Northwest Food Fans Getting the ‘Royal Treatment”

There’s a new buzz in Vancouver when it comes to food carts. There’s a line at Winston’s British Fish and Chips at 2711 NE Andresen every day.

Compared to Portland, there really aren’t many food carts in Vancouver, but this one would stand out even if there were.   The chef is Darren McGrady, who just happened to be the personal chef for Queen Elizabeth II for 11 years, then for Princess Diana and Princes William and Harry up until her death.   McGrady came to America after Princess Di died in a car crash in 1997.

McGrady landed in Dallas and has been cooking there since.   One day he got a call from Vancouver businessman Timothy Johnson.  Johnson was born in Portland and launched a successful business.  He says it’s at the point that he’s not needed to run it day to day anymore and frankly, he was bored.  He wanted to bring a restaurant like the old Henry Beasley’s to the Northwest, so he called McGrady and pitched the idea of an authentic British Fish and Chips food cart.   McGrady said no at first, but the two hit it off and decided to give it a go.    Less than a month into the opening of the food cart, it’s been so successful the two are launching about a dozen more.

And by the way, the name Winston comes from a plush Corgi that McGrady features on his cooking channel on Youtube.