Yellowknife (Mar 17/00) - There's a new aroma filtering through the Gallery Neighbourhood Pub these days that is turning the place into a popular stomping ground during suppertime.

Home cooking by longtime Yellowknife chef Lise Nault.

Forty-five-year-old Nault, who's now offering daily lunches at the Cave Club as well as catering to both the Cave and the Gallery in the evenings, is having no trouble keeping customers faithful.

As well as fresh hamburgers made from scratch, patrons can dig into home-made pizzas, tacos, home-made soups, mega-sandwiches, stews as well as vegetarian dishes.

Nault, who has been cooking since she was 16, first came to Yellowknife in 1991 from Winnipeg to work as a bush cook.

A Metis, Nault literally has cooking in her blood as her grandmother was a caterer and her mother owns a restaurant in Manitoba.

"I've been here nine years and I've never been out of work, I've had to turn down more work than I can possibly handle," Nault says.

As well as cooking for years in bush camps, she's also worked at the Diner and as well as taking on a five-year stint helping manage Bullock's Bistro.

And while she enjoyed working for Bullock's -- she knows the ingredients to the Bistro's famous secret sauce -- she says the time had come to branch out on her own.

"Cooking is something I haven't gotten tired of, I still find it a challenge. I like to throw myself into it. Having the freedom to do the types of food I like, the ones that are a little out of the norm, is a great way to make a living," Nault says.

Nault notes it's also a great experience being able to run her business from the Gallery.

"They (management of the Cave and the gallery) give me total independence. Lisa (Tesar) is great and always open to new ideas."

Bitchin' kitchen

While she's yet to get a name for her business -- so far it's become affectionately known as the Bitchin' Kitchen -- Nault's not stopping with her lunch and dinner menus at the Gallery and the Cave. As well as running several food booths at this summer's Funk Fest, Nault also plans to run several outdoor food kiosks along Franklin Ave. once the snow melts.

"Each one will offer different foods, and I'm hoping to be able to hire summer students to run them."

So, now that we know what's on the menu, how's the food?

Well, if we take the word of one of Nault's newest regulars, it's safe to say Nault's kitchen won't be moving anytime soon.

"Awesome," says Jimmy Polson, a 32-year worker at Con mine who is quickly finding himself addicted to her 1/4-pounders.

"Her hamburgers are always fresh. This is not ball park cooking. After working all day, this is one meal I look forward to. I won't have to eat again until the morning," Polson says.

"You go to Wayne Gretzky's All Star restaurant in New York City -- it's got 62 television sets -- and it's ball park, stadium-type food. This is the real McCoy," Polson says.

So, now that she's left Bullocks, and going solo, any chance Nault will cough up the recipe for the secret sauce?

"No way!," she exclaims.

"I get people asking me that every day. There's no way I'll ever tell. Renata would have my head on a plate if I ever let that cat out of the bag."