"“S ORRY. IT'S A SECRET. Goodbye.” This was the answer I got when, about a year ago, on a creative whim, I cold-called Wing Noodles, Montreal's oldest and largest maker of fortune cookies, asking if I could photograph the manufacturing process of their cookies."
"Then, last November, I learned that Gilbert and Garnet Lee, brothers and co-owners of the Wings factory that had been in the family-and in Montreal's historic Chinatown-since 1897, had sold their heritage-status building. Gilbert was awaiting a double knee replacement, and Garnet's children had no interest in running a factory. Wing Noodles was to be shuttered at the end of 2025. Their beloved cookies, sauces, egg roll wrappers, and noodles would be no more."
"The next morning, I went down to Wings in person. I explained to the smiley yet harried receptionist, Alice Choi, that I was hoping to speak to the owners about photographing their very last batch of fortune cookies. She told me neither of the Lee brothers was in. I pulled out my business card. She pulled out a two-by-two-inch neon chartreuse sticky note, insisting that a letter would look more professional. I filled that sticky note, front and back, with a heartfelt plea."
"I zipped back inside and asked Alice if she could retrieve my letter. “Oh, and can I also borrow a stapler?” I attached my fortune to the note: “You find beauty in ordinary things.” Then I added a PS: “This is what people often tell me about my photos . . . I promise to make your cookies look beautiful too!”"
Wing Noodles, Montreal’s oldest and largest fortune cookie maker, planned to close at the end of 2025 after more than sixty years. Brothers Gilbert and Garnet Lee, co-owners since 1897 in Montreal’s historic Chinatown, sold the heritage-status building because Gilbert faced health issues and Garnet’s children did not want to run the factory. A photographer sought permission to photograph the manufacturing process and was initially refused with a secretive goodbye. After returning in person, writing a heartfelt letter on a neon sticky note, and leaving a fortune cookie as a small gesture, the photographer continued follow-ups for weeks. Eventually, access was granted to witness and photograph the last batch of cookies.
Read at The Walrus
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