Jia

Jia is the name of a new Chinese restaurant that recently opened within walking distance of our home.  My husband and I enjoy walking and it has become one of our favorite destinations.  I had never tasted Chinese food until I moved to the San Francisco Bay area when I was twenty something.  There are many amazing restaurants in the San Francisco Bay area.  I have been fortunate enough to have experienced quite a few wonderful meals at some of these amazing restaurants.  Although having a meal at a Chinese restaurant is my most favorite.  I think that it is more than just the fact that I truly love everything on the menu.  It is not just the wonderful food, but for me there is something special about the whole experience.

On our latest visit to Jia, we asked the waitress if there was a significance to the restaurant's name of Jia.  Our waitress, Helen, was actually the owner of the restaurant.  Helen explained to us that Jia means home in Chinese and that is why she named her restaurant Jia.  She wanted her restaurant to feel like home to the people who would come to enjoy a meal there.  She also told us that her mother is a very good cook and that she uses her recipes at the restaurant.  Helen telling us about opening Jia gave me some insight as to why eating at a Chinese restaurant is special for me . . .  it feels like home.

The last favorite experience of eating at a Chinese restaurant for me is the fortune cookie.  I was taught that you are not to choose your fortune cookie, but that you should wait for the fortune cookie to be handed to you.  I think that all fortunes are relevant in some way to our lives and can give us reason to pause.  We save many of these tiny slips of paper for future affirmations.