Jun 21, 2014
More hotel rooms are being built and this is a clear
sign for Tourism Saskatoon that this industry is booming
in this city in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan.
Situated on the edge of nature, Saskatoon provides
visitors with endless opportunities to energize your
spirit and experience culture and beauty in a relaxed
city environment.
According to Tourism Saskatoon, the rate of visitors
coming into the city has more than doubled over the past
six years.
Saskatoon brings in about $530 million from tourism each
year, with 2.1 million visits.
Hosting the Saskatchewan jazz festival, a Cher concert
and a pride parade all in one weekend, visitors from
across Canada have travelled to the Bridge City last
weekend.
Saskatoon,
Saskatchewan: Gateway to 100,000 lakes
by
Jerry W. Bird
 I
once read that 94,000 lakes dot the face of
Saskatchewan. Last month at the Yellowhead Trans
Canada Highway association convention I learned
that the number they quote is 100,000, which is
even more impressive. Over half contain fish - and
90% of these have never been fished. With 68
species hatching every year, small wonder our
forefathers kept a spare canoe in the driveway. In
days past, I attended Saskatoon's King George
School and during my two years there, explored the
hub city from all angles - by bicycle, raft,
horseback, train, aircraft and much later in a racy
Chev coupe (see our Yellowhead story). The
Ukrainian Museum of Canada salutes an ethnic group
whose names appear in cities, hamlets and hockey
rinks throughout the west. A center of scientific
research, Wanuskewin Heritage Park has an on-site
archaeological lab, diggings and trails devoted to
the Plains Indians cultural legacy. Batoche, an
hour north of here has a sadder legacy - one of
civil unrest.
A
Gattling gun, military installations, and grave
sites, give testament to the last armed conflict on
Canadian soil. An audio visual show at Batoche
National Historic Site relives the days during the
1880s Northwest Rebellion, when Louis Riel's Metis
faced off against the British Empire. Hollywood's
scarlet coated mountie movies pale in comparison to
the real life, all Canadian
saga.
Tourism
Info
See our Saskatchewan Provincial
Parks on the Yellowhead
Map.
For more about Saskatoon visit
http://www.tourismsaskatoon.com/
The
Granary - "If It Ain't Broke, Break
it!"
What's
the word on dining? Well, things have changed since
my school days, when a family dinner was at the
Dell, and a quick burger was at Jimmy's or Johnny's
Inn. However, if you've got a yen for farm cooked
food - shuffle on on down to the Granary. There's a
landmark in Saskatoon known as The Granary, and
it's one of the most successful restaurants in the
Canadian West. It's a casual "contemporary" place
known for it's friendly good service and great
food. So, when owners Debbie Young Cloutier and her
husband Remi decided to rebuild it, customers told
them to their face they would never recapture the
same ambiance.
 And
the couple wasn't without a few reservations. They
were about to break some fundamental laws of good
restaurant management and they knew it. But they
were looking to develop the full potential of the
city block their family owned on 8th Street East,
where the freestanding restaurant stood. The block
also housed a KFC franchise owned by Debbie's
father, Joe Young, the second KFC franchise owner
in Canada.
The
family proceeded to tear down the old building,
relocate the KFC on the property, and construct a
new building which would also house a branch of the
Royal Bank of Canada. In doing so, they gave up The
Granary's prime street facing location, moving the
restaurant to the back of the property. With much
less street exposure this was highly risky by
restaurant standards. Then there was the idea that
a new building was incompatible with a
heritage-style restaurant whose theme was built
around a former time and lifestyle in the Prairies.
Finally, Debbie and Remi also wondered if, despite
years of success, their theme restaurant might have
nearly run its course, as theme restaurants are
wont to do. Nevertheless, the pair was resolved to
reinvent their eatery while recapturing the best of
the past.
The
original restaurant was designed 16 years earlier
with help from Peter Cotton, who was then a member
of the design team at Robert Meicklejohn Design
Associates. The popular eatery had been created
with a distinctive grain elevator profile that
became an unmistakable landmark in downtown
Saskatoon. Peter Cotton was invited back to help
Debbie and Remi realize their redesign. Cotton, now
with his own company, the Sunburst Design Team,
reinstated the grain elevator profile so that it
reached far above the general roof line, making the
new Granary easily recognizable from the
street.
The
new design also incorporated original old beams and
boards and integrated memorabilia to help re-create
the restaurant's unique personality. Cotton and his
team added a spacious new outdoor patio and
enlarged the restaurant to accommodate more groups.
"We're seeing more group bookings now,' says
Debbie, 'and today we can accommodate a larger size
of group." The expanded restaurant seats 200, plus
75 at the bar, while the patio adds seating for 90.
One
of the ways Cotton maintained the familiar ambiance
while increasing the restaurant's size was to
create many vignettes within the walls. One of his
favorites is a veteran's corner replete with
memorabilia from both world wars. The purchase of
an oil painting depicting a serviceman inspired
Cotton's surrounding décor, including
sporrans, propellers, flags and helmets. A walk
through the restaurant reveals an old chaffer, an
ancient potato planter, a cultivator, and suspended
over the entrance, a John Deere tractor, it's
peeled green paint barely visible. Other areas of
the restaurant are dressed in native historical
regalia, and as one rodeo rider pointed out, a bull
rider's hat and a city brim hat.
"My
father dreamed of one day owning a restaurant
filled with Prairie life, and many of the antiques
he amassed for decades couldn't be duplicated
today," says Debbie.
 The
Granary menu has remained much the same from the
start, since people come for the consistency in
quality and value, explains the co-owner. The house
specialty is Prime Rib while other features include
steaks, Black Mountain Chicken, (so named for the
local geography), BC salmon and Saskatoon Pickerel.
A pastry chef arrives daily to prepare the
cheesecake and Saskatoon berry pie, two favorites
among the desserts.
"The
new restaurant has proven to be extremely
successful," says Debbie. "Sales have been up 25 to
30% consistently in each of the past four years
since the relocation and redesign. Debbie
attributes the impressive growth to both the new
changes they made and to those ideas they
maintained. While the newness might have attracted
added customers initially, Debbie believes that the
consistent increase in traffic is attributable in
large part to the careful expansion and redesign of
the restaurant and the development of its
personality. The co-owner also maintains that her
customers come for the consistency in food and
service and for the value. Locals also relate to
the Prairie life theme and enjoy showing off the
heritage of Saskatoon, the Prairies and early
pioneer life to visiting friends. "There's nothing
else like it in Saskatchewan,' exclaims Debbie.
"Everybody in this area has some family history
that they can identify here."
Thinking
of renovating your hospitality establishment?
Contact : Peter C. Cotton, Sunburst Design Team
Commercial Interior Designers
56 The Esplanade, Toronto, ON M5E 1A7
Tel.: 416-863-6743, Fax: 416-863-6041
(Photos
by Gene Hattori)
For
more dining recommendations.
See The
Flying Gourment.
[Top
of page]
|
.
.