Lees bid fond farewell to Kam Lung

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This article was published 29/09/2010 (5666 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hugs, laughs and plenty of strolls down memory lane were shared as Kam Lung Restaurant’s Sergio Lee recently celebrated his retirement.

"The most fulfilling feeling I have as a restaurant owner is to meet people. I would meet new people every day, but some customers came in every day for years to see me," said the restaurateur, who has spent the past 37 years at Kam Lung with his dedicated sidekick — his wife Susan — at his side.

"It’s genuine friendship. Once you become a regular customer, you’re one of my family. I would nickname people Little Sister or Big Brother or Grandma. My whole business, through the years, is really like a family."

He has a special spot in his heart for the seniors who frequent the restaurant, a sentiment probably linked to his own grandmother, who raised him.

Sergio’s childhood, initially in China during the first years of communism, then in Hong Kong when he was about five years old, was difficult.

As a teenager, he came one February to Brandon, where one of his aunts lived, to seek a better future.

A student at Brandon Collegiate Institute, he surpassed his previous academic achievements, especially in mathematics and sciences.

His studies in those areas and geography continued at Brandon University, where he obtained a bachelor degree.

Afterward, he held down a couple of jobs — at the Brandon Mental Health Centre as an orderly and at the Bel Air Restaurant owned by Ken Louie.

It was Louie who suggested that Sergio remain in that industry — even when he was a long-haired hippie — and who gave him some shares in Kam Lung, in 1974.

"He took an interest in me because I was pretty energetic and I liked people and I worked hard," Sergio said. "When they opened up Kam Lung Restaurant, Mr. Louie needed somebody at the front as a host and hired me on."

While the beginnings of his ownership of Kam Lung was wrought with financial stress — he had had to buy out the other seven partners and interest rates were 20 per cent at the time — years of hard work saw the business flourish.

While Sergio made the people connections in the restaurant, Susan, who was just as instrumental in building the business, managed the work behind the scenes, dealt with the staff, did all the ordering and created all the desserts.

"She is more than my better half. Without Susan, there wouldn’t have been a Kam Lung," Sergio said. "She’s phenomenal."

Only one real hiccup occurred while in business: Two years ago, two masked young men entered the restaurant and held up the restaurateur with a sawed-off shotgun to his head.

It was a shock to family friend Elsie Palmer.

"It really scared me to read about it in the paper or hear on the news, I can’t remember which, but I immediately phoned to see if he was all right. I was afraid he’d been hurt or something. Fortunately not. Sergio and my son Rick were in the same grade. Rick befriended him, so he spent a lot of time in our home and I treated him just like one of my kids," said Palmer, who has known Sergio since his arrival in Brandon.

"I’m happy for him to be retiring, but I’m sad for Brandon. He’s so people-oriented and a good friend."

A decade ago, the Lees’ oldest child, Spencer, died at the age of 23.

Spencer’s siblings grew up in Brandon, but today, they are dispersed — Scarlet now lives in Toronto, Sabrina is teaching in Vancouver, while Samantha and Skylar are both in Calgary.

"They came home to surprise me," he said, pride evident in his voice. "Our retirement has been a long time coming, but I’m going to miss a lot of people."

On Friday, Sergio and Susan will be passing the torch to Patrick and Nan Sun, a younger Chinese couple who bought Ken’s Restaurant a year ago.