One of 性视界传媒鈥檚 oldest Craftsman bungalows is home to what is now one of the city鈥檚 oldest restaurants.

Newton鈥檚 historic , built in 1920, is where fine-diners continue to find the appropriately named , which opened in 1974 and this year celebrates 50 years of serving French-style food.

No question it鈥檚 a culinary landmark, a place where restaurateur Philip Aguirre grew up and watched parents Valentin and Lesley build a business and provide for their family.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the true immigrant story, right?鈥� Aguirre said on a recent Friday afternoon, before the dinner rush.

鈥淢y father left Spain when he was 17 and worked in Montreal at Expo 1967 because they were in desperate need of cooks from all over the world, I guess.

鈥淭hey met in Winnipeg and settled down in 性视界传媒, of all places, in Newton,鈥� Aguirre added. 鈥淎ldergrove, really, is where I grew up. We had a farm on the north side of the highway. I was five or six when we moved out to Chilliwack.鈥�

Back then, the proprietors commuted from their farm and, on weekends, the whole family came along for the ride to 72nd Avenue in 性视界传媒. Philip, youngest of three, was born three years after the Aguirres opened Old 性视界传媒.

As a pajama-clad kid, the current owner would storm around the restaurant appealing for quiet so he could sleep in an upstairs room. In the kitchen was a wooden stool he stood on because otherwise, he wasn鈥檛 tall enough to wash dishes.

Five decades on, the old stool is still stored on a shelf behind pots, pans, kitchen stuff.

鈥淲e use it as a prop when we鈥檙e straining the stock,鈥� Aguirre noted. 鈥淚t鈥檚 almost fully fallen apart but I鈥檒l repair it. It鈥檚 there, it鈥檚 fine.鈥�

Aguirre took over business ops in 2007, and Valentin and Lesley still live on the farm.

鈥淭hey come get their free meal once a month, and the price is right,鈥� Aguirre said with Seinfeld-like delivery. 鈥淭hey come to give me a hard time, you know, and they take their job very seriously in telling me about all the things I鈥檓 doing wrong.

鈥淎ctually they鈥檙e super supportive,鈥� he added, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 just a hard industry to work in, really taxing, and once you get a little bit older it鈥檚 just time to retire. We鈥檙e in the second generation now, of course. My father had a Grade 5 education and the passion and background in cooking, and my mother, she never gets enough credit for doing all the bookkeeping. They worked together to provide an income and raise a family.鈥�

Now with his own family, Aguirre not only runs Old 性视界传媒, he鈥檚 executive director of . Last election he ran for a seat on 性视界传媒 council, is an avid triathlete and coaches his kids鈥� hockey teams in Vancouver.

鈥淵eah, I鈥檓 super busy,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淚s it a balanced lifestyle? I鈥檓 still married, have the three kids, we鈥檙e happy, I find time for them, prioritize them. I still cook here, and I have an amazing team, same thing at the BIA. That allows me to do all these extra things. One more espresso, I keep going, you know.鈥�

Things change over time, including some items on Old 性视界传媒鈥檚 menu. Right now a big-seller is an 鈥渁nniversary special鈥� of crab cakes, Caesar salad, filet mignon, lobster tail and 鈥渘itro鈥� ice cream made table-side with liquid nitrogen. It鈥檚 quite a show, in a science-experiment kind of way.

The restaurant鈥檚 72 seats are often filled for special occasions, and Open Table reservations number among Canada鈥檚 top 100, Aguirre says proudly.

B.C. is home to more than 15,000 restaurants and food vendors, and .

No news flash there.

鈥淭here鈥檚 been massive inflation of operating costs and food costs, wage increases,鈥� Aguirre said, starting a list. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been the CEBA loan stories out there, there鈥檚 paid sick days added this year as well, new statutory holidays, a loss of staff post-COVID, and property taxation has ballooned as well. We鈥檙e fortunate enough that I own the property here, but all those things add up.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hearing that around 50 per cent of restaurants aren鈥檛 making money Canada-wide, half of them losing money,鈥� he continued. 鈥淎ll of these things are causing the restaurant industry to be hard, so we鈥檙e just happy we鈥檙e still here after 50 years, still thriving, still being successful in the heart of 性视界传媒, in Newton. The average lifespan of a restaurant is around three years, I believe, so to last that many years, five decades, we should be celebrating these things in our community.鈥