Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Nov 08/02) - A woman who's been feeding people in the Delta for the past 20 years set up shop in Inuvik two weeks ago at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex.

Susie Lucas recently opened Susie's Kitchen at the Midnight Sun Recreation Complex where she's extended the operating hours and offers a wide variety of foods including fresh soup each day and Eskimo donuts. - Terry Halifax/NNSL photo

Susie Lucas is originally from Tuk, but moved to Inuvik five years ago. She's been a camp cook for the past 20 years.

Lucas decided to open Susie's Kitchen when she realized that it might be slow working as a camp cook this winter.

"The oil companies were very slow this winter, so I needed to do something this winter," Lucas said.

Recognizing her clientele will be somewhat different in town than cooking in camp, she's designed a menu that will cater to the younger crowd too.

"In camp, they like a lot of meat and potatoes, they don't much care for junk food too much," she said. "They work outside in that cold weather so you need things like stew and chili."

Lucas learned to cook on her own and most of her recipes are also her own.

"I was always interested in doing it," Lucas said. "I started cooking almost 30 years ago and have stuck with it ever since."

The concession menu used to be limited to junk foods, but Lucas added home made soup, and her own Eskimo donuts -- fried dough --and cinnamon buns and other home cooking to the menu.

"Sometimes I'll make soup or stew with bannock," she said. "I made chili one day and it went really quick."

"If I have fish, I'll make fish and chips too."

She also plans to add some Banks Island muskox to the menu.

Susie's Kitchen opens each day from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then reopens from 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

"It all depends on the hockey players," she said. "It gets really busy after school when the kids come here to play hockey."

She does most of the prep work herself in the day and gets some much-needed help from her daughter Lena when it gets busy.

So far she says she's enjoyed the change in cooking and likes to try new things to see what works.

"It's interesting and a challenge to see what sells the most," she says.

"Some stuff is good for kids and some stuff is good for adults."