SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A cozy, popular and unique fixture in Yellowknife's downtown restaurant scene is closing its doors for the final time.

Sarah Heaton, owner and chef at Sarah's Hot and Ready serves Brendan Green on her final day of operation on Friday. Heaton said she is closing the eatery to pursue other business opportunities but admitted the rising price of groceries in Yellowknife was part of the reason she is hanging up her apron. Heaton said she will keep her catering business going. - John McFadden/NNSL photo

After almost three years in operation, Sarah's Hot and Ready served its final meal last Friday. The cafe and eatery was the only one in the city located inside a fitness club and its regular customers were bemoaning its closure as they dined there for the final time. Owned and solely operated by Sarah Heaton since February of 2013, the restaurant operated inside BreakAway Fitness on 48 Street near Franklin Ave. It was open for lunch three days a week and catered mainly to downtown workers and those working out at the club.

"It's bittersweet," Heaton said as she served some of her regular diners and best customers for the final time. "I'm sad, but excited for new things to come. It's been a lot of work and it's been successful. It's only three days a week but it takes another three days to prepare and shop and make everything ready. This was a dream for me. I always wanted to open a soup place. This turned into more than a soup place."

Heaton said her focus on healthy food was something she knew she would have to do running a restaurant inside in a fitness club. She added that the eatery was not big enough to buy food wholesale or even in bulk and admitted that the rising cost of food in the grocery stores in Yellowknife was a strong factor in her decision to close.

"My prices did go up occasionally but I didn't want to raise prices too much. It's hard to buy healthy food and if it is too expensive, people aren't go to buy it," she said. "Buying healthy food is more expensive, say, then buying hamburger meat or frying up french fries. Selling it though was not hard. People wanted healthy food for lunch. They started asking for vegetarian food and then vegan (no animal products) food. I tried hard to make sure there was always a vegan option, a vegetarian option and and a meat option. We had lots of salads and gluten-free was something else that customers asked for. It wasn't difficult to put those meals together. The hardest part of the job, the part I won't miss too much, is deciding in advance what to serve. My menu was purposely always changing in order to give my customers a variety."

Sarah Erasmus, also a downtown businesswoman came in for the final day. She was also sad to see the restaurant close.

"It was a favourite spot to come and grab something different for a change. I can see how it would be challenging because you can only expect people to spend so much on lunch," Erasmus said.

Jan Fullerton was also one of the final people through the door Friday. She too said she was disappointed to see the restaurant close.

"I loved the fact it was healthy food. I loved the fact it was grab and go," she said. "I work about 10 minutes walk away so I could walk up and grab something that was good for me - prices were affordable - and then I'd be back at my desk in a short time. I'm really going to miss that."

Brendan Green also works in a nearby office and said he was sorry to see the restaurant go.

"It was a great part of my routine coming here, especially the pulled pork sandwiches which was one of my favourites. It's really too bad."

Heaton said that no one that she ever heard from was ever thrown off with the concept of food being served in a building where many people come to exercise and try to lose weight.

"It was more like - what a great idea. They were already here, the people working out on their lunch break. They could come in and tell me what they wanted. I'd make it for them and put it aside. When they were done they could either eat here or take it with them. Everybody was appreciative of the healthy menu, not just the fitness people."

Heaton said she expects to keep her catering business going. She said she is going to miss the restaurant and the people she met while running it but added that she felt the time was right to pursue other business opportunities.