Saucy take on ’Toba touchstones Honey dill sauce inspires quirky takes on local hallmarks By: David Sanderson Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Saturday, May. 25, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/05/2024 (494 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As was widely reported in the pages of this newspaper, Mitzi’s Chicken Finger Restaurant ceased operations in mid-April following a 46-year run on St. Mary Avenue.

Among the throngs of diners who descended on the unpretentious downtown eatery for a final order of its namesake dish — naturally, served with a heaping helping of its legendary, in-house honey dill sauce — was Cole Wielgosz, the founder of Honey Dill Print Shop, a one-person screenprinting outfit specializing in Manitoba-centric T-shirts, hoodies, buttons and caps.

Allow him to put it this way, Wielgosz responds, when asked whether his business tag is an empty boast, or if he is a true-blue fan of the ooey-gooey condiment that remains somewhat of an enigma outside of the Keystone Province.

He and his brother made plans to visit Mitzi’s, long a favourite of rocker Randy Bachman, the moment they learned it was closing, he says, seated in a bustling café around the corner from where he lives. Having heard it was becoming increasingly difficult to get a table in the waning days, they set up lawn chairs near the front door a couple of hours before it opened.

“Passers-by probably wondered what we were doing but anybody who’s had Mitzi’s honey dill sauce would have agreed it was worth the wait,” he says, mentioning honey dill also pairs well with day-old pizza.

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Wielgosz, 26, officially launched Honey Dill Print Shop on Feb. 1. The seed for the venture, whose “world headquarters” is a spare bedroom in his parents’ St. Boniface abode, was planted in 2019, however, when the Grant Park High School alumnus was living in Toronto, where he was studying at the Ontario College of Art & Design University.

A class assignment called for him to design a fictional record-album cover. He took things a step further by transferring the completed image onto a cotton T-shirt, after teaching himself the ins and outs of screenprinting. He was pleased with how it turned out. A year later, at which point he had graduated and returned to Winnipeg, he thought back to that particular project while contemplating what his next steps would be, career-wise.

That was back when COVID-19 was just starting to become a major issue and suffice it to say, there weren’t a lot of job opportunities, he says, sporting jeans, Blundstone boots and a self-produced, forest-green T-shirt reading “I like Winnipeg.”

Besides friends and family, one of the main reasons he moved back home was a deep-seated affection for the city and province’s various idiosyncrasies. What if he put his newfound screenprinting skills to the test, he thought, by developing a line of apparel directly inspired by local iconography such as wedding socials, fatboy burgers and intersections that require a roadmap to negotiate? (Here’s looking at you, Confusion Corner.)

Friendly People was the name he and a financial partner settled on for their fledgling enterprise, which began as an online store. Unsure what to expect in terms of demand at the first public market they attended in the fall of 2020, they arrived with a dozen T-shirts carrying their “Manitoba Friendly” logo, and another dozen marked “Honey! Honey! Honey! Dill.” Not only did they sell every last stitch of clothing in their booth that afternoon, Wielgosz was forced to stay up through the night, in an effort to generate enough stock to see them through Day 2 of the sale.

“I remember joking with shoppers the following morning, telling them the ink might not be completely dry yet, and that they would definitely want to wait a day or two before even thinking about throwing their purchase in the wash,” he says.

Wielgosz, who as a freelance artist also paints wall murals for restaurants and breweries, continued to come up with different styles of T-shirts and hoodies in the ensuing weeks and months, ones that also shone a light on our predilection for, to name a few things, perogies (he takes his boiled, then fried), cottage country and ODRs, the latter being an acronym for outdoor skating rinks. When their partnership ended, he decided it would be best if he started anew under a fresh banner, hence the switch to Honey Dill Print Shop.

“I like to think everybody in Manitoba knows what honey dill sauce is, but even if you don’t, it’s still a pleasant-enough sounding name,” he says, explaining why he chose it for his moniker. That and he used to cook at the Roost on Corydon Avenue, and still smacks his lips over the whipped honey dill compound butter that was served there with warm slices of bread.

Grace Anastasiadis is the senior business manager for The Forks Trading Company, situated on the second level of The Forks Market.

“We’ve been fortunate to witness Cole’s journey from his Manitoba Friendly days to his current prominence in the local scene,” Anastasiadis says when reached at work. “From the very beginning we’ve liked his branding and the unique flair he brings to everything he does.”

Anastasiadis, who is also a proponent of honey dill sauce, says Winnipeggers and out-of-town tourists alike get a kick out of Wielgosz’s wares, which now include onesies for infants, and which were featured prominently in a recent maker fair held at the tastefully appointed shop.

“His commitment to showcasing the local vibe resonates deeply with us, and he’s always been incredibly supportive of our mission to uplift small businesses and artisans in the community.”

Admittedly, Wielgosz doesn’t have a personal connection with every image or phrase he screenprints onto this or that. For instance, he had never even heard of Schmoo torte, as much a Winnipegism as Jeanne’s cake, when a pal mentioned the dessert as a possibility. He acted on the suggestion, nonetheless, and later posted a photo of the finished product on Instagram, along with a free-offer giveaway to the person who directed him to the most scrumptious Schmoo torte in town. (When the votes were counted, it was a dead heat between Baked Expectations and seemingly everybody’s grandma.)

Through his website (honeydillprint.shop) Wielgosz has shipped merchandise to ex-pat Manitobans living all over North America, people who are well-familiar with local colloquialisms such as booter, Sev and LC.

Given that he lived in Toronto for close to five years, has he ever considered introducing attire focused entirely on the Big Smoke? Not really, he replies.

“Don’t get me wrong; I love Toronto, but to me, it doesn’t have the same soul Winnipeg does,” he continues. “There’s such a specific culture and identity and togetherness here that other places in Canada don’t seem to have. I genuinely, unironically love Winnipeg and Manitoba, and Honey Dill (Print Shop) is all about celebrating what’s great about our little corner of the world, quirks and all.”

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca