Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Mar 29/02) - Chef Ivan Rychtarik started his cooking apprenticeship in 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, where he stayed 15 years working in the best hotels and fine dining rooms, but grew tired of the repressive political climate.

"I decided I had enough of communism," Rychtarik recalled with a laugh. "I packed up and went to Ontario."

He lived and worked in Kingston for his uncle learning the North American style of cooking. From Kingston, he went to Banff and then Calgary, before he came to Inuvik.

He had a call from a friend who said they needed help in the kitchen at the Finto.

"At the time, I didn't want to come here," he admits. "I said, 'It's too cold there and too far away.'"

"After a while I found that it's not too bad here; it's a nice community, it's peaceful and you find your own things to do."

He starts his work day at 9 a.m, preparing for the lunch crowd. Once lunch is served he begins to prepare the dinner menu.

"It's always a lot of work -- you have to be very organized," he said.

They offer six daily special, which are always changing and Thursday night is pasta night, where a variety of pastas and sauces are offered on a buffet.

The Peppermill is always busy for the Sunday brunch, offering fresh roast beef, omelettes made-to-order, fresh fruit, pastries and of course, eggs benedict.

"The whole town comes here for brunch; we're the only place that serves it now," the chef says. "A few others have tried it, but our secret here is everything is fresh."

"Gerhardt (Ehler), the boss takes care of the desserts: cakes, pies, fresh bread and croissants are all made from scratch," he said. "It makes the people feel like home."

He says he and the executive chef put in some long days and have a hard time holding onto staff.

"We never have enough staff," he said. "We train them here and the big oil companies take them away; they can afford to pay a lot more than we can."

"We train them and lose them; it's a vicious circle."

Along with the staff shortages, there is also the logistic problems of getting fresh product on the tables.

"Providing fresh salads and fresh fruits from California and Florida is quite an effort from everyone involved in this process," he says. "Here, you really have to think ahead."

In preparation for breakup, they order enough dry goods to get them through, but the fresh product has to be flown in.

"The cost of doing business here is very high."

While the days are long and there are many stresses in his profession, Rychtarik says he stays in cooking because he loves to make people happy with his creations and thrives on the fast pace.

"It's a challenge everyday," he says. "It's quite a big show and it's not only today's show; it's tomorrow's show and so on and so on."