Food's Paradise: The food scene in Newfoundland's fastest-growing town is flourishing
Restaurants finding success in suburban area just outside St. John's
As I tried to grab the attention of one of the servers racing around the dining room with carafes of hot tea, I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me — it was like I was back in Chinatown in Toronto trying to land a table for dim sum. Crowded tables filled with families and friends, bamboo steamers piled precariously high, and the cacophony of clattering plates as more arrive at the table: it all felt familiar.
But I wasn't in Chinatown. I was in Paradise, N.L. At Jin Dragon's new location to be exact, at 1 p.m. on a Saturday — and we were lucky to get the last open table in the place.
Jin Dragon's owner Chenggu Lu and his family closed their Blackmarsh Road restaurant in the fall of 2021 with promises to reopen in Paradise soon. It turns out "soon" meant late March 2023.
Qiwu Jiang, a friend of Chenggu's who helps at the restaurant on weekends, says it's about growing the business.
"In Paradise, there are more people and fewer Chinese restaurants," he said by email. "Since Costco has moved, we have a reason to believe we can expand our business in Paradise."
More people is right.
Paradise (not quite) City
It wasn't particularly surprising when I started researching Paradise and discovered the town (population 22,957) is one of the fastest-growing municipalities in Atlantic Canada. Anecdotally, it feels like everyone my age with young children is making the move from St. John's to a new-build house in Paradise.
According to Statistics Canada's 2021 census data, Paradise is one of the fastest growing communities in N.L., with a 7.3 per cent population increase since 2016, making it now the third-largest municipality in the province — all of this despite the province's population actually dropping over the same timeframe.
In fact, since the 2006 census, the population of Paradise has grown by 82 per cent. With much of the population — 62 per cent — under the age of 45, and with just under half of the town's households larger than three people, my feeling of desertion by my friends with young families is not my imagination.
According to Statistics Canada, the median household income in Paradise in 2020 was $111,000 — significantly higher than the $75,000 median household income in St. John's, or the $71,000 median household income in the province overall.
That could mean more people with more disposable income, who will spend that money on dining out, treats and food stores.
Families aren't the only ones headed for Paradise — local restaurants and food businesses are opening second locations, or moving businesses completely, to take advantage of changing demographics and business-friendly municipal government bylaws.
A foodie haven
More and more food businesses have opened in Paradise over the past two years. After closing down their Atlantic Place location, crepe shop Crepaulie opened on Topsail Road in mid-April, while Cakey Hand, a pastry-home-business-turned-storefront, opened their shop on the same street in July 2022.
Jennifer Laplaige opened her Pur & Simple franchise — also on Topsail Road — in June 2021 because she saw a gap in the brunch and lunch market.
"It is a beautiful town, with a great community. I felt that I could bring something new," said Laplaige. "I loved coming to Paradise and walking the trails around the Octagon Pond and there wasn't a place where I could sit down and enjoy a fresh healthy meal."
Meanwhile, some food businesses are expanding into the town. Freshwater Road's Indus Eatery expanded into Paradise last winter, with its second Pakistani and Indian restaurant on McNamara Drive, while Lorne Loder and Ana Koren, owners of Cojones Tacos and Tequila, opened their second location (another one for Topsail Road) in December 2021.
"We saw it as a rapidly growing, vibrant community that was underserviced at the time," said Loder in an email exchange.
"Essentially, services hadn't yet caught up to the growth and demand in the area. Also, it is close enough to St. John's that it doesn't create management difficulties, yet far away enough in that it is a different geographical market."
Some restaurateurs who've moved to the area speak highly of the transition.
"The Town of Paradise has been wonderful to deal with, the owners of the building we occupy have been equally great to work with, and most importantly our guests have been gracious and frequent, fortunately," said Loder.
"I have received nothing but support from the town and the community in general," Laplaige said.
Next on the menu
The scene is still growing.
Banished Brewing opened its taproom in mid-April and when I visited, it was just as busy as Jin Dragon, and the owners have plans in the works for an outdoor beer garden.
Cojones owner Loder said adding an outdoor eating area at their place last summer brought in more people, and he hopes it will again this summer.
As for Jin Dragon, they have increased their dim sum offerings from one day a week to six days a week — Tuesday through Sunday — in addition to offering Cantonese and Chinese-Canadian dishes many locals know and love.
"We are doing better and better now. Reputation is most important, which is based on good food quality. People are spreading the word. Every weekend is always very busy," said Qiwu.
"We hope to open new branches of dim sum restaurants in St. John's, C.B.S. and Mount Pearl in the next few years," said Qiwu. "We hope dim sum could be as popular as sushi in N.L. in the future!"
Me too.
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