- by Hub staff

A three-continent adventure and it all continues in Owen Sound.
The owners of one of Owen Sound's newest restaurants, Oregano Bistro, have been across the globe and found home.

Ping is a seamstress who worked in Toronto for a fashion designer, travelling up to Owen Sound three days every week before buying a home here. Jimmy had a number of restaurants in London, England where he lived and worked in the business for 27 years.

Ping and Jimmy were classmates and friends in Guang Zhou, China and met again years later at a school reunion. They each returned home after the reunion – Ping to Canada and Jimmy to England.

But the spark had been lit – or re-lit in Jimmy's case. He confessed that he had always been a "secret admirer". They visited each other's continents, and North America won.

To complete the romantic story, Ping and Jimmy were married in Owen Sound on Valentines Day – February 14, 2013.

Now Jimmy has a restaurant in Owen Sound – Oregano Bistro in the the former Villa Nina Bistro just opposite the harbour on 10th Street East. Ping's niece Helen, a student studying law at Georgian College, will be helping out with the restaurant and intends to make Owen Sound her permanent home.

We had the delight of being Ping and Jimmy's guests one afternoon at a photo shoot – after all, someone had to eat all that food after the pictures were taken. We sat at the homey round table by the window and enjoyed a feast of international dishes, beginning with both a seafood soup and a pumpkin bisque, and proceeding through salads, grilled vegetables, shrimp toasts and perfectly grilled steak, pork chop and salmon.

While we were there, the sun went down and the lights came on in the harbour. Couples came in for dinner, and a Toronto transplant friend, already a Bistro regular, dropped in for a meal before heading off to an evening woodworking class. We wondered what our vegetarian friend enjoyed most on the menu. She ordered her "usual" - the signature salad featuring strawberries and goat cheese, and was excited to sample the new Mediterranean fried rice. Apparently this dish, so common on our Chinese menus was originally an Italian creation, with the main ingredient coming west with the spice trade and the recipe travelling back east on the same route.

The Oregano Bistro, a 28-seat licensed restaurant is open for dinner, Wednesday through Sunday, from 3:30 to 9:30.
Look for Billy Goodkat's original mural on the front, and the new sign any day now!