Kakey Cheng, a migrant from Taiwan, and Enrique Aquino, a migrant from Mexico, celebrate in a very particular way tolerance, respect and love for all those who come to their restaurant, My Breakfast House, a delicious space in the heart of San Carlos that serves breakfast in a relaxed and inclusive environment against discrimination.
The small restaurant that has become a favorite among residents and that Kakey opened 11 years ago and now shares with Enrique, who is also her partner, has not suffered from bad experiences in terms of hate crimes or discrimination, however, they know that they are not exempt from what has happened in the Bay Area in recent years.
“I’m very lucky to have lived here for almost 50 years and we’ve never had those bad experiences of discrimination. I’m very shocked to see all those people attacking Asians,” Cheng told Peninsula 360 Press in an interview. “I’m very cautious about that. I don’t like walking down the street with my phone in my face, I’m always aware of my surroundings.”
According to Stop AAPI Hate, a national coalition addressing anti-Asian racism in the U.S., between March 19, 2020, and March 31, 2022, there were 11,500 hate incidents reported to the organization's reporting center.
The mix of cultures in the Bay Area is perfectly displayed in this space that feeds everyone who comes to the place with great quality.
My Breakfast House, which is open daily from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is run by Cheng and Aquino, who as a couple have experienced discrimination together elsewhere.
"Only once as a couple did we have a bad experience going out to dinner at an expensive place. Some people have stereotypes that Asians and Latinos don't tip, so they don't get served properly," they said.
However, in their space it is not like that, because for them, "service is fundamental," says Kakey, "it is treating their clients like family, having a personal touch in the service."
Enrique, who has at least a couple of decades of experience in the hospitality industry such as restaurants, hotels, etc., learned from the bottom up, which allowed him to apply best practices in this space, offering excellent quality, without forgetting his roots.
A Taiwanese and a Mexican are an explosion of flavors and cultures, so Kakey and Enrique have had to overcome obstacles. The main challenges when working together was the language, since their English is not the best, but love, patience, respect and tolerance have led them to success. “We communicate very well.”
The other challenge was food, deciding where to go to the restaurant and what to eat, but now she eats a little spicy food and likes Mexican food. Whereas when he went to her home country, she told him he could eat whatever he wanted but please don't tell him what it was.
For Enrique, there are not many differences between Latin and Taiwanese culture. “We are almost the same, however, Kakey had heard that Mexicans and Latinos in general are very party-goers and that if they earn 10 dollars they spend 9. “That was my first concern when I met him, but everything has gone very well and we even have very similar food and very similar family traditions.”
But, like any couple, they found many things in common: a love of working and the importance of family and parents in particular. "How we take care of our parents when they are old is very different from the American culture, which dumps them in nursing homes."
"We invite you to come and try our breakfasts, which are delicious. I'm not the ones saying it, the people are," says Enrique.
Watch the interview with Enrique and Kakei on the channel YouTube by Peninsula 360 Press.
This publication was supported in whole or part by funding provided by the State of California, administered by the California State Library.
You may be interested in: What is a hate crime? Recognize the signs and report
