Order in the court: It might not be fine dining, but even celebrities occasionally pick up a meal at the mall

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It might not be fine dining, but even celebrities occasionally pick up a meal at the mall.

BECAUSE this column spends a lot of time with its nose in a menu, it’s important that we keep up to date with the latest trends in the food service industry. (Note to self: renew subscriptions to  Pizza Today  and  Beverage World  magazines.)

Recently, a blurb in Nation's Restaurant News grabbed our attention. The article stated that celebrity chef Todd English -- the star of PBS's Food Trip with Todd English -- had signed on with New York City's Plaza Hotel to develop a gourmet food court at the 103-year-old Manhattan icon. Whoppers, reportedly, need not apply.

"The new food court will feature a wine bar... as well as a... cheese and charcuterie kiosk offering artisanal and farmstead cheese, curried meats, smoked fish, caviars and olives," wrote Elissa Elan.

English was quoted as being "delighted to be collaborating with the Plaza to bring a truly unique concept to this landmark building." Bon Appetit's 2001 Restaurateur of the Year added that there would be eight dining stations in total, including ones specializing in sushi and oven-baked pizza.

"If we had a gourmet food court in Winnipeg, we would definitely add it to our restaurant guide," says Art MacIntyre, the brains and belly behind www.eatingWinnipeg.com. MacIntyre created his domain in 2002. The foodie website caters to local chowhounds who are having trouble choosing between Chinese and Italian. There are over 500 restaurants listed at Eating Winnipeg. Each is categorized according to cuisine and/or location. (Please don't fire off angry emails to MacIntyre, telling him that the So-and-so Diner is closed. The married father of one, who also runs the record company Transistor 66, is currently in the process of updating all of his information.)

"I don't think anybody who visits is thinking about dinner at the mall, necessarily, so we've never considered a food court section, before. But maybe we're giving those places short shrift, because this meal is as good as what I've had in other Indian restaurants around town," MacIntyre says, diving into a plate of butter chicken and basmati rice from Cityplace's Samosa Hut.

Inspired by Chef English's venture, we recently visited nine Winnipeg food courts to see how they measured up to their new epicurean cousin. Here's a taste of what we discovered...

Table for two... or 20

Not all food courts are created equal. The following is a list of the nine food courts we hit, in order of seating capacity.

Polo Park: 750

Cityplace: 640

St. Vital Centre: 550

Portage Place: 415

Kildonan Place: 366

Winnipeg Square: 350

Garden City Shopping Centre: 342

The Forks Market: 250

Canwest Place: 200

Teriyaki, tacos and Teen Burgers

THREE fast-food conglomerates share the title of "most food court locations in Winnipeg." A&W, Taco Time and Koya Japan each have six outlets, spread out among various malls. Subway and Mrs. Vanellis are tied for second, with four stores each.

Concerned, we contacted Mrs. Vanellis' head office to see if everything was OK on the home front, after we noticed that the Kildonan and St. Vital locations are now called Vanellis, minus the missus. "The older places are still going by Mrs. Vanellis," said company spokesperson Bill Hamam. "All new stores and newly renovated stores will go by 'Vanellis Fresh Italian Foods.' The change is part the rebranding of the chain."

Dinner and a movie (star)

FAMOUS people visiting Manitoba's capital generally prefer Wow! Hospitality's 529 Wellington to Winnipeg Square's 45th Avenue Fries, it's true. But after snooping around, we discovered that not every A-lister turns his nose up at plastic cutlery and Styrofoam plates.

"Acts performing at the MTS Centre have been known to make their way over to Portage Place for some quick eats, including big-name rock bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Godsmack, and Theory of a Deadman," says Brittany Leschasin, Portage Place's marketing co-ordinator.

"J. Lo, Robin Williams... we also hosted teen heartthrob Bret Ryan, who was taken up there to get some lunch," says Sandra Hagenaars, Polo Park's director of marketing. "Also, Justin Bieber -- who has family in town -- has been spotted here a number of times."

"The Golden Boy was big," says The Forks' Paul Jordan. (In 2002, this province's chief symbol was removed from his perch and regilded in the vicinity of The Forks Market's food court.) "Others were Robert Plant, Bono, Dennis Quaid, a couple of prime ministers, a president and royalty."

Points for originality

BY our count, Winnipeg's food courts are home to 96 tenants in total. And while big-name franchises like Arby's and KFC dominate the landscape, 43 of the restaurants we spotted were one-of-a-kind. That is, you won't see another eatery like them at any other food court in town. (That number includes the Golden Arches; Cityplace houses the only McDonald's food court location in town.)

The Forks leads the way in terms of unique dining experiences. Eleven out of the 12 vendors there are exclusive to that food court, including Bindy's, DAnny's (above), Zorba's Pizza and Country Submarine. The next best percentage belongs to Canwest Place, where three out of five vendors -- including Dee's Bar-B-Q and Asian Bistro -- are unique to that locale.

Here's how the others compare:

Winnipeg Square: Five out of 10, including Oriental Wok and Vinh Long Vietnamese.

Garden City Shopping Centre: Four out of eight, including the Bake Shop and Sky's Pizza.

Cityplace: Four out of nine, including Green Garden and Little Bangkok Thai.

Portage Place: Six out of 14, including Gourmet Cup and Chester Fried Chicken.

St. Vital Centre: Six out of 15, including Bourbon Street Grill and Jimmy the Greek.

Polo Park: Four out of 15, including King Pie and Opa Souvlaki.

Kildonan Place: Zero out of eight.

Did you know...

that the food court at Cityplace served as a Folklorama pavilion three times, most recently in 2004 (Viva Mexico!)? And that you can dine al fresco during the summer on a rooftop patio overlooking St. Mary Avenue?

that a local radio station once staged a contest at the east end of the St. Vital Shopping Centre's food court? Four people had to live in a new automobile that was parked a scone's throw from Tim Hortons. The person who hung around the longest drove the car home.

that three of the Ficus benjamina trees in Garden City's food court turn 30 years old this year? Operations manager Lloyd Burdett says the trees are "from our original food court, which was built in 1980, and moved when the current food court was built in 1985."

david.sanderson @freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 6, 2010 F1