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Carol Janeczko, owner of Little Mexico Cantina in Steveston, is grateful for the community's support.
Photo by Don Fennell
It takes a village, never truer says Little Mexico Cantina owner
Carol Janeczko is one grateful woman, after the fateful call the morning of March 13, 2018.
Carol Janeczko is one grateful
woman, after the fateful call the morning of March 13, 2018.
“I got a phone call saying there
was a fire and I came down here as quickly as I could,” says the owner of the
Little Mexico Cantina in Steveston.
She’s clear, the health inspector
always told them how clean their kitchen was and there wasn’t anything in the
kitchen that caused the fire. Instead, it was something combustible in the
back.
“There was a lot of smoke and
water damage, more so than fire (damage),” she says.
Janeczko has owned the restaurant
for the last five of its 30 years. It has become a local fixture.
It turns out Richmond has shown
it’s more than just a place to eat. The Little Mexico Cantina and Janeczko are
important parts of our community if the actions of local people are any
indication.
“There were a lot of people in
the community that actually helped me rebuild,” she says.
When asked about what unexpected
challenges she had, Janeczko counters with gratitude, “Actually, everybody was
actually unbelievable. The city was amazing. The fire marshal was amazing. The
community has been amazing.”
She also faced an unexpected
personal challenge.
“I was diagnosed with an
aggressive breast cancer in June and I’ve overcome that. I’m super excited to
be back in the community.”
So what’s the Little Mexico
Cantina like today?
“The décor is definitely
different,” Janeczko says. “The layout is very similar. I never wavered. It was
always in the forefront that I would re-open.”
When asked if there were any
special people to thank, Janeczko replied, “It’s just the community in its entirety.
Everybody’s been rallying around us and supporting us. And, since we’ve opened,
we’ve been extremely busy. People have been very kind and very patient and very
attentive to the fact that we are open and to the fact that there were some
challenges, not only the fire but cancer.”
And, not long after reopening and
the all clear on the cancer, came more good news. “We just won the Vancouver
Foodster Taco Challenge when we opened. So it’s “Best Taco’s (in the) Lower
Mainland.”
They have won every year they
entered. “We didn’t enter last year because of the fire and we also won best
ceviche two years ago,” she says.
Featuring authentic regional
Mexican cuisine, that takes time to prepare from scratch, the Little Mexico
Cantina’s future looks good as Janeczko celebrates her fifth anniversary of
ownership. “It’s amazing to be back.”
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