Jose Loco's Cantina and later Surly Bob's,
which paid homage to Mexican (and Cajun) food with a northern
Canadian twist in its own unique way...
tasty but hardly authentic.

Authentic is not everything, as you've noted.

He made tasty food that went well with cold beer that were "inspired
by" Tex-Mex and Cajun dishes.

Fair enough. It's not as though the cuisines were
monolithic, either. Over the years I've been struck
by the similarities between many Tex-Mex and Mex-Mex
foods, the on;y significant differences being that
the latter cuisine is in general less seasoned and
might have slightly more interesting ingredients.
Chapulines, anyone?

convinced the powers that be in both companies to allow Starbucks
products inside the co-branded KFC-Taco Bell store here.

Interesting dilution of the brand

With McCafe being so successful Yum! are perhaps strengthening their
own brand by improving their coffee (somewhat). Both companies get
to expand their presence with reduced capital expense by sharing
land and building costs. I suspect both head offices will be
watching this experiment closely to see if it warrants repeating in
other markets.

The question I have is what benefit is there to
Starbucks? It must realize that its amazing run
of expansion is coming to an end in the freestanding
department.

In the past Yellowknife has been a test market for a lot precedent
setting ventures.

Ah, trend setters! If it's testing new names or
co-branding combinations, that means leasing
property, which must be good for you and yours.

The NWT was the first jurisdiction in North America to create
enabling legislation for barren land condominiums, allowing mobile
home owners in rental parks to jointly buy out the owner, and take
over and run the parks themselves. And by owning the land they could
access low interest rate mortgages just like regular house owners
rather than higher rate personal loans similar to RV loans.

So the condominium association administers the
tract but not the structures thereon? I presume the
ownership agreements specify the permitted uses for
the lots.

As well Northwestel, our phone company, was the first telco in North
America to purchase a cable TV company (Yellowknife's Mackenzie
Media) which also set a precedent in both our countries and made
internet distribution cheaper and more accessible. It's common
practise everywhere now.

But has its own unintended consequences, at least on
the consumer side, as in Lilli's area where it is (but
has not yet been challenged as) a monopolistic venture.

but then one could hardly see the expansion continuing forever.

Both Pizza Hut and KFC have stopped selling new franchises in Canada

Would that they stopped selling everywhere.

as they feel they have saturated the market and additional outlets
would result in cannibalization, not increased sales. If you want in
you have to buy an existing business. Yellowknife only had an
opening because the Jason family gave up their franchise when their
10 year licence was up for renewal.

Question is what made the franchise less attractive.

Some are more naturally curious
than others and are willing to go outside their
preexisting comfort zone.

We encouraged our grandkids to be in that group as you know. And
they are curious about their heritage too. Collectively they can
draw on English, Scottish, French, German, Russian, Ukrainian,
Scandinavian, Uummarmiut (Mackenzie Valley Inuit), Tlicho (Dogrib
Dene) and Salteaux (Ojibwa) Metis. Plus they've been exposed to
Newfy food from the year Raine was with Tommy, who was between her
first and second husbands.

You need more Asian and south of the next border representation.

Chef Todd Perrin was in town for our spring solstice festival
teaching two locals, Calvin Rosseow who writes about wild food for
the Yellowknife Edge magazine and Etienne Croteau, the Flavour
Trader spice merchant and chef at the Museum Cafe, how to do this:
Title: Todd Perrin's Cold Smoked Seal Loin
Todd Perrin is the owner and head chef of the Mallard Cottage
restaurant in St. John's. He was also a contestant on Top Chef
Canada, where he once cooked seal.

That looks like a good recipe for smoked anything and might
have palatabilized even certain elderly meats that you have
foisted on innocent tourists.

... Don't eat all day; get drunk on 2 drinks. That's fiscal responsibility

Been there, done that. One loses a little weight
briefly and then a lot of temper for a long time.

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.01

Title: Star Anise Beef Rice Noodle Soup
Categories: Vietnamese, Soups/stews
Yield: 8 servings

2 (1-in) chunks fresh ginger - soaked in water 20 minutes
3 Shallots, unpeeled 6 oz Sirloin steak
1 Onion, unpeeled - trimmed of fat &
sliced
2 1/2 qt Water - into paper-thin
slices
1 1/2 lb Oxtails, cut into sections 1 Onion, sliced thin
1 lb Beef shank 2 c Bean sprouts
2 Whole star anise 1/4 c Fresh coriander leaves
1 Cinnamon stick - (coarsely chopped)
3 Whole cloves 2 Green onions
1/4 c Vietnamese fish sauce - cut into 2-in-long
-(nuoc mam) - thin julienne slices
1 ts Salt to taste 1 Lime, sliced into 8
wedges
1/2 lb Flat rice-stick noodles 2 Red chiles, thinly
sliced

PUT GINGER, SHALLOTS AND ONION on a baking sheet; place under a hot
broiler
until charred. In a stock pot, bring the water, oxtails and beef shank to
a
boil. Thoroughly skim and discard the scum from the surface of the stock.
Drop the charred ingredients, star anise, cinnamon stick and cloves into
pot, reduce to low heat; simmer for 2 hours. Remove the meat. Remove and
shred the meat from the shank and reserve. Return the bone to the
simmering
stock. Simmer 1 hour longer. When soup is done, remove and discard bones.
Strain and degrease stock; add fish sauce and salt. Keep warm. In a
separate pot, bring 3 quarts water to a boil. Drain noodles and add to
boiling water; cook for 1 minute. Drain in a colander. Divide noodles
among
8 soup bowls (about 1-to-2-cup-size bowls). Divide and top each bowl of
noodles with shredded cooked beef, the raw sirloin steak slices, onion
slices and bean sprouts. Ladle about 1 1/4 cups hot soup stock (this will
cook the beef) to cover the noodles and beef, top with fresh coriander
and
green onions. Serve with squeeze of lime and chiles.

