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Smoky flavour sets cafe apart Barbecue and fresh ingredients on the menu at Ndilo restaurantSvjetlana Mlinarevic Northern News Services Published Tuesday, November 13, 2012
The Smokehouse Cafe in Ndilo opened its doors on Friday to a rush of Yellowknifers cramming themselves into the dining room, eager to sample the wares in the cafe, which has done food preparation for several weeks while training apprentices to cook for camps. "It's really good," said Pearl Liske, who had lunch for the first time at the cafe with her four-year-old daughter, Maykala. "It's very good. I'll come back," said Ed Gullberg, who sampled the smoked fish, soup and roast beef. The buffet-style restaurant is on a rotation with its daily menu so dinners can have the opportunity to experience new flavours and dishes every day. There are different offerings each day for three weeks, when the rotation begins again "This is Northern comfort food," said Chef Roger Deleeuw, who has 26 years of experience. "I wanted to showcase the flavour of the food with fresh herbs and a smokey flavour." Deleeuw said he uses a mixture of cherry, apple, hickory and maple wood when he smokes ingredients for the restaurant's dishes. "Our signature dish is the Bison Shepherd's Pie. We smoke the milk to give it a smoky flavour and mix it into the sweet potato yams," he said. Not only does the cafe provide great meals but they're also prepared by apprentices in the Bouwa Whee Catering apprenticeship program, which prepares certified chefs and apprentices for employment in mining camps. "This is on-the-job training. I don't have to spend two years in school to get (hands-on experience)," said Brenda Stevenson, a first-year apprentice of the program who is currently learning cookery theory and technique in the culinary arts program at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology in Edmonton. The cafe's buffet is open Monday to Friday from 11:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch and from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for dinner.
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