Tuesday. Econolodge, Rochester MN.
As we were walking up to the door of China Buffet I had this feeling like, maybe they will speak Cantonese in here. Sure enough there was a guy from Fujian who had spent a year in Hong Kong, so he and Irene yakked away while I took photos and cased out the extensive buffet. He had worked at a restaurant in New Jersey before. He likes it better here because the customers are nicer, but there is not much to do. He mentioned fishing, and said he also goes to Minneapolis to visit friends. At length he invited us to try the buffet so we did. It was better than the last place. But we left the crab rangoons alone!
Yes. Those are little weenies wrapped in bacon.
Then we went to Hunan Restaurant, where we interviewed a young white waitress who loves her job. She looked barely 20, but she had been working there for four years. She talked about her regular customers who always order the same thing, how they come in intending to try something new but end up with their tried and true favorites. She is clearly more adventurous; she said the best food is what the cooks make for the restaurant staff to eat, including octopus and squid and stuff like that.
Check out the 80s wallpaper!
At Peking, we talked to Kaiti, who was from Taiwan, lived in Brazil from age 9 to 17 and then came to La Crosse. She loves it here! Her customers are very devoted to her, and she to them; she said that she loves to see families come in with their kids, and then the kids grow up and bring their own kids. When new Chinese restaurants open up in town, her customers go size up the competition and report back to her. She said that she relates to Brazilians and other South Americans more than Chinese people. There is a large company in town that apparently brings temporary workers in from South America, and Kaiti is like the unofficial welcoming committee and tour guide for them. She has her Chinese mama side too, though: when she wished us a safe trip, she cautioned us against driving at night.