JOYCE JUE - PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK

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Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

Over the years I've been struck by the similarities between
many Tex-Mex and Mex-Mex foods

Tex-Mex and northern Mexican is quite similar which makes sense.
They're both beef ranching, cheese making, wheat growing areas with
a lot of back and forth contact. But Central and Southern Mexican
food is quite different. Back when I lived in Ottawa there was
briefly a restaurant near my house that served both Yucatan and
Portuguese food (due to the nationalities of the two partners.) The
Mexican section of the menu had things like pork and chicken dishes
with a bunch of different mole sauces, empanadas, black beans,
achiote recado sauces, pibil (pit roasted meat wrapped in banana
leaves) and tropical fruit flavours like tamarind and coconut. It was
too exotic for Ottawa in 1975 and folded quickly even though the
food was amazing.

The question I have is what benefit is there to Starbucks?

It's not my first choice for coffee but I'll sip one politely at
the ribbon cutting when it opens.

In the past Yellowknife has been a test market for a lot precedent
setting ventures.

Ah, trend setters!

When McDonalds Canada test marketed their upscale "Build Your Own
Burger" menu, with touch screen order kiosks and table service,
Yellowknife was the only location outside of Vancouver and Calgary
in the first run of 60 stores. And ours was the very first to open
(by a matter of two days) in Canada.

The options include ...

3 buns: Black and White Sesame Seed, Brioche or "Artisan" buns

Also a gluten free, low carb lettuce wrap option.

5 cheeses: their standard processed slices, Monterey Jack Jalapeno,
real Cheddar, "Swiss" and Blue Cheese.

12 toppings: Tomato, Lettuce, Guacamole, Sundried Tomato Pesto,
Caramelized Onions, Crispy Onions, Sliced Jalapenos, Long Sliced
Pickles, Grilled Mushrooms, Red Onion Rings and a couple more that I
forget.

9 sauces: Ketchup, Garlic Aioli, Mustard, Smokey BBQ, Big Mac
Sauce, Chipotle Aioli, Grainy Mustard, Mayo, Sriracha Sauce

The burgers come with loaded fries: poutine, chili-cheese, sweet
potato fries, and some others that escape me at the moment or a
decent garden salad. And there's real milkshakes on the new menu.

We also have the first Miniso store in Canada outside of the major
markets of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and
Halifax. It opened here May 1st and is run by a Chinese family in
the immigrant entrepreneur fast track permanent residency program.
They're not from China actually but Jamaica where they also ran a
retail store for a few years.

If it's testing new names or
co-branding combinations, that means leasing
property, which must be good for you

Yep. I did the Miniso deal and a second Chinese immigrant retail
operation last month. That makes three since the program started.

barren land condominiums, allowing mobile home owners in rental
parks to jointly buy out the owner, and take over

So the condominium association administers the
tract but not the structures thereon?

Exactly.

I presume the ownership agreements specify the permitted uses
for the lots.

The permitted uses start off with the municipal zoning bylaw which
allows for mobile homes, custom built single family residences
(provided that they are long and narrow so that they'll fit on the
lot), renting out homes, home occupations including small day cares
but not full blown commercial activity. The condo association tacked
on some additional but not unreasonable restrictions e.g. no
derelict vehicles without plates in front yards, not more than 2
dogs per household etc.

the first telco in North America to purchase a cable TV company

But has its own unintended consequences, at least on
the consumer side, as in Lilli's area where it is (but
has not yet been challenged as) a monopolistic venture.

I didn't say that it is a good thing! At least in Canada, the CRTC
has the power to regulate monopolies fairly effectively, especially
when it comes to rates.

the Jason family gave up their franchise

Question is what made the franchise less attractive.

As I mentioned earlier, curtailing burger sales and bulk sales involving
air freight, pushing for an unnecessary drive through lane and,
insisting on renovations every 10 years when there was no market
pressure to do so. And Gabi was in her sixties, quite wealthy (the
place was grossing over $4M per year and netting (I'm guessing here)
about $1M but also exhausted after decades of operating the place by
herself. Headquarters seemed to kill every sale opportunity of here;
they really wanted a new operator working from a larger location
with a drive through, with no insight into local market dynamics.

grandkids [...] curious about their heritage

You need more Asian and south of the next border representation.

There's lots of Asian influences through friends and schoolmates if
not from inside the family. Ray's best friend in high school was Vietnamese-Canadian and Neekha's Yellowknife BFF is Filipina-Inuit,
perhaps the only one in the world! But there are very few Latinos of
any persuasion in this part of the world.

Title: Todd Perrin's Cold Smoked Seal Loin

That looks like a good recipe for smoked anything and might
have palatabilized even certain elderly meats that you have
foisted on innocent tourists.

He started off with cleanly harvested, flash frozen meat. Mine was
both frost burned and rancid which some Inuit don't seem to mind.
I've had tasty seal meat in Newfoundland back in the early 70s.




Cheers

Jim


... Northerner: Why would I fly when it's only a 16 hour drive?

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