Sushi Tri Express

Tri Du came to Canada as a refugee from Vietnam at age 20. He lived comfortably on a farm in Normandin, Quebec, with the kind family who’d taken him in, until he felt it was time for a change. Lured by the big city and the potential for opportunity, he relocated to Montreal with just a few dollars in his pocket and spent his first few nights sleeping outside in the city's north end.

Soon he found a day job cleaning floors and washing dishes in a pastry shop. "The work wasn't really stimulating so I started watching the chefs to see if I could learn how to make pastries,“ he says. The chefs took well to his curiosity. They noticed what a quick study he was and began showing him the ropes. Four years after his arrival in Montreal, he'd earned the title of full-fledged pastry chef.

The pastry shop's owner soon opened a sushi restaurant. He was so impressed with Tri’s abilities he suggested Tri come to work there to learn the ins and outs of sushi-making. "I learned to be very patient working with a team of Japanese chefs," says Tri.

Tri continued to work his way up. He spent 12 years as head chef at Kaizen, a landmark sushi restaurant on Montreal’s west side. Yet he wanted more. He dreamed of opening his own place and offering high-end sushi, but at a price anyone could afford. In 2006 on a quiet stretch of Laurier Street in Montreal’s Plateau Mont-Royal, he opened Tri-Express.

On the first night, he expected it to be slow: “It’s a quiet area so I thought I’d be able to cook, serve and wash dishes all on my own. But it got so full I had to hire staff a few days later.”