Green beer was the elixir that the venerable Victoria House of Chow – aka The Vic – served on St. Paddy’s Day
Back in the mists of time, there was a magic castle in downtown Sault Ste. Marie owned and operated by a band of brothers whose way of doing business is sorely missed in these bottom-line-is-everything days of soaring prices and nose-diving service quality.
The patriarch, Charlie Chow, gained favour with thirsty loggers, miners and Great Lakes sailors by acting as their unofficial banker on payday. He would cash their cheques and dole out a small amount of their earnings to each of them, setting aside the rest of their wages so that they wouldn’t blow all their money in a one-night spree.
A group of visitors from Toronto was knocked out by the fact that when Joe Chow waited on our table he remembered everyone’s order without writing anything down. They were even more amazed the next day when we all returned and sat in different chairs. One of us locals said: “Joe, same as yesterday!” and he dropped the right order at each place even though the same person wasn’t sitting in the spot he’d been in the day before.
I once saw Joe frog-march an unruly customer twice his size out of the building and put him in a waiting taxi. Joe had confiscated his car keys and would have them ready for the apologetic reject the next day when he, like others before him, humbly asked for their return. As for Joe’s brother King, he had been the boxing champion of his Canadian Army unit during the Second World War. Nobody tangled with the Chows.
Some wag once suggested that, even on the coldest winter evening, when the Sault Star gang was ensconced in that corner section the Chows could turn off the heat because there was enough hot air generated by the daily’s ink-stained wretches as they recapped their news-gathering adventures of the previous week.
I don’t remember which of the waiters that day dropped two draft in front of me but I know it wasn’t Joe because I made the mistake of signalling him for a refill once I had drained the two glasses.
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