Canton Restaurant on Charles Street celebrates 60 years and 3 generations

It first opened its doors on April 26, 1961 - and this Monday will mark 60 years.

Current owners Sonny Yang and Fontane Chung purchased the business from Ms Chung's parents Noel and Dianna in 2019.

Former owner Noel Chung said he'd seen a lot of change in his time at the helm - seeing the streetscape change, different cuisines opening across the city, and a change in clientele.

One of his fondest memories still remains the generations of people that have continued to visit the restaurant - following along his family's journey.

"My father-in-law started the restaurant on the 26^th of April - originally he was going to open on the 25^th but being ANZAC Day he decided against it," he said.

"Dianne and I ran the business for 33 years after we took over, they had it for 25 years - in 1986 he approached us and asked if we wanted to take over the business."

The business expanded in 1988 into 203 Charles Street - now existing across both 201 and 203, giving them a larger seating capacity.

Sonny Yang and Fontane Chung met at the restaurant where both worked as kitchen hands - dating, falling in love and starting a family together.

"He was recruited in 2010 by my parents, I was already working here - he mainly worked here on weekdays and I worked weekends," Ms Chung said.

"Eventually he started to work on weekends and we hung out and it all went from there - we're now expecting our second child."

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Purchasing the business off Fontane's parents a natural fit - with the couple giving themselves financial security with the move and continuing on the tradition.

The family see their secret to success as sticking to what they know - and doing it well.

Many of the recipes have featured on their menu since the very beginning, with each generation adding their own twist.

"I come from Northern China, so I know more Northern style dishes, but I learnt Cantonese style dishes from my father-in-law," Mr Yang said.

"I designed some Northern style food and we put that on the menu as well, to add more flavour for our customers. We keep creating new dishes.

"Keep the passion of cooking, learning new skills and starting new recipes."

The family celebrated the anniversary early with a special dinner for their regular customers - and plan to mark the day itself doing what they do best - serving customers with tasty Chinese meals.

Canton is open for dinner Tuesday - Sunday.

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