Tasty tidbits
• After 46 years in business, Winnipeg’s famous downtown chicken-finger joint is closing up shop. Mitzi’s Chicken Finger Restaurant (250 St. Mary Ave.) owner Shirley Eng will be slinging strips and crinkle cut fries for the last time on April 13.
In an interview with the Free Press last year, Eng expressed interest in bottling and selling her iconic honey dill sauce in the wholesale market after retiring from the restaurant game.
Diners can place orders for take-out over the phone — although the lines were busy all afternoon Thursday, presumably with folks trying to get in one last plate of chicken fingers.
• Out with the Friskee Pearl, and in with Boujee Restaurant & Bar. The new Main Street eatery announced its arrival with a very strange Instagram video earlier this month.
Featuring a chaotic AI-generated influencer, the promotion raises more questions about the venture than it answers — although not about the parking situation, (there are more than 60 stalls on site, according to our disjointed host).
Let’s hope the new owners can develop a similar level of specificity about the concept beyond, as the video says, “unique food, drinks and service.”
Boujee is the second restaurant to move into the former Earl’s location in as many years. The Friskee Pearl, an east coast seafood joint launched by King’s Head owner Chris Graves, was put up for sale six months after it opened last year.
• Two new eateries are coming to St. James. Fans of grilled cheese sandwiches, burgers, poutine and more can look forward to Meltwich Food Co moving in at 1887 Portage Ave., the former home of Yen Kitchen/Le’s Subs. (Meltwich is also apparently opening in The Arc on Pembina Highway.)
And further west, former longtime home of Steve’s Bistro (formerly Steve’s Place) at 3123 Portage Ave. is now Chacha Wow, a new East Indian restaurant.
• A dozen local restaurants are taking part in A Taste For Life next month. The event is a national fundraiser for local HIV prevention and support programs. On April 17, a portion of meals, treats and drinks purchased at participating businesses will be donated to Nine Circles Community Health Centre.
This year’s roster includes Amsterdam Tea Room, Black Market Provisions, Oh Doughnuts, Parcel Pizza, Sous Sol and more. Visit atasteforlife.org for more info.
• Tickets to Table for 1200 are on sale now. The annual al fresco fundraising dinner hosted by Storefront Manitoba — a non-profit promoting local design culture — takes place May 25 at a secret location. The dress code is black and white (with pink accents) and weather appropriate.
Chefs Ben Kramer, Harold Mitchell, Christa Guenther, Jessica Young, Emily Butcher and Renée Girard will be cooking for the 1,200-person affair, rain or shine.
Full tables start at $1,200 and individual tickets are available for $160 at storefrontmb.ca. A portion of the price will provide a meal for one person through Kramer’s Made With Love charity.
Recommended fare
Ben: Speaking of local beers, a new release that dropped this past weekend is the Sookram’s Brewing Co. Defcon 5, a delicious hazy IPA brewed in celebration of the fifth anniversary of the Warsaw Avenue brewery.
It delivers citrus rind, biscuit, fresh malt, grassy and tropical notes, and a nice hit of bitterness, and is available from the brewery, Liquor Marts and beer vendors.
Eva: I had a very nice belated birthday meal at Nola last weekend. The St. Boniface restaurant was buzzing and the service was top notch.
My fave dishes were the beef and beet tartare (light and fresh with a great ratio of meat-to-wonton crisp) and the loaded baked potato gnocchi (soft dumplings, smooth beurre blanc, crispy tater sticks).
And since we’re talking local beer, I’ll plug the Namesake Brewing Sloth Fuel Hazy Pale Ale — it’s citrusy, floral and the can features an hilarious drawing of a sloth-turned-jerry can.
Homemade
Homemade is a Free Press project celebrating home cooking in Manitoba. Want to share a recipe with readers? Visit wfp.to/homemade to fill out the submission form.
What goes well with beer? Cocktail Nibbles! Enjoy this recipe submitted by Shirley Hull.
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