Vancouver’s popular Memphis Blues may now be serving all that is delicious and tender in 5 locations (two in the city, two in the burbs, one in Kelowna), but no matter how big it gets, it’s doubtful that we’ll ever think of the Southern Barbecue restaurants as amounting a “chain”. They’re just too good for aspirational veneers or airs. Memphis Blues is what it is, which is as honest and unpretentious an operation as any diner (red in tooth and claw) could possibly hope for. We’ve long suspected the same was true of owners George Siu (above right) and Park Heffelfinger (above left), as further evidenced by their answers to the following questions…

Name the thing that you eat that is bad for you that you will never stop eating?

George: pork rinds.

Park: ice cream.

Default drink/cocktail of choice?

George: Pimms No.1 with ginger ale and a slice of cucumber.

Your favourite word?

George: “absolutely”.

Park: I can’t use it.

Your least favourite word?

George: “no”.

Park: “can’t”.

Your favourite curse word?

George: fuck.

Park: that’s the one I can’t use.

The character flaw in others that you can’t abide?

George: rudeness.

Park: indecisiveness, I think.

How do you know when you can trust someone?

George: by their actions.

Park: when you’ve broken bread with them.

Your favourite sound?

George: Champagne cork popping.

Park: frying bacon.

Your least favourite sound?

George: alarm clock in the morning.

Park: screaming baby.

Your favourite smells?

George: barbeque, garlic.

Park: frying bacon and baking bread.

Your least favourite smells?

George: durian (though I still eat it).

Park: poopy diaper.

The Vancouverite that you admire most and why?

Park: John the Oyama sausage guy, great products.

Your role models?

Park: Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Where is your favourite local patio?

George: Lift.

Park: my house.

Name three drinks/cocktails you’ll never have again?

George: sweet martinis, Southern Comfort, mezcal.

Park: Cosmopolitan, Pina Colada, Pink Lady.

The historical personalities, both good and bad, that fascinate you the most?

George: Homer (as in The Iliad).

Park: Trudeau, Ghandi, my mother.

What trend have you followed that you now regret?

George: skinny ties.

The dumbest thing that you’ve ever done to your hair?

George: my Mom permed my hair when I was 11, thanks Mom.

Park: Simon LeBon pigtail.

What are the three things you’d like to change about Vancouver?

George: less rain, less whining, less bureaucracy to open a business.

Park: transportation, crime, large chain restaurants.

Is there a local bartender who could sell you anything?

George: Jay Jones.

Your go to, no-frills place for dinner?

George: No. 1 Beef Noodle House

Park: any good Vietnamese restaurant & Congee Noodle House.

If you could board a plane this afternoon, where would it be taking you?

George: New York.

Park: Hawaii.

The strangest place you’ve ever been to?

George: karaoke bar in China right across the border from Macau.

Park: Casablanca.

The books that made an impact in your formative years?

George: Animal Farm, Lord of the Rings.

Park: Lord of the Rings, Lord of the Flies, Catcher in the Rye.

Who’s style do you covet?

George: I make my own!

Park: Mario Batali’s.

Where was the last place you traveled to for work or pleasure?

George: Paris.

Park: the Okanagan.

What is your biggest phobia?

George: heights.

Park: running out of food.

Where did you go to school?

George: a tour of East Van high schools.

Park: Winnipeg.

What did you major in as an undergraduate?

George: majored in finding out structured school wasn’t for me.

Park: Sociology and Drama (of course).

The cliché that you overuse?

George: Absolutely!

The strangest talent that you possess?

Park: I piss people off easy.

Shoe of choice?

George: flip flops.

Park: Crocs.

The different career path that you could have gone on?

George: Sales – I can talk to anyone.

Park: I could have been an actor.

Your ancestry?

George: Mom is from Hong Kong, Dad is Chinese/Tahitian.

Park: Swiss / American

Your three favourite films?

George: Local Hero, Body Heat, Lord of the Rings, and something else.

Park: 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Thin Red Line, Doctor Zhivago.

Television show that you could tolerate re-runs of?

George: Seinfeld.

Park: Any of the ‘River Cottage’ series.

Under what circumstances would you join the army?

George: threat of death.

Park: if we invade the USA.

Your most regrettable purchase ever?

Park: a Kobo!

Your major character flaw?

George: impatience.

Park: irreverence.

What was the luckiest moment in your life?

George: every day.

Park: realizing I had a complete life with my two girls and wife.

What was the unluckiest moment in your life?

Park: getting hit by a car in grade 6.

What are you the most proud of?

George: my family (wife, 2 daughters).

Park: my family (wife, 2 daughters).

What is the best thing about your work?

George: how excited people get when they come in and eat our food.

Park: people. I love the staff, my customers. I truly do. Interacting with people.

What is the worst thing about your work?

George: long hours.

Park: the daily grind.

The relatively normal piece of clothing that you believe you’d look the most ridiculous in?

George: skinny jeans (doesn’t suit a guy who is short and stocky).

Park: spandex workout pants.

The talent that you wish you possessed?

George: NHL calibre hockey skills.

Park: playing a musical instrument.

What are you listening to as you answer these questions?

George: my wife’s voice.

Park: blues!!

What musical instrument do you secretly long to play?

George: guitar.

Park: banjo.

What sport did you give up and why?

George: football, no time and it’s a young man’s game.

Park: distance swimming, laziness.

What is the game that you’re best at?

Park: euchre.

What is the one animal that scares you the most?

George: shark.

Park: wasp.

If you had a motto, what would it be?

George: live it to the max, play until it hurts.

Park: Barbeque…it aint’ just for breakfast any more.

Scariest situation you’ve ever been in?

Park: thrown up against a wall by the Shah of Iran’s secret police.

George: shit, like I can top that! Okay, turbulence on a flight to Hong Kong.

The thing that makes you the happiest?

George: travelling with my family.

Park: being with my family.

The thing that makes you the angriest?

George: people who don’t follow through with their promises.

Park: lack of sleep

Three things of no monetary value that you own and will keep dearly until you die?

George: memories of the trips & meals eaten with my family.

Park: Yeah, memories are good. Love of my family, and that includes extended family (brothers and sisters), friendship, and my family signet ring.

The strangest road you’ve ever travelled?

Park: Khyber Pass.

George: tripping out with the poet Bill Bissett (a friend for over 20 years).

Your first memory?

George: eating deep fried sweet potatoes at a food cart in Taiwan (where I was born).

The first album that made you love music?

George: The Ventures (surf music).

Park: Beatles Long Tall Sally

The song that you could listen to on repeat for an hour?

Park: Are ‘Friends’ Electric? by Gary Numan.

The best way to die?

George: in your sleep

The song that you want played at your funeral?

Park: ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay

The one place that you have the least interest in ever visiting?

George: Midwest USA,

Park: Las Vegas

The first three things that you do every morning?

George: let the dog out (Brisket, a 70 pound, American bulldog/pitbull cross we rescued from the SPCA ), make an espresso, catch highlights on TSN.

Park: make coffee, have a steam shower, eat breakfast.

Have you ever fired a gun?

George & Park: Yes. Staff party at a gun range, tons of fun.

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