A new Richmond fine dining restaurant has created a fusion menu, combining Western cooking styles with lesser-known and sometimes intimidating Chinese ingredients.
Little Karp quietly opened in April at 8631 Alexandra Rd., one of the best-known food streets in Richmond.
Owner Fan Fan Cheng aims to showcase Richmond’s “excellent resources” of fresh produce and seafood, while also educating people about lesser-known or intimidating Chinese ingredients via Western cooking style.
“I think agriculture in B.C. is great when it comes to seafood, poultry and local farms, which offer fresh ingredients we should be proud of, especially in Richmond,” said Cheng.
“The city really has a lot of resources, so why don’t we develop it even more?”
The restaurant gets seafood from Steveston Wharf or local fishing companies, produce from B.C. berry farms and even olive oil from The Olive Farm on Salt Spring Island. Examples of lesser-known Chinese ingredients used in Little Karp’s dishes also include fermented black bean (dou chi), preserved white bean curd and tea eggs.
But trying unfamiliar ingredients or dishes can be a mental battle, she added.
“Sometimes people don’t know what they should or shouldn’t order when it comes to food they have never tried, and we want to allow people to learn and try Chinese ingredients and food in a more familiar way such as Western cooking styles.”
Cheng and her husband worked in the hospitality industry in Hong Kong until they immigrated to Richmond in 2016.
Opening Little Karp has been a dream for them.
They wanted to open a restaurant in the city to bring a feeling of “encouragement and happiness” to the community – a sentiment they experienced themselves when they first moved in. They want to give back to the community now, having themselves received much support when they immigrated to Canada.
“I’m really thankful for all these years I’ve been in Richmond and how people have helped me when I newly immigrated here,” said Cheng.
As for the name of the restaurant, Little Karp, Cheng explained a carp in Chinese culture symbolizes good luck and resilience.
“The Chinese story behind the little fish is that it’s always swimming very hard and eventually it jumps over the dragon gate and becomes a dragon itself,” she explained.
“It’s a reminder that everyone is always working hard to reach their goal and their dream life.”
Cheng also hopes to transform the fine dining experience in Richmond by making it more casual and open for locals.
“I want people to feel happiness from eating food and meeting people. We want to build that relationship and community.”
