Restaurateur Q & A

Steven Chen, Owner,
C'est Bon Chinese Restaurant,
2140 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON

By Gary Lipovetsky, President of MenuPalace.com

Steven Chen is the official representative for C'est Bon restaurants, which boasts two accessible locations that cater to customers in both Toronto and North York. First opening its doors in 2000, C'est Bon has consistently provided a tasty array of items and a welcoming environment that has garnered this Chinese restaurant multiple awards. With a dedicated staff and fresh ingredients the chefs prepare an assortment of dishes inspired by Szechuan cuisine, including Award-Winning Sweet and Sour Chicken, Home Made Egg Rolls, Crispy Duck and an expansive vegetarian menu. Proudly committed to bringing a fine culinary experience to all its customers, C'est Bon specializes in catering to large size parties and offers delivery services throughout the metro area, making sure your food arrives expeditiously so you can savour a hot and delicious meal. Discover all that this 2011 Post Magazine award winning dinning establishment has to offer and enjoy quality fares and impeccable service, today.

MP: What year did C'est Bon open?

SC: Our first location opened in the year 2000, and after having six great years, we then opened a second location in 2006.

MP: What kind of ambiance do you aim to provide at C'est Bon?

SC: We provide a casual, fine dine-in theme, and a friendly and cozy atmosphere here at C'est Bon

MP: Which cultural influences inspire the recipes your chefs use?

SC: Our dishes are mainly influenced by the Szechuan Cuisine in China with some popular dishes from Taiwan, as well as the usual more common Chinese food dishes that most are used to seeing in Canada.

MP: What are some of your best selling dishes?

SC: For starters, our Award-Winning Sweet and Sour Chicken. Some other all-time favourites would include General Tsao's Chicken, Crispy Ginger Beef, Basil Chicken, Cantonese Chow-Mein, House Chili Prawns and C'est Bon Mixed Vegetables.

MP: What sort of beverages do you offer?

SC: We offer the more popular mocktails and a great selection of wine and beer that go great with C'est Bon's Chinese food.

MP: Do you have any special items for vegetarians?

SC: We have quite the menu for vegetarians. Miso Soup and Egg Drop Soup, Mango Salad, Vegetarian Lo-Mein Noodles and Fried Rice, and C'est Bon Mixed Vegetables, are all superb vegetarian dishes! We also offer a large choice of tofu dishes made with almost any regular sauce you can find on our menu; for example, General Tsao's Tofu, Peanut Tofu, Kung Po Tofu, etc.

MP: Why is wine so important with a meal? What is your most popular wine? What food is it best paired with?

SC: Wine is a very important part of the meal because it completes the meal. It balances and compliments the flavours of the dish and adds a new dimension to any meal that it is a part of. Growing up in an Italian family, wine has always been a very important part the meal. Our most popular wine would be either our Montegiachi Chianti, which is best paired with a dish like the Osso Bucco, or our Bosan Amarone which would be best paired with a dish like the 12oz rib-eye steak. The flavours just dance in your mouth when put together.

MP: What do you look for when hiring your staff?

SC: Cheerful, friendly and kind personalities. Clean and presentable looking.

MP: What inspired you to work in the food service industry? What do you enjoy about your job?

SC: We love seeing the smiles on our customers' faces as they enjoy our wonderful food and services. Seeing the complete satisfaction from their reactions after a meal gives us one of the best feelings.

MP: What sets C'est Bon apart from other restaurants?

SC: First of all, being a Chinese restaurant with a French name is already pretty unique, but kidding aside, we offer our sincerest. Our attitude of continuously improving the quality of our food and services towards our customers is important. This is why we've been rated as the best Chinese restaurant, in terms of food and services, in the mid and northern Toronto area by Post Magazine recently.

MP: Does C'est Bon cater?

SC: We specialize in catering from as small as ten people, to a party of 100 plus!

MP: What is your clientele like? Do you attract a certain type of customer?

SC: We have a wide range of clientele. For example, business clients at lunch and week nights, couples and families on the weekend, and our usual crowd of people who are just simply craving great Chinese food!

MP: If diners can walk away from C'est Bon feeling just one thing, what would you hope for it to be?

SC: Total satisfaction that comes with a great big smile on their faces.

MP: Does C'est Bon deliver?

SC: Yes, our extremely fast and reliable deliveries are very popular and has won C'est Bon multiple awards for being the fastest and freshest.

MP: What measures do your employees take to ensure the food delivered to customers is always fresh?

SC: We emphasize on controlling the timing of when the orders are to be prepared in accordance with the delivery times, destination and number of deliveries on hand. It is our policy not to send out any stale orders.

SC: Our regular delivery areas are north to Sheppard Avenue, south to Bloor Street, east to Leslie Street and west to Bathurst Street. With an additional delivery charge, we will deliver to areas beyond our regular delivery zones as well.

SC: In order to provide total satisfaction to our customers, we only employ highly motivated professionals for each phase from food preparation to when the food arrives at your doorsteps. We employ fast, knowledgeable and kind customer representatives, efficient kitchen staffs, quick delivery drivers, etc.

SC: Over the past years, we have won several awards from different magazines and newspapers. The two places that award us most often are Post Magazine and Town Crier. We recently won an award in 2011 from Post Magazine in the North and Mid Toronto area in terms of Quality and Fastest Delivery!

SC: Definitely, we are always looking for new challenges and opportunities.

SC: Complete satisfaction on food quality, freshness, reasonable prices, and expedite deliveries!