05/07/2022
The Utopia Cafe was started back around 1970 in Regina, Saskatchewan, opened by Roger Ing & his wife Mei.
Roger immigrated here from China in 1950, he went on to work in his father Victor's restaurant for more than two decades.
He loved painting and studying with Ken Lochhead, who introduced Roger to Abstract Expressionism.
Roger developed his own abstract style he called Rogerism or Roger Style.
His work has been featured in the MacKenzie Art Gallery, The Bridge Gallery, Regina's Albert Library and Saskatchewan Cultural Exchange Society Club Gallery.
A short mini documentary was done featuring Roger's eclectic style and personality as well as several other video shorts.
Roger showed a lot of love and support for his fellow artists and his community alike.
He made Utopia the place to be. People came from all over just to experience the Rogerism! To this day many still talk about Roger, the cafe and his art.
From greeting his customers so early in the morning, to his quick skills creating a piece of art for his excited guests, to his coffee you couldn't forget, you always came back for more. And those fries & gravy. Let's not forget Roger's famous fries in gravy! What did he put in the gravy?
I remember mom & dad taking us there when we were young. I always remember the fries & gravy!
In July of 1993 Utopia was sadly shut down as Roger was in severe violation of health codes.
At this time he decided to sell.
Rod Kempa and his business partner Harold McNally bought Utopia from Roger and reopened it as The Utopia Hard Rock Cafe.
The name and ownership were the only changes made.
Roger's legacy continued & you could still get a Roger original!
Utopia remained open until 1998, when Rod had to close the doors due to staff issues.
He has since held on to the name.
23 years later, thanks to Rod Kempa, we have the opportunity to open a small take-out cafe, under the Utopia Cafe namesake.
We are truly honored & wish to bring back Utopia in all it's glory in the near future.
Create new memories, share old ones. Maybe one day we ( The Baskerville Family ) will leave our own legacy behind.
There is a community created group for Roger Ing's Utopia Cafe here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/19470712932/?ref=share
