fire:” Fresno Pepper, Cilantro, Banana Pepper
CHILI GARDEN, Medford
Cauliflower with Homemade Bacon
For more complete reviews of each dish, plus several other favorites, visit Jim’s website Shack with the Chef and read about his 30-Day Chinese Journey. Follow him on Instagram for more hidden gems in New England and beyond.
