Happy 2024 & Year of the Dragon! Come join in as we celebrate 5-years in style!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! In the words of Nick Charles, The Thin Man Films, “Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”

We have special reason to celebrate here at The Postman HQ and not just the New Year 2024 and Year of the Dragon (February 10th, 2024.) We’ve just completed five years of blogging at our site…HURRAY! So today as we begin year six, we invite you to celebrate with something from our “Virtual Food & Beverage Cart”–a collection of delicacies and libations we’ve seen over the past five years, concerning themselves with all things surrounding Detective Charlie Chan and company.

Let’s begin with a toast!

The FLAMING CHARLIE. We’ll need to head to Charlie Chans Bar in Sydney, Australia (they won’t surrender the recipe.) Located in the heart of Sydney’s Chinatown business district, they have several rooms including, the bar, restaurant, plush lounge (w/pool table), and a bottle shop (liquor store.) The food is Thai cuisine, and while I counted 9 beer on tap the drink of choice has got to be…their Flaming Charlie!

The LUIGI. OK, this one is a stretch, but I did discover it myself while reading a mystery story Murder on a Mystery Tour (1987) by Marian Babson. First invented by Luigi Naintre owner of London’s renowned Embassy Club, circa 1920s. The Embassy Club was a kind of British-predecessor to Casablanca‘s “Ricks” and Mr. Naintre was known as the “Celebrated Prince of Tactfulness.” Made with tangerine (mandarin) juice, the LUIGI it’s addictive!

Charlie Chan Cha Tea. Det. Charlie Chan of literature was a “teetotaler” and he drank his tea like so, “Three lumps of sugar and the breath of the lemon in passing.” (Behind That Curtain, 1928.) So if the description for Charlie Chan Cha tea tickles your fancy this is your choice of beverage! (Award Winning! A little mystery, a little spice, citrus & cool mint make for a thriller experience to die for.)

Care for an appetizer?

No better place to find one than The Charlie Chan Restaurant, Cambridge, United Kingdom. There are many restaurants with the family name Chan. However, those named Charlie Chan–not so many. This restaurant’s story is most interesting, and their employees have tenure of 20, 30 and 40-plus years!. They’ve been around (in one form or another) since 1966. Then, in 1982, London restaurateur, Peter Lee, took over the Pagoda restaurant and renamed it after his new Head Chef and founding partner, Charlie Chan. This may well be the oldest Chinese cuisine restaurant with the name Charlie Chan…anywhere! So pick an appetizer from their list and dig in at Charlie Chan.

The First Course (Il Primo):

Charlie Chan Pasta. If you ever enjoyed an Italian home-cooked meal the first course (Il Primo) is usually pasta. (I guess Italy picked that up from the Chinese, too!) This dish originated in The Philippine Islands, but can be found at any of the world-wide locations of The Yellow Cab Pizza Company, who invented this highly popular dish. It’s so popular a Youtube search revealed 140-plus recipes claiming to imitate the original.

Our Main Meal:

Pretty much everyone would agree that Dim Sum, a large array of Cantonese dishes, is the meal of choice for our 5-year celebration. However, some might prefer the Moo Goo Gia Pan, Beef with Broccoli, Buddha’s Delight or those famous family dinners for two, three, four or more. But where to go?. Let’s divide up and each take a place. We can Facetime or Zoom to keep in touch while we dine:

• Charlie Chan’s, Brockton, Massachusetts: https://www.charliechansma.com/
• Charlie Chan, Ontario, Canada: http://www.charliechan.ca/
• Charlie Chans Bar, Sydney Australia: http://charliechans.com.au/
• Charlie Chan, Thurso, Scotland: https://www.facebook.com/Charlie-chan-chinese-takeaway-377937769694320/?rf=183135178482252
• Charlie Chan Chinese Restaurant, Newport News, Virginia: https://www.yelp.com/biz/charlie-chan-chinese-restaurant-newport-news

Finally, we top it all off with desert:

OK, I know everyone is pretty stuffed by now, but there’s always room for that staple treat found at most every Chinese or Asian Cuisine restaurant: The Chinese Fortune Cookie! Who doesn’t love cracking open these delicious morsels of joy to find the Wisdom Within and those six lucky lottery numbers inside.

Well, our virtual celebratory feast is finished. Personally, I’m hungry now! This was just a quick taste of what you’ll find at the Postman’s Food and Drink (mae ‘ai & mea inu) link on the site. My sincere appreciation to everyone who stayed with me to achieve this 5-year mark, and I believe you’ll find some interesting things on board for the year ahead! I wish you all nothing but good fortune, prosperity and most important happiness in the new year.

Happy New Years, 2024 and Year of The Dragon, February 10, 2024 – January 28, 2025!

“Course food to eat, water to drink, and the bended arm for a pillow…that is an old definition of happiness in my country”

Behind That Curtain, 1928, Chapter 2

Postscript. This post is dedicated to the memory of long-time Chan Family Home member and Webmaster, Virginia Johnson (a.k.a. The Old Movie Maven), famously remembered for her contributions, charm and for serving-up unique virtual beverages at Monday night Chats:

• Steve: “Virginia, I’ll have a blue-tailed monkey with a twist of lime.”
• Virginia: “Coming right up. On the rocks or stirred?”

Virginia Lea Johnson, 1952 – 2021, RIP