Erika Sherk
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Two hotel restaurants in Yellowknife have been re-opened, with new owners, new menus, and a whole lot of family involved.

The Diamond Grill, which has taken over the Discovery Inn space that was the Red Apple Family Restaurant for years, is now being run by three brothers and their three wives.

Down the street on Frankline Ave. in the Chateau Nova hotel, The Millwright, which is keeping its old name, is now under the charge of Scott Cutting and Mary Kodakin. Cutting's son and Kodakin's daughter are on their way to join the effort as well.

"We're keeping it a family thing," said Cutting.

The Diamond Grill, which opened quietly about a month ago, is now run by the Do family.

Nhan, Trong, Hoa, Thao, Hoang, and Kim-Ngan Do have taken over the old Red Apple Restaurant.

"Working with family? It's a headache," laughed Nhan, who bought the restaurant with his business partner Brad Baker, "but you've got to try it."

"I've been working in restaurants for so long," he continued.

"I said, now it's time to work with the family."

They have created a whole new menu, with Northern specialties such as arctic char eggs benedict, healthy choices like yogurt and granola, and a whole range of Western and Vietnamese dishes.

The Dos are from Vietnam originally, so the dishes are authentic, said Nhan.

"We're hoping it's going to be very busy," he added.

The Millwright restaurant is up and running again, and pub-going Yellowknifers might even recognize the face in the kitchen.

Cutting was a chef at the Black Knight pub since his arrival in the city with partner Kodakin three years ago, he said. He left at the end of March.

He enjoyed the job, he said, but wanted to branch out on his own. Kodakin was a willing partner.

"I always wanted to run something for myself," she said, who said her history of office jobs was getting stale.

"We were tired of working for other people."

"We decided, 'to heck with it'," said Cutting, "'let's do something totally different'."

They bought the restaurant, only to have the hand-over day get pushed further and further back.

Then, when they arrived, they found an empty restaurant - the tables and chairs they had been led to expect were nowhere to be seen.

It was a challenge, said Cutting, but the two got down to work and opened the restaurant June 9.

They kept it quiet because they wanted to get things running smoothly before spreading the word about it, said Cutting.

The restaurant, located on the third floor of the Chateau Nova hotel, is fairly well hidden if you don't know it is there.

That's been one of the challenges, according to Cutting - "the awkwardness of being off the beaten path."

He is hoping, however, that the news of their food will start to spread.

His specialty, grilled pickerel, has been a hit so far.

"People were just raving about it," said Kodakin.

Last Sunday was the restaurant's inaugural brunch buffet and it was a success, the two said.

"The brunch will be a highlight," said Cutting.