Tri Truong
Q: Hello Tri, you've lived here now for a few years, can you tell us a little bit about your background?
A: I have lived in The Pas for 6 years now. I am from Vietnam, and came to Canada in 1978. My family and I escaped Vietnam to come here. We were, what some people called, "boat people." It took us a very long time with a lot of hardship to get here. I have called Canada my home now for 38 years. I met my beautiful wife and we married 5 years ago.
Q: You started out here working actively with the Soup Kitchen, can you tell us about what you did there and what impact did running the Soup Kitchen have on you?
A: I came to The Pas originally to work as community chaplain, working at the soup kitchen every morning. I cooked for the needy with whatever donations that were given to us the day before. It meant that I had to be very creative at times. We fed about 50 to 80 people every day. The need is great in our community. You become good friends with everyone who came in - they've become family. Within the five years of helping people, we provided them with spiritual, mental, physical, and emotional assistance. It taught me how to love regardless of circumstance and I feel it made me a better person.
Q: Since then, you now run your own kitchen, Tri-it Portable Food Truck. What's that like? How have our communities accepted it?
A: After 5 years as chaplain, I left. I did not know what I wanted to do in life, but I really love cooking. We decided to get ourselves a food truck. Many of the items on our menu are very different to the community. It was so new and people up north have never tried so much of it before, so we took a big leap of faith.
Q: You recently helped run the Golf Course Dining Room, and are currently running concession at the Roy H Arena - what is it like mixing your love of making traditional food, with balancing the mainstream food wants of locals?
A: We became so popular we decided to apply to run the golf course restaurant. I think it did very well. Unfortunately, it is only seasonal so now we are at the RHJ Arena. We still cook authentic food to stay true to our roots, but we also do some mainstream food. It's very different for us, but it's a lot of fun.
Q: Thanks so much for taking time to chat. Do you have any final words for our readers?
A: We try to accommodate everyone the best we can, no matter where we are. The one thing I do know is that food brings everyone to together, whether at a soup kitchen, our food truck or wherever. We're just so glad to be a part of that.
You can keep up-to-date with Tri-It, on their facebook page.
