Virgil Winston:Marketing Guru
Ever since our little adventure to the Vietnamese restaurant last month, Mrs. Winston and I have decided to broaden our culinary horizons and try new things. So on Sunday, we packed up the kids and headed out for dim sum. Dim sum is the name for a Chinese cuisine that consists of a wide range of light dishes served alongside Chinese tea. It is usually served in the mornings until noontime and is often thought of as the Chinese equivalent of brunch. Dishes come in small portions and may include meat, seafood, and vegetables, as well as desserts and fruit. The items are usually served in a small steamer basket or on a small plate. Chinese families typically like to gather at Chinese restaurants for dim sum on occasions such as Mother’s Day or Chinese New Years but you’ll find foodies of all types there just about every Saturday and Sunday.
As I quickly discovered, one of the best things about dim sum is the rapidity of service. You literally sit down and food arrives at your table. Steam carts piloted by mostly smiling Chinese women, cruise by your table while the servers lift lids and describe the dishes. The adventure comes from not always understanding exactly what is in a particular dish. For example, I bit into what felt like a raw meatball and found it less than delightful but a steamed pork bun quickly replaced the memory of that bad bite. Sweet meat and dough can cure almost anything. My wife’s favorite was the pork shaomai and the kids gobbled up custard filled buns like it was Christmas. As for me, I liked it all—the pork buns are hard to beat but I also loved the har gow (shrimp) and the bok choy swimming in gravy. We had such a good time, we decided to make dim sum a monthly Winston tradition. Since I particularly enjoyed the Chinese tea—we drank pots and pots of it out of tiny cups—today’s offering from Rush Imprint is Instant Iced Tea. It’s not exactly traditional and it’s not Chinese, but it is the perfect refreshing addition to a customized gift basket. Your logo or personal message is imprinted on your choice of silver or gold foil packaging to make it an ideal promotional gift.
I’ve got to get ready for my next speaking engagement—my son’s school is having a “Bring Your Parent To School Day” and six year olds can be brutal. As a famous Chinese proverb says, “Do good, reap good; do evil, reap evil,” and as my dear old dad says, “Give good promotional gifts, reap good clients.”