Remembering the Forestview
The Forestview Chinese Restaurant closed its doors in 2013. It was one of a few banquet-style Chinese restaurants that could server large wedding receptions or Lunar New Year’s celebrations in Toronto’s Chinatown. Several factors resulted in the closure of the Forestview including the shift of immigration from downtown Toronto’s Chinatown to the suburban areas of Scarborough, Markham and Richmond Hill. Within these suburbs, larger and more elaborate Chinese restaurants became the preferred destination for Chinese cuisine.
Large banquet-style Chinese restaurants first appeared in Toronto’s original Chinatown at Elizabeth and Dundas St (currently Toronto city hall) just after the lifting of the Chinese Exclusion Act (1923-1947). A new wave of immigration began to arrive in Toronto’s Chinatown in the 1950s and 1960s mostly from the Southern part of China and Hong Kong. With this wave of immigration came the desire to dine in restaurants similar to the banquet-style restaurants that offered cart-service dining, known as dim sum, that are commonly found in Hong Kong. This increase in demand led to four restaurants becoming icons of Chinatown: the Kwong Chow, The Nanking, Lychee Garden and Sai Woo.
As Chinatown migrated to the Dundas St and Spadina Ave area, new banquet-style restaurants opened to serve the community for decades to come. The Forestview Chinese Restaurant became a popular destination for Chinatown regulars to gather and have conversations over dim sum and tea. Some of my fondest memories of the Forestview includes walking up the elaborate staircase and struggling to get the maître d’s attention for seating, all while admiring the lucky red ambience of the dining room. Once seated, pouring tea while taking a peek at the towers of tiny baskets with steaming hot dishes wait to be devoured. The ambience isn’t complete without a friendly chat with the pushcart server.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the pandemic where health measures have forced the partial closures of many business and services including the various banquet-style restaurants in Chinatown, I harken back to my memories of gathering with friends and family at the Forestview Chinese Restaurant.