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estaurant News R December 2014 Vol. 16 No. 6
N A T I O N A L
C O V E R A G E
R E G I O N A L
F O C U S
$ 5 . 9 5
Kaleigh Burns
A STOP AT Robie St. Station
GOING FOR GOLD MEDAL PLATES
DEVOUR! FILM FEST SCREENS IN NS
Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152
By Jonathan Zettel, assistant editor HALIFAX—A diner and a café opened side-by-side with a shared kitchen under the banner of Robie St. Station in early October. Co-owner and general manager Kaleigh Burns said after ten years in the foodservice industry it was time for her and chef Heman Lee to step out on their own. “All the signs led to opening our own space,” Burns, a graduate of George Brown’s hospitality and culinary program, told ARN. The 1,800-square-foot space has two entrances, one for Robie St. Station Diner, serving all day breakfast, lunch and dinner and the other for Robie St. Station Express, a bakery serving coffee and assorted pastries. Both share a kitchen and are run by the same management team. The bakery and diner hold about
50 seats. Average check at the diner is about $26 for two, Burns said. Prior to taking over the property, Burns said she had a very different vision of what the restaurant would look like, but when they first entered the space, the large storefront windows “just screamed breakfast.” The all-day breakfast menu includes bread pudding french toast; cilbir served as two poached eggs in garlic yogurt with chimichurri and naan bread; and a frittata with eggs, kale, tomato relish, cheddar cheese, potatoes and house-made biscuit. Burns said the global inspiration for the menu comes from her and Lee’s recent travels around the world. The restaurant also serves a lunch menu of burgers and sandwiches with a dinner menu rolled out in mid-November. According to Burns, the diner has applied for a liquor licence and plans to serve local craft
beer, wine, caesars and mimosas. According to Burns, there is “a huge boom” of restaurant activity in Halifax, and that even in setting up her own space, there was a lot of competition for attention with suppliers and contractors busy with other restaurants’ requests. Burns said she “really lucked out with staff, who have been rock solid,” but added it can be difficult to staff restaurants with qualified people in the city. Her biggest challenge now, she said, is getting the bakery up to speed with “a big push for the holiday season,” selling assorted cookie tins, tarts, pies and pastries. “We’re trying to get people to eat butter and sugar—how hard can that be?” Burns said. 2394 Robie St., (902) 423-2524. @RobieStStation
TIAPEI plans to address line cook shortage CHARLOTTETOWN—With a line cook shortage as a growing industry concern in P.E.I., The Tourism Association of Prince Edward Island (TIAPEI) gathered interested operators to find a long-term solution. The association held a roundtable discussion in early November to gauge industry interest in a proposed program to work with Holland College in a six- to eight-month program, providing training to prospective line
cooks, Don Cudmore, TIAPEI executive director, told ARN. “It’s an issue that has been on our agenda for a few years,” said Cudmore. “The problem compounded around 2005, when a program in Summerside that used to train front line cooks ceased and we started to have a shortage in that area. Over the years, we’ve done a number of things to pull together short-term programs to get cooks confident enough to get
into restaurants, but we really need a long-term fix to allow line cooks to be committed to working in the sector.” The issue was also exacerbated by the changes to the temporary foreign workers (TFW) program this year, said Cudmore. “Some of our industry operators have used the TFW program to fill some of those needs, which makes staffing some of these positions more challenging,” he said. Continued on page 3
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EXPERTS ELABORATE ON FOOD TRENDS
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HIGH LINER’S MARIO MARINO RETIRES
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Check out ARN’s 2014 buyers’ directory for up-to-date listings of available suppliers by category.
OPERATORS AND INDUSTRY EXPERTS SHARE THEIR TIPS ON HOW TO REFRESH A RESTAURANT'S CONCEPT, DESIGN AND MENU.