SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Robin Wasicuna knows some people in Yellowknife think he's a jerk.

Robin Wasicuna sits in front of his Twin Pine Diner menu written across a chalkboard wall. The new restaurant at the Arnica Inn opens this week. - Karen K. Ho/NNSL photo

But he's hoping the opening of his Twin Pine Diner at the Arnica Inn this week will prompt the community of Yellowknife to embrace him and the food he loves to make so much.

The chef behind Wiseguy Foods and Numbers at Bayside is finally opening his restaurant after pouring $11,000 in renovations to the 22-seat space. In addition to painting the walls and rebuilding the bar, Wasicuna has also taken two weeks off from operating the trailer at the Northern Frontier Visitor's Centre to finish preparations and finalize the menu. After an early morning and hours of time in the kitchen prepping, Wasicuna teared up while talking to Yellowknifer about the new levels of pressure he feels as an owner.

"Now there are bunch of guys depending on me to pay their rents," he said. The former contestant of reality television show Chopped Canada admits he yells and swears at his staff on occasion, but attributes it to the pressure he feels as both a working chef and a boss.

Before the diner came to fruition, Wasicuna said running the Wiseguy food truck for four years taught him about the day-to-day logistics of running a business. Operating Numbers at Bayside gave him six months to market-test plates and seeing what people liked.

"If you're too fancy, people will only think you're for birthdays and special occasions," he said, adding that corporate and government business isn't enough sustain most restaurants of that category in Yellowknife. "Seventy per cent of people want to eat diner food." For that reason, the Twin Pine Diner won't have cloth napkins, candles or glass bottles of water.

When it comes to the food, the Wiseguy operation also taught Wasicuna about how much people loved burgers, how well they would sell and why he needed to institute a "no modifications" policy.

"You don't tell a plumber or an electrician how to do their job, why would you tell a chef how to modify something they've taken care to make sure has balanced flavours?"

Menu items include the labour-intensive 48-hour buttermilk fried chicken marinated in chicken stock, pulled pork and coleslaw on a waffle, triple-cooked fries, Polish-style scotch eggs, fried peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as well as Denver omelettes with ham, peppers, onions and cheese. Wasicuna said he also hopes to offer grab-and-go options for customers short on time in the morning, such as a coffee and a muffin. Wasicuna said the former Epic Grill location is the ideal size to get started, especially with its low overhead.

"That's a huge factor in this business," he said. Only having to pay for rent and propane gives the Twin Pine Diner a break on operating costs, which Wasicuna said are already on a relatively small budget compared to most new restaurants.

Despite all the stress, the long hours, as well as the time away from his wife and daughter, opening the Twin Pine Diner is still considered to be Wasicuna's dream -- the culmination of 25 years in the industry. "I love it," he said simply.

The Twin Pine Diner is open for breakfast on Mondays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.

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