#IamMGH Vendors – Meet Jack Chen

#IamMGH tells the stories of our people. To celebrate the opening of the Moez & Marissa Kassam Food Court in the Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre, we’re highlighting the people behind our food and retail vendors. Meet Jack Chen, Operator of JK Pizza and Oriental Chopsticks at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH).  

“My journey in the food service industry began 20 years ago when I operated a small coffee shop. After a few years of overseeing this business, I wanted to further pursue my love for cooking by opening a restaurant. I opened my first restaurant in an office building and created a menu of Asian and Western cuisine, including General Tso's chicken, pizza and breakfast foods.  

While running this restaurant, I heard Michael Garron Hospital (MGH) was taking applications for food vendors and immediately knew this would be the perfect opportunity for me to continue growing my business and share my passion for cooking. In 2009, when my application was accepted, I couldn’t wait to share my passion of food with a diverse range of staff, physicians, learners, volunteers and patients in this new environment. 

Over the years, I have operated many different restaurants at MGH with my first being a pizza shop. When the construction for the Ken and Marilyn Thomson Patient Care Centre (Thomson Centre) started in 2018, we opened Oriental Chopsticks in the previous cafeteria space on the fourth floor of the hospital. With time, we were then able to open our second location of Oriental Chopsticks on the first floor. While I operated these two locations, I continued to serve a variety of dishes from Asian and Western cuisines. 

When the Thomson Centre opened, I relocated my restaurants to one location in the new food court. Given the opportunity to expand my restaurants, I decided to open Oriental Chopsticks, which focuses on Asian cuisine, and JK Pizza, which focuses on Western cuisine. JK Pizza, our newest restaurant, is named after myself and my wife, Kim, who does an extraordinary job with managing both restaurants with me.  

I am grateful for this new space in the food court. With both my restaurants beside each other, I can more efficiently run them. When I’m needed at either location, it’s just a few steps for me to go over and offer my support.”