Bullocks Bistro changes hands
Sam and Renata Bullock turn over keys to Yk dining institution after decades
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
To call it the end of an era just does not seem to do it justice. After nearly 24 years of owning and running Bullocks Bistro, Sam and Renata Bullock are waking up this morning as the former proprietors of the iconic Old Town restaurant.
Sam Bullock, left, and Renata Bullock hand over the keys to Bullocks Bistro yesterday to new owners Jo-Ann Martin and Mark Elson. After nearly 24 years of serving up delicious fresh fish with a smattering of attitude, the Bullocks begin day one of their retirement from the restaurant business today. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
The couple turned the page on the next chapter of their lives together as they handed over the keys to the restaurant's new owners, longtime Yellowknife couple Mark Elson and Jo-Ann Martin yesterday.
"I'm very emotional. This has been my life for 28 years but I feel great," said Renata.
The Bullocks actually started out selling fish and chips and chocolate chip cookies from a makeshift shack on Yellowknife Bay for the Caribou Carnival in March 1989. They continued to move their food booth around the city wherever they were needed and in demand, setting up at events like Canada Day at city hall. Both 58 now, Sam worked for the government and Renata worked as a cook at the correctional centre before they made the leap into running their own restaurant.
They eventually opened Bullock's (there was an apostrophe back then, since dropped) Bistro in 1992 in the building that now houses CKLB radio in Old Town.
They moved into their current location in 1999 and have catered to Yellowknife families and Old Towners alike for decades. The restaurant is considered a "must see and eat" for most tourists visiting the city.
Renata insists customers will not notice a difference in the bistro with the new owners. Although it is apt to be just a little quieter without her banter echoing out from over the grill, competing for her customers' attention every bit as much is the delicious smell of the fresh fish she used to cook. But Renata was quick to point out the Bullocks are not the sole creators of the atmosphere and attraction of the restaurant, where the walls tell the stories of decades of customers.
"It's the people of Yellowknife that did this and the tourists. They are the ones that started writing on the walls." Renata said.
"They put the first signature on the wall. 'Can we put our picture up?' (people asked). 'Yes,' I said - and that's how it started."
She credits the fishers of Yellowknife who kept them stocked with fresh fish and her staff whom she describes as family, for helping her and Sam keep the business running for so long.
Both have received assurances from the new owners that the current employees, about a half dozen in the winter, almost a dozen in the summer, will not lose their jobs with the change in ownership.
Sam was slightly more subdued and reflective yesterday. He sat on a stool at the bar and reminisced about the famous people who have sat down and broken bread at Bullocks.
Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, former governor-general Adrienne Clarkson, the president of Iceland and the CBC's Rick Mercer are just a few of the many famous diners they've hosted over the years.
Sam said they had been thinking about selling the restaurant for about three years now but added it was not widely known they were interested in getting out.
There was never a "for sale" sign on the building. He said the sale was hastened by the recent departure of three cooks for various personal reasons.
"The sale actually closed last Thursday but we needed to pay the respect to our staff by having a meeting Monday and making an official announcement," Sam said.
The new owners are an interesting story in their own right. Elson and Martin are from the same tiny community in Labrador but never met each other until they both relocated to Yellowknife decades ago.
"We're going through a mid-life crisis. Our children are growing up and we had to think about things to do. We thought this would be a great change for us," Martin said.
Both of them say they realize they have big shoes to fill to replace the only owners Bullocks has ever known. The couple has no intentions of tinkering with success are are not going to make any wholesale changes in the food served and the way the bistro is run. Neither the buyers nor the sellers were willing to disclose how much the business sold for.
"I'm not sure if it was Mark Twain who said it - but for your story to have a happy ending, you have to know how and when to end it," said Sam.
