A good reputation can travel a long way.
A little more than three years ago, Vincent Huang was a family physician in Taiwan when one of his patients happened to be an Islander living in the country.
After hearing about the province from the patient, Huang and his wife Donna Chen soon decided to take a vacation in P.E.I.
“We found it was a very peaceful place and the people are very friendly,” said Huang, with the couple moving to the province in 2015. “I find the pace is slow and not very rushed, I like the atmosphere because I used to be busy from the early morning until midnight.”
Throughout a 22-year medical career in Taiwan, Huang’s medical centre and clinic cared for more than 100,000 patients. Huang saw about 100 patients a day.
Taiwan is about seven times the size of P.E.I. and has a population of more than 23 million.
Now, the family physician is living a more peacefull existence operating the Fox Blue Café in Charlottetown.
The restaurant, which is located at 193-A Kent Street next door to The Factory, opened to the public in November.
Huang serves a traditional master tea, which is a Chinese tea that can be served hot or cold, as well as organic coffee.
“It’s Taiwan’s best quality tea,” he said.
He also serves a “toast box,” which is a chicken, pepper and cheese sandwich, as well as a seafood with fried noodles, Italian crispy sausage and the “Fox Blue breakfast” of bacon, sausage, ham, egg and toast.
Huang previously purchased the building that houses Water Street Fish and Chips and originally planned to use it for the café.
However, after meeting the restaurant’s employees, he decided to extend the restaurant’s lease before finding the new location for the café.
While Huang notes he opened the cafe during a traditionally slow time of the year, he said he hopes to serve every customer with the same care he would previously give his patients.
“I always try to be well prepared and try to serve the best food and drinks,” he said. “The customers who have tried our food say it’s awesome.”
The inspiration of the café’s name also was inspired by one of the couple’s first impressions of the province.
“When we first came to P.E.I. we noticed the Island had a beautiful animal called the fox,” said Huang, noting it was his first time seeing the animal.
He said the blue in the name was used because the couple like the colour, and thought the idea of a blue fox was unique.
While the location is a café, Huang said he hopes to eventually use the space to host free Chinese lessons in both speaking and poetry.
“I think it would be a good chance to share the culture,” said Huang, adding that anyone interested in those lessons can contact him at the café.
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