Cravings and Curiosities - Carmen Cheung, Foodie @tasteofvancouver
Carmen Cheung
An afternoon of snacking and chatting in Steveston Village
Her Instagram profile @tasteofvancouver has more than 38,000 followers, and even before the concept of “influencer” was even a thing, Carmen Cheung has been sharing her love of food on social media.
It started in 2015 when she moved back to Richmond, BC from Chicago after completing university. Starting fresh in Canada, Carmen had few local friends and worked independently—so the mix of wanting to get out of the house plus a pinch of boredom led her to visit a different coffee shop each day for thirty days.
She soon realized that she was thrusting food pics into the eyes of her friends and family perhaps a little too much on her personal Instagram profile. So Carmen created a separate profile dedicated to her adventures in the local food scene.
Carmen and Tania with Timothy's Frozen Yogurt at Fisherman's Wharf.
Carmen and I have been friends for years now—an early memory of our friendship being the time she brought us dinner after my second baby was born. I’m also one of her @tasteofvancouver followers, but today was the first time I heard the backstory of how it started. And since Carmen often visits the Steveston Village area—to enjoy a bite, or a lovely scenic stroll with her husband Calvin and their dog Gus Gus—it made perfect sense to do this food-centric feature with her on Steveston People.
Today we spent the afternoon snacking around at a few of our favourite vendors, while doing a Q&A about Taste of Vancouver. So get ready to get hungry as you check out where we ate today, and what Carmen has to say about her experience as an influencer and her thoughts about the atmosphere and food here in Steveston.
Do you get paid for your posts?
Carmen: Not as often as some people would think. Every now and then I do get paid to promote products or restaurants. I do know some people who have created a pretty good side gig out of promoting for businesses, but right now I do this mainly as a hobby. I usually try restaurants out of my personal interest or restaurants invite me to come try their new menus.
Photo: We started the afternoon with a cold brew coffee from Steveston Coffee Co.
What do you think about Steveston?
Carmen: If I have a day off, there’s a good chance you’d find me wandering Steveston because I really like the vibe here. It’s like a nice quiet town with unique people and shops. Some of the restaurants have been here for a long time, but some of them keep changing too. One day I’d love to move to this area too.
Photo: Next we satisfied our cravings for yuzu and chocolate banana waffles at Damien's Belgian Waffles
Why don’t you show your face in your Instagram posts?
Carmen: I started @tasteofvancouver to share my experiences with food—but I feel that with the emergence of this whole “influencer” concept or trend over the years—there’s a huge push (either from Instagram or other social media influencers) to show your face. As in you have to sell products or promote restaurants with your face. But for me it’s always been about sharing my love for food, or if I don’t like something, I’ll share about that too. I’m not ruling out the possibility of showing my face in future posts, but for now I want to stay true to the reason why I started this.
Photo: Carmen enjoying a veggie samosa from Village Curry & Spice
What does this area need?
Carmen: There used to be a really good Vietnamese restaurant right by Windsor Meats, and my husband and I would drive down to Steveston specially for their pho, but it closed down. And then we started going to another Vietnamese place close to the Starbucks, but that one eventually closed down too! So I definitely think there’s a need for Vietnamese food in this neighbourhood.
And I know there’s already lots of coffee shops in Steveston Village, but I think having one or two more varieties of independent coffee shops would be really nice—somewhere to sit and have a coffee and chat with friends or to do some work.
Photo: Reels can't be rushed. Carmen taking a video clip of her samosa.
Which restaurants in Steveston are your favourites?
Carmen: For my husband and me, our favourite restaurant for a nice dinner is Anar Persian Cuisine. My husband loves the lamb shank, and I like their skewers with rice. I’ve recommended Anar to many friends and they all like it there too.
Also, a little further away from the village out by London Landing is Village Sushi Bar, a nice little mom and pop business. Some of my favourite menu items are their mango california roll, chopped scallop roll, and salmon roll. Everything’s done very nicely—their fish is fresh, and their rice is great.
Photo: From savory back to sweet to balance our the day. Fresh peach frozen yogurt from Timothy's Frozen Yogurt.
Thank you Carmen @tasteofvancouver for spending the afternoon with me here in Steveston Village. I had a lovely quality time with you!
Wondering where to eat or just obsessed with food pics?
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