Fuego relights culinary fire
Downtown Yellowknife dining room reopens with fresh menu
Walter Strong
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, October 1, 2014
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When Sato Chankasingh re-opened Yellowknife's Twist resto-lounge earlier this spring, he also announced that the Fuego dining room downstairs would be back this fall.
Restaurant supervisor Bonita Marie Bohnet serves a ginger spice cake dessert last weekend at Fuego. The popular Yellowknife restaurant reopened recently. - Walter Strong/ NNSL photo |
The doors to Fuego are now open.
Downstairs from Twist, Fuego shares the 50 Street entrance with the upstairs lounge, but that is where any similarity between the two ends.
With separate menus and separate kitchens, Fuego has seating for 119, adding to Yellowknife's downtown restaurant scene.
"What makes us so different is that we have two different kitchens, and two different styles, but we can
accommodate anything," Chankasingh said.
"If a family wants to come downstairs (for example) we can do a kid-friendly menu with burgers from upstairs."
Popular on Fuego's new menu are the duck confit spring rolls served with apple chutney and the wild mushroom ravioli in a house Alfredo sauce.
On the grill are a buffalo ribeye, New York striploin, and pork and beef tenderloins served with a choice of four sauces. Other menu item main dishes include blackened pickerel with mango salsa, grilled char, chicken souvlaki, roasted portabella panko and rack of lamb.
It took approximately $150,000 in renovations to take care of extensive water damage from flooding last December.
Renovations were complete this past winter, but Chankasingh decided on a two-phase reopening for the Twist and Fuego.
With Twist, he was hoping to take advantage of a busy summer tourist season when he reopened this spring, but that didn't pan out. It was a disappointing summer due to the intense forest fires.
"It was one of our slowest summers on record," said Chankasingh.
He waited until now to reopen Fuego seeing winter's long dark pall of cold nights and short days as the prime season for dining out.
Fuego is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday from 4:30 until 10 p.m. Reservations are recommended.
