car slams into Hop Kee -- my favorite restaurant from my childhood

Food is a pretty big deal to me. I have such wonderful associations with food and my growing up. A while back, when I was home in New Jersey, I had to have a number of various food items while on my trip:

- slice of pizza at Filippo's Pizzeria in Hoboken, NJ -- sprinkled with garlic salt and a can of Ginger Ale
- bar pie (pizza) at Leo's Restaurant in Hoboken, NJ -- see above for side dish
- anything at my Dad's restaurant (Subic Filipino BBQ - now closed) in Jersey City, NJ
- Mallowmar cookies - sold anywhere in the Tri-State area of NJ, NY & CT
- a Sabrett Hot Dog - sold on street carts anywhere
- spicy linguine with chicken parm and shrimp parm at Little Charlie's outside Little Italy in NY
- a Ferrara's Cannoli - Little Italy

And, of course, a pilgrimage to the Hop Kee Restaurant in Chinatown for dim sum. A few years ago, my sister and I went over to Hop Kee for the same meal we've been having since we were kids. We were devastated to see the place closed and boarded up. My sister and I even tried to look through the windows to see if it was a joke. We looked at each other and my wife says we almost cried. Isn't it strange how a silly thing like re-living a tradition from your childhood can hold such sway in your life now?

Apparently, the restaurant has re-opened recently and someone celebrated that fact by running their car into the place last week. Congratulations on your re-opening... CRASH!