Restaurant owner’s sweet gesture for cancer patient
A restaurant has performed a very generous act for a terminally ill woman who loved their tempura broccoli but lived too far away to buy it.
A screenshot of a Facebook post, written by the son-in-law of a woman dying of stage-four cancer was shared by Zeke Cohen, a member of Baltimore City Council in the US.
The Facebook post, written by the son-in-law, is essentially a "shout out" to Ekiben, a restaurant in Baltimore.
The Baltimore Sun identified the man as Brandon Jones and his wife as Rina.
"My mother-in-law lives in Vermont and would visit my wife and her sister throughout the years," the Facebook post says.
"Whenever she was in town, Ekiben's tempura broccoli was something she always needed to have. She always joked about when she's on her deathbed that if there's anything in the world, she wants tempura broccoli from Ekiben."
However, in late December, the mother-in-law was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer and Mr Jones explained her quality of life has been reduced due to the treatment.
Earlier in March, he said he would be making a trip with his family to see his mother-in-law and potentially say their goodbyes.
The six-hour drive would obviously spoil the broccoli, so Mr Jones reached out to Ekiben's owners to see if they could get the recipe or some of the ingredients to make the broccoli for themselves.
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However, owner Steve Chu had a much better idea.
"Thanks for reaching out. Ephrem and I are more than willing to meet you guys in Vermont and make the food fresh so it will be just like what she remembered," Mr Chu replied.
Mr Jones said he was in "disbelief" at the lengths the owners of the restaurant were willing to go to.
"There's still hope for humanity,"Mr Jones said in his Facebook post.
"If you haven't tried Ekiben, do so. This gesture alone speaks volumes."
On March 16, the Baltimore Sun reported Mr Chu, Ephrem Abebe and Joe Añonuevo ended up making the six-hour trip and set up the fryer in the back of their truck to ensure they were giving Mr Jones' mother-in-law a Covid-safe dining experience.
The smell of the broccoli ended up reminding her of Baltimore and she was able to enjoy the her meal.
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