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Sir John’s, The Beachcomber, The Beefeater, Mr. Steak — no, these aren’t members of the worst boy band ever, but rather the ghosts of Winnipeg’s culinary past, keeping company with the Ponderosas, Bonanzas and Chi-Chis of days long gone.
If Facebook is good for anything (debatable), it’s keeping memories of such culinary chestnuts alive via photos posted to retro-themed pages. As a guy who grew up in the west end of the city, my go-to throwback Facebook group is Retro St. James, a great place to see snapshots of the recent (and not-so-recent) past, including shuttered restaurants.
And while I’ve yet to see any photos of my first workplace — that would be the Canadiana Buffet on the second floor of The Bay in Unicity Fashion Square, where I worked as a dishwasher as a teenager — I still retain memories of that place that are clear as day, almost all of which are associated with specific smells and tastes.
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When I’d go on break at the Canadiana Buffet, I’d almost always eat the same thing — a cheese biscuit with butter served up alongside a red plastic restaurant glass of Pepsi with a bit of finely crushed ice. (Still the best soft drink I’ve had to this day.) I’d chow down in the corner of the staff room in my horrible polyester uniform, yakking on the (corded and rotary dial) phone with my then-girlfriend while the older women from other departments gossiped and smoked their long, skinny cigarettes.
Throwing back even further, my parents and brother and I would go to Pizza Place nearly every Friday, where I’d scarf down their thin pepperoni pizza before fishing a cheap plastic toy out of the treasure chest as we left. And if I close my eyes I can see (and almost taste!) the grilled cheese and fries served up at the black-and-white tiled diner in the Zellers.
Oh, to be serenaded one more time by La Fiesta’s José Valdes while enjoying a pupusa or poderoso. (Phil Hossack / Winnipeg Free Press files)
There are more recent, equally visceral memories too. There’s José Valves strolling around his El Salvadorian restaurant, La Fiesta, strumming his guitar and singing while I devoured pupusas. There’s the red checkered tablecloth and candle-wielding Chianti bottles of Casa Grande, their delicious pizza and fried dough with tomato sauce all washed down with cheap Italian wine served in an old-school goblet.
Frank Grande of Casa Grande lights a candle at his Sargent Avenue eatery. Oh, to have just one more basket of the fried dough with tomato sauce. (Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press files)
Winnipeg’s culinary scene is arguably as good as it’s ever been, but it’s fun to remember the sights, smells and tastes of restaurants that have come and gone.
So… what are some of your faves?
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