Another Star Rises in Winnipeg S
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By Ian Tizzard
Sitting at a table in the Star Conservatory restaurant beside a big window that looks out onto the Assiniboine Park cricket pitches, Shirley Vlassie tells the story of how she ended up running yet another popular restaurant. When the operator of an eatery formerly occupying the space quickly left the city-owned restaurant empty last February, officials scrambled to find a replacement to start serving food there again as soon as possible. The restaurant has proven to be a positive draw for the park conservatory it is connected to, and no one wanted to see it empty for long. The word spread among the city’s restaurateurs, many of whom were eager to have a go at establishing a new venture. It took city officials about a week to tell Shirley, owner of Star Grill on Portage Avenue, that the place was hers to run. Then they gave her less than two full weeks to open. Within a few days of the opening, Shirley and her waiters were already suggesting reservations for people waiting in hour-long line ups to get in for a taste of what’s available. One older couple even has a standing reservation twice a week
on Mondays and Thursdays. Shirley points them out, Rudy and Thea, sitting across the dining room at the table they call theirs. “They were my very first customers here,” she says. “They just walked in and sat down one day while we were still setting up. We didn’t have anything to serve them, but Rudy left me a two-dollar tip. I’m going to frame it with a picture of them and hang it near the front door.” The menu is heavy on exotic salads and home-made lunches and dinners similar to ones served at Start Grill, which is a short walk across the park and over the Assiniboine River footbridge. Shirley says the menu right now is a work in progress. She plans to finalize it within a few months after getting an idea of which items sell the best. Nevertheless, her favorites include the mango curry penne and the Mediterranean open-faced sandwich, or the wild rice salad bowl with dried cranberries. Dinners of salmon, portabella mushroom or chicken are also popular, and seem likely to make the cut. Naturally, the locally-famous “star fries” that mix cut and fried potatoes and yams are on the menu and are served as a side to many of the dishes. Photos by Janzen Photography
indulge magazine l fall 2008
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