09/30/2024
Jan 23, 2020 was our first day at Chef88 Elite. We welcomed the Year of the Rat with festivities among our family, friends and new customers. 2 months later we shut down due to COVID and we knew we had to pivot quickly to keep the business alive. What started with a few customers eating their takeout on the lonely bench outside our restaurant grew quickly into a few tables (spaced 6 feet apart!) on the dirt lawn down Kennedy Road. As COVID ceased to slow, patio dining remained open during the winter months with heaters and windscreens, and became a true Chinese Canadian experience, with early morning hours filled with the toughest seniors in the Markham neighbourhood, dressed in their parkas and toques, sipping on hot tea and eating congee in below zero temperatures.
As COVID subsided, we continued to focus on fresh, home made dim sum items and classic dinner dishes served in a family friendly dining environment. As the seasons passed, our Chinese got better, we hired an incredible Manager Daniel, and we started to see the fruits of our labor. From playing live music on the patio to serving weekly meals to Chinese seniors in their homes to teaching our staff how to play a game of bingo to selling frozen dim sum, we’ve had so many fun adventures as (young-ish) entrepreneurs.
Over the past 5 years we’ve met hundreds of incredible customers, many of whom we’ve developed a personal relationship with. We’ve laughed, cried and have shared moments of joy and tribulations together. We are forever grateful to our family and most of all, our late founder and Dad, Dr. Choo, for his guidance, encouragement and trust.
With mixed emotions, we are announcing that new management will be taking over Chef 88 Elite as of Monday September 30th. While we look forward to a new chapter, we are sad to see our second home go.
“Take the first step in faith. You do don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” - Martin Luther King. 5 years ago, we took that first step. Thank you again to all our family, friends, customers and the Markham community for their support over the past 5 years, it’s been an incredible ride, and we can’t wait to for the next one ❤️
