Today I went to Tosi Italian Food Importers, an Italian grocery store owned by a man named Angelo Tosi. It is quite the place! The business was started by Angelo's father and has been in the family for 111 years. The two-story building housing the store is in the heart of Chinatown and is the only remaining structure of the original Woodwards store. According to Angelo's store website, in the past the area had many Italian shops, however, between 1930-1960 the Portuguese and Chinese arrived and bought most of the houses in the area. As Chinatown began to grow, Angelo remembers it being extraordinarily beautiful, and recalls such things as people smoking water pipes amongst all of the fresh produce they were selling.
I'm really glad I had a chance to meet Angelo and see the store since the business may not be in operation for too much longer. The Vancouver city council is considering rezoning parts of Chinatown for highrises, and Angelo's store is in the middle of one of the blocks likely to be redeveloped.Angelo is 79 years old and his father worked for the business until he died at the age of 85. Angelo told me that he eats a tablespoon of lecithin every day and adds dandelions to his salads to keep the blood in his veins flowing quickly. He also told me I was going to make love to the olive oil I bought from him when I put it on salad and that his canned tomatoes are so good that if I'm a good cook the second I open them I'll be able to smell how delicious they are. He gave me a sample of his yummy organic parmesan cheese and I also bought some of his bulk olives and a chunk of salami prosciutto for Cole to try. I'm looking forward to eating well this weekend:)
