DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
When Colin Beaulieu goes to work, he almost never has anyone else there to help out when things get busy.
Colin Beaulieu is the short-order cook at Deninu Diner in Fort Resolution. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo |
Beaulieu is a short-order cook at Deninu Diner in Fort Resolution, and he is the only employee of the restaurant.
"It's kind of hectic," he said, adding he doesn't mind the work.
Beaulieu said he has no secrets for how he gets through the busy times.
"I have no idea how I do it," he said. "I just do it."
That means taking orders, preparing the meals and serving them to diners, sometimes up to 10 or 15 customers at a time in the nine-table restaurant, and making sure the meals for guests at the same table arrive at the same time.
"There's a built-in mechanism that I can do more than one thing at a time and still kind of remember," said Beaulieu, who only got a helper during the extremely busy time at Fort Resolution Spring Carnival from March 21 to 24.
At times he feels frazzled.
"But I just can't walk," he said when asked if he has ever come close to throwing up his hands and quitting when it gets really hectic. "Even if I were to quit at the moment, I would have to finish what I'm doing before I would quit or walk away. I would never walk away with everything undone. I would finish it all off and maybe then walk."
Luckily for the people of Fort Resolution and visitors to the community it has never gotten to that point. Deninu Diner is the only restaurant in the community of about 500 people and there hadn't been a restaurant there for years before it opened in 2012.
Beaulieu, who is of Metis heritage and raised in Fort Resolution, understands the importance of having a restaurant in the community and providing another place for people to go.
"I enjoy working and providing the service to the community, because I would like to go to a restaurant, too," he said.
Beaulieu is not a formally-trained cook. Instead, he learned to prepare meals at home and by watching other people.
"I've always sort of cooked for my friends," he said. "I'm not a chef. I just experiment."
His only other experience as a cook was briefly helping out at the community hall about 20 years ago.
The 50-year-old has worked at Deninu Diner for four months.
The diner, which is operated by Deninu Ku'e First Nation, is open from Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The restaurant serves burgers, fries, chicken nuggets, poutine, breakfasts, sandwiches, onion rings and more.
"It's all pretty basic, but then everyone likes my clubhouse. I make a lot of clubhouses," Beaulieu said, explaining that may be because the sandwiches are big.
He also does some catering as part of the job. So far, he has prepared food for several meetings of between 50 and 100 people.
Before starting working at the restaurant, Beaulieu cleaned houses, was a part-time janitor at Deninu School and managed an apartment building for the Fort Resolution Housing Authority.
Beaulieu is not sure how much longer he will be working at Deninu Diner, but for now he is enjoying the job.
"I enjoy cooking and seeing people being satisfied with the meals they eat," he said. "I do my best."
