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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The clock is ticking for the airport's Bush Pilot Cafe, and owner Chef Pierre LePage does not mind.

Chef Pierre LePage prepares salads for his airport restaurant Bush Pilot Cafe, in the kitchen of Le Stock Pot Deli and Bakery on Monday. LePage's bid to open a second Le Stock Pot location at the airport was lost to Quiznos Canada, which will be opening a Quiznos restaurant at the airport in the Bush Pilot Cafe's space later this year. - Thandie Vela/NNSL photo

As the end of the restaurant's lease approached this year, LePage, owner of Le Frolic, Le Stock Pot Deli and Bakery and Chef Pierre's Catering and Rental Service, was among proponents who answered to the GNWT Department of Transportation's request for proposals to fill the space.

"We did put a bid on but we lost it," LePage said of his proposal to open a Le Stock Pot location at the airport, serving pizzas, panini sandwiches and cappuccino.

"We thought it would be a good idea for the airport," LePage said of his failed bid. "Somebody didn't think so.

"It's sad because it would have been nice to have another Stock Pot at the airport. I think it would have been very popular."

The request for proposals closed in May, and when LePage learned he had lost the bid and the restaurant's lease was not being renewed, the Bush Pilot Cafe grill was closed, cutting poutine and burgers from the cafe, which has since served sandwiches, salads and pastries prepared at Le Stock Pot.

"It wasn't worth it to import staff for a temporary thing," LePage said, with the end of July being the original original close date for the cafe he was given by the airport.

"We're only there to provide a minimum service," LePage said.

Earl Blacklock, Department of Transportation spokesperson, said the airport market "will only support one restaurant at this time," and the present operation will continue to provide service until the end of September.

A final agreement has not yet been signed with the winning bidder, but Quiznos brand-expansion manager Olivia Montagna confirmed with Yellowknifer that a Quiznos is expected to open at the Yellowknife Airport in October.

Proposals for the restaurant space at the airport were rated on criteria including operation experience and operations plan, financial capacity, and goods and services provided by Northern businesses, Blacklock said, adding that Northern businesses were given a priority rating.

LePage, who also operated Old Town's Wildcat Cafe for four years, took over the Yellowknife Airport restaurant formerly called the Navigator two years ago, after the restaurant's owner and operator Brad Baker was charged with warehousing more than a kilogram of cocaine in the airport's basement. Baker was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking in Supreme Court in Nov. 2009, after LePage took over and renamed the airport restaurant Bush Pilot Cafe in May of that year.

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