Knifers recall Wildcat's early days
Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (May 21/01) - The fire department almost burned it down, but 22 years later the Wildcat Cafe remains a Yellowknife landmark.
There, patrons can enjoy the Wildcat's own special white fish chowder with bannock or munch on a caribou burger.
 Yellowknife entertainer Tracy Riely stands in the doorway of the famous cafe. |
Built in 1937 by prospectors Willy Wylie and Smokey Stout, the log building remained unused for nearly 30 years until a group of Old Town residents stepped in.
The Old Stope Society formed sometime around 1976 when it seemed likely the Wildcat would share a similar fate with the hotel from which the association derived its name.
Former alderman Larry Babiuk suggested that any more money council spent on the building "should be for bulldozing." The Old Stope Society persevered and in 1979, the newly renovated Wildcat was open for business.
"We were going to turn it into a bath house, but then we decided it would make a better restaurant," said Stephen Fancott, one of the founding members of the Old Stope Society and inventor of the famous Wildcat prune milkshake.
Fancott managed the restaurant the first year it was opened and admits that he was "never really any good," yet he, along with everyone else that worked there during those initial years, had fun anyway.
"There was a real sense of pride because it was a community effort," said Fran Hurcomb, one of the Wildcat's first dishwashers. "We really felt that Old Town had done this and we really wanted to do it well."
Like many employees who passed through its doors, Hurcomb found herself working at the Wildcat purely by chance.
"I had just stepped off the floatplane when a couple friends came to help us unload, and they told me I was washing dishes at the Wildcat that afternoon," Hurcomb recalled.
Even though Hurcomb started off as the dishwasher, her job description took many turns over the first few years -- sometimes cook, other times waitress, and at times everything at once.
"In those days there was a big pool of people in Old Town who all worked there, but there was no designated positions at the time," said Hurcomb. "It was all pretty flexible."
Flexible it certainly was and they had to be. Everyday presented a new challenge.
"I remember when Governor General Ed Schreyer was coming," Hurcomb said.
"We had a trout coming in from Lutsel K'e for the chowder. Patti-Kay (Hamilton) kept phoning her friends there and they kept saying, 'we're going to check the nets right now.'
"It came in on the Sched just in time. The meal was a roaring success."
John Alexander, who happened to be the maitre d' that night, and on many mornings and nights before and since, dealt with customers with typical Wildcat tactfulness.
"Good afternoon, my name is waiter and I'll be your John for the afternoon," was the typical greeting heard by customers coming in for Sunday brunch while Alexander worked there.
The Wildcat menu back in the late '70s/early '80s was just as eclectic.
"We had a very simple menu," said Alexander.
"The way we used to write up the orders to the kitchen, we'd simply write fish, pig, cow, or Italian because there were only four things on the menu. A lot of lasagna went out of that place."
Alexander is also the originator of the 911 breakfast, which is now immortalized on the current menu alongside the Shorty Brown, an egg sandwich named after the legendary local prospector.
"It's one egg, one sausage, one piece of toast, and nine pieces of hashbrowns," Alexander said.
"Someone said all I invented was the kid's breakfast, but I really couldn't stomach a pound of potatoes in the morning."
While it took until the early '90s before the Wildcat would develop a more consistent menu and a reputation as a tourism hot spot, most cooks took the early years as a learning experience.
"I was cooking chicken one evening and Steve Fancott came in and was poking around," said Lanny Cook, the Wildcat's original chef.
"He saw the chicken cooking in the oven with its absorptive wrapping still on. Needless to say he wasn't that pleased with the cook that evening."
Regardless of the pitfalls, the "little experiments," and the personality quirks that seemed to be a necessary job requirement to work there, the Wildcat Cafe has outlived its naysayers to become an essential part of Yellowknife lore.
"The tourists didn't catch on right away but the locals kept it going the first few years," said Alexander.
Like in life, however, times change. A good majority of the original Old stope Society have long since moved away along with some of the earlier staff.
Additionally, the building the Society worked so hard to renovate has grown increasing difficult to keep up to form.
"It's going through its second renaissance right now," said Fancott.
"It's changed a lot. It's become more a tourist restaurant and there's more competition. Things cost more and it's still just a small restaurant."
After more than 20 years, the Wildcat was becoming run-down again. The roof was beginning to show its tell-tale sag and the kitchen equipment is old and needs to be replaced.
For the last couple months, the Old Stope has been working to give the restaurant a second facelift.
Moreover, the Old Stope no longer enjoys the $1 dollar annual lease it use to get from the city. This year, the City put the Wildcat up for tender. Yet, Fancott insists that the Old Stope will continue to remain the restaurant's guiding light.
"We're going to stay involved with the Wildcat and co-operate with the city," Fancott said. "We're going to keep it going."
No matter what the future has in store for the Wildcat, there is no doubt that the heart of the community ensures us all that it's here to stay.
"It's being fixed up for the next 20 years," Fancott said.
Stephen Fancott's famous Wildcat prune juice milkshake
An old Wildcat Cafe favorite, although it has been off the menu for sometime. Rumour has it that it just might be making a comeback.
Ingredients:
Directions:
Place ingredients except milk into mixer or blender. Stir at medium speed until mix becomes frothy. Add a couple of shots of milk and stir again for a couple more seconds. Serve with a straw. Good for all ages.
Warning:
Prune juice milkshakes should not be consumed more than 50 feet from the nearest washroom facility.
