Four-year-old Alex Epp was the first customer to try the pie at Wall Street Slice when it opened to the public last Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Although he probably won’t remember the momentous occasion, his parents Heather and Nathan are excited about the new restaurant at 753 Wall St.<\/p>\n “It’s just nice to see a few newer businesses opening up in this area,” Heather said. “It brings more people in and makes it feel a little more inviting.”<\/p>\n The couple has lived in the West End for more than a decade and has noticed a demographic shift in recent years. <\/p>\n “There’s more younger people and families moving into the area,” Nathan said. “It’s nice to see it growing… and there’s a bunch of stuff that’s popped up (on Wall Street).”<\/p>\n The restaurant is a new venture by the owners and several longtime staff members of The Red Ember — a wood-fired pizza truck and restaurant at The Forks run by Flatlander Hospitality. <\/p>\n Company president Steffen Zinn has had his eye on this particular strip of Wall Street for some time. With Sleepy Owl Bread next door, Barn Hammer Brewing down the block and a handful of new eateries on the horizon, Zinn believes Wall is Winnipeg’s next foodie district. <\/p>\n “It’s an up and coming area,” he said, comparing it to the Bushwick neighbourhood of New York City. <\/p>\n “It has the right balance of daytime lunch business with a lot of traffic going through and a lot of workers in the area, and then at night when they’re all gone we have the residential area all around us to be able to provide dinner service to them.”<\/p>\n Forty per cent of Wall Street Slice is owned by Red Ember staff like Quin Ferguson, who has worked on the food truck since it opened in 2013. He is also a part-owner of The Red Ember Common, which is where the seed was hatched for Wall Street Slice. <\/p>\n “While we were opening at The Forks we started talking about how it would be cool to do a New York-style slice place and then it just kind of happened — as things do with Steffen, you put an idea in his head and he runs with it,” Ferguson said.<\/p>\n For Zinn, the decision to partner with his employees was an easy one to make. <\/p>\n “We can expand confidently because we have a lot of eyes and minds working for the same purpose and it is also an opportunity for staff that have shown their ability to be more than just an employee,” he said. “It’s a really good way to assess who your partners are going to be by working with them for years.”<\/p>\n While the two businesses operate on the same concept — high-quality pizza made with local ingredients — diners can expect a crispier slice at Wall Street compared to the classic Neapolitan ‘zas offered at Red Ember. <\/p>\n
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