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2017 Golden Fork Awards
Wednesday, September 27, 2017 11
Cora takes gold
in Best Brunch, Best Breakfast BY MARK WEBER mark.weber@reddeerexpress.com
Offering some of the tastiest and freshest choices for breakfast and lunch in the City, Cora has landed gold in this year’s Golden Fork Awards in the categories of Best Breakfast and Best Brunch. Choices abound for the first meal of the day, with dishes ranging from French toast, waffles and savoury crepes to omelettes and a plethora of pancakes offerings, too. Lunches run the gamut from the Waldorf Salad, the Swiss chicken burger and the Panini crepe to a Cobb salad or a vegetable skillet. According to the company’s web site, “The adventure began in May 1987, when Cora (Mussely Tsouflidou) bought a small diner in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent district. “After just a few months of operation, Cora changed the diner’s mission, making breakfasts her specialty. Combining fruit, cheese, cereal, omelettes, crepes and French toast, culinary magician Cora started a whole new breakfast concept in Quebec. Inspired by family traditions, customer requests and sometimes outlandish suggestions from her children, Cora designed her new breakfasts to coincide with the new trends toward healthy eating. One by one, she improved the traditional breakfast dishes and then conjured up a hundred others.”
THRIVING SPOT - Cora in Red Deer won gold in this year’s Golden Fork Awards in two categories Mark Weber/Red Deer Express - Best Breakfast and Best Brunch. Pictured here is owner Pritesh Patel. “Today, the Cora family includes over 130 franchised restaurants and the adventure continues.” Since 2008, Nicholas Tsouflidis, Cora’s youngest son, is the president of the company. Here in Red Deer, Pritesh Patel is now at the helm of the bustling eatery and has been since just this past August.
ORIGINAL JOE’S
Originally from India, Patel has been involved with the restaurant business for much of his life. “My father and my uncle owned a restaurant, so I was helping with that,” he said. Later in life, he was living in Germany for his studies and began looking for a part-time job. Again, he found himself drawn to the restaurant
business in a number of capacities. Working with people has also been a source of fulfillment. He eventually was in restaurant management in Germany. Just a few years back, he moved to Canada as he had siblings living in Fort McMurray. “Again, I started working with Boston Pizza,” he explained of his continued garnering of valuable experience. “It’s all about meeting new people and making friends,” he said. “Everyday, you get in touch with different kinds of people as well and you give them the best customer service you can.” Cora is a great restaurant to be involved with as well, what with their broad range of healthy choices to dine on, he said. “We are serving really healthy and delicious food,” he said. With the focus squarely on breakfast and lunch, it also makes for a nice work-life balance, he said, noting there is valuable time in the day to spend with family, too. And even with his past experience, there are always new things to learn, he said. “I’m still learning and trying to do better and better customer service. Plus I’m learning about the community and about their expectations,” he said, adding how please he is as well with his awesome staff. “We want to serve more and more people.”
Red Deer 4720 51st Ave Sunday - Thursday: 11am - 12am & Friday & Saturday: 11am - 2am minors welcome until 9pm daily • 403.343.6793 430.343.6793 • originaljoes.ca #originaljoes