Local restaurateurs head home from P.E.I.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/11/2014 (4156 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the best things about living on Prince Edward Island has been the culinary experience.

The Island is full of lovely restaurants that take advantage of local seafood and produce. Unfortunately, my favourite Island restaurant is leaving. But it’s moving to a familiar place — my hometown of Winnipeg.

I was extremely disappointed to hear that Lot 30 is moving. Their menu is truly an experience. When I was there, I had five courses of unbelievable food including salmon sashimi, beef rib-eye, gnocchi, haddock, sorbet and an ode to the Prairies of pork belly and perogies.

However, there’s still a glimmer of hope for me, as I’ll be able to enjoy the work of owners Traci and Gordon Bailey when I head home to Winnipeg.

The Baileys grew up in Manitoba. Traci mostly in the Selkirk area, while Gordon was born in Winnipeg and spent time in St. Andrews. They opened Lot 30 on P.E.I, in June 2008 but had already been on the Island in the culinary scene for 10 years.

“We had already done some other restaurant ventures with partners and without. We just wanted one of our own in the big city of Charlottetown,” says Traci.  

Traci mostly runs the front-of-house and her husband Gordon is the head chef. Gordon was drawn to the Island to cook seafood.

“It’s been everything we’ve always talked about and wanted to do,” Traci says of their P.E.I. experience.

Lot 30 is definitely a popular place. I had to wait a few days to get a reservation but it was worth it. The decor is modern yet cozy. Diners  feel like they’re in a bigger, trendy city, yet the warm lighting gives off a comfortable vibe. Television monitors behind the bar give you a close-up view of plates being prepared in the kitchen.

Traci describes the cuisine as very product and produce driven.

“Years before it became trendy to be so, we’ve been local because you work with what you can get at its freshest,” she says.

But there is also a Prairie influence, such as perogies inspired by Gordon’s mom.

“She makes amazing perogies. She would always package them up and send them frozen to us,” Traci says.

Gordon is looking forward to working with game when the couple returns to Manitoba to be closer to family. They hope to open a new restaurant in the Exchange District within a year, if they can find the right place. Traci says the area has been a favourite area of hers since she was young.

“As far as we know and hope we will keep the name of Lot 30, maybe with a little addition to signify that it’s in a different location and hopefully become a part of Winnipeg the way we had become a part of the Island,” she says.

“Over the years we’ve have gotten to know our customers as friends and we’re leaving that, which is the hardest part,” Traci says.

Krystalle Ramlahkhan is a community correspondent for St. Vital who is living and working in Prince Edward Island and sending letters home, updating readers on her exploits. She can be reached at krystalle.ramlakhan@gmail.com