SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Le Stock Pot head baker Xavier Fabien knew it was the end on Sunday when he arrived at the downtown deli and bakery as usual for the next day's preparations and was told there would be no work on Monday.
Chef Pierre LePage said Monday all of his businesses are closed, including Le Frolic Bistro and L'Héritage Restaurant on 49 Street. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo
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Owner chef Pierre LePage's partner Margaret Pawluk officially broke the news to employees on Monday that Le Stock Pot and Le Frolic Bistro were shutting down, Fabien said.
"She said she was crying all night last night," Fabien said Monday.
As about a dozen employees gathered at Le Stock Pot on Monday to collect outstanding paycheques, LePage confirmed all his businesses had closed. In addition to the downtown bistro and deli, the restaurateur operated Chef Pierre's Catering and Rental Service, which includes the Aurora Conference Centre.
"Everything's closed. I'm broke," LePage said, before referring questions to Pawluk.
Pawluk declined to comment, but the fragile financial state of LePage's sole proprietorship has been widely known.
Last October, LePage told Yellowknifer he had been considering selling Le Frolic to pay off debt, but had since taken the restaurant off the market.
Le Frolic was LePage's first business in town, opened in 1999. The chef quickly gained popularity in the capital, known for his high-end French cuisine and also for his Bastille Day celebrations, during which he would dress up as Napoleon each year for the French Revolution party at Le Frolic.
Brad Morrissey, who was front house manager at Le Frolic from 2007 through 2010 before leaving to take over as operations manager for Bouwa Whee Catering, operator of Smokehouse Cafe in Ndilo, said the closing of the 49 Street restaurant represents a loss for the community.
"I'm very sad. I mean, Frolic was one of my favourite, favourite places to go to work and just to go as a customer. So it's really a sad day for Yellowknife that Le Frolic has to be done," Morrissey said. "It's really too bad."
Fabien said he had helped LePage keep Le Stock Pot bakery and deli above water over the past three years by getting Chef Pierre baked goods on retail shelves, including the Yellowknife Co-op and corner stores, in schools, and for special bush orders.
"It's sad to see him get into this position but it's not closing because of my part of the job," Fabien said.
LePage first announced he was undergoing creditor protection in 2010, citing a decline in business at all his operations across the city due to a drop in tourism and a slumping Yellowknife economy.
That year, Nico's Market, a grocery store operated by his numbered company 9094486 NWT Ltd. in Center Ice Plaza, was closed just months after opening, and became the subject of testy asset negotiations with landlord Polar Developments.
Court documents at the time indicated that LePage, who was also operating the Bush Pilot Cafe at the Yellowknife Airport and the Wildcat Cafe during the summers, employed more than 80 people overall.
Since losing Nico's, the airport service contract, and the Wildcat Cafe contract, employees estimated that number had dropped to about 30 employed by LePage.
Speaking on behalf of the Yellowknife Chamber of Commerce, past-president Larry Jacquard extended his thoughts to Chef Pierre and the employees.
"The chamber of commerce is deeply saddened to see any business close in downtown Yellowknife, let alone three established businesses. Chef Pierre with Le Stock Pot, Le Frolic and Aurora Conference Centre have been landmarks for the city of Yellowknife and they will be greatly missed as businesses that were well-attended by the locals and tourists alike," Jacquard said.
Doors of Le Frolic and Le Stock Pot were closed at lunchtime Monday.
