Founder’s grandson promises baba’s recipes at The New Alycia’s in Gimli

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This article was published 27/06/2016 (2858 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg’s loss is Gimli’s gain as a much-missed Ukrainian institution re-opens in the lake town next month.

Alycia’s Restaurant on McGregor Street abruptly shut down in 2011 due to financial issues after serving borscht, perogies and holubchi to North Enders for around 40 years.

Five years later, a descendent of the first owner is reviving the family business under the name the New Alycia’s. Aaron Blanchard, co-owner and grandson of original owner Marion Staff, said after most of the family re-located to Gimli, a space became available and he decided to keep the legacy going before it faded into history.

“(Long-term employees) passed away and the heart and soul just wasn’t really there anymore,” Blanchard said. “But it’s back now because we found a great place on the waterfront in Gimli. It’s attached to the museum that we got here.”

While the new restaurant is about a quarter of the size of the former Alycia’s with seating for around 45 people, Blanchard said regular customers can expect a similar atmosphere, with a wall of fame featuring celebrities like John Candy and the Barenaked Ladies.

But above all, Blanchard, who cooked at Alycia’s Restaurant for 15 years, said the food hasn’t changed a bit.

“All the recipes are the same,” he said. “We’ve taken a couple of things off (the menu) like the hot dogs, hamburgers. We’re strictly doing the Ukrainian stuff now, so homemade borscht, same recipe — baba’s recipe. Same perogies, same cabbage rolls, same everything.”

While it was an easy decision to reboot the restaurant, it was no easy physical task for Blanchard, who lost his left arm in a workplace accident a couple years ago. Despite that, he’s still running the show in the kitchen alongside his mother Sharon Staff and stepfather Roger Leclerc.

“I’m already shredding beets and making perogies,” Blanchard said. “I’ve already tasted everything and tried everything and we’re right on the money.”

Blanchard made the decision to rename the restaurant the New Alycia’s to put some distance between the former North End staple.

“For me, the old Alycia’s, I hold on to so many memories in that building and family and things like that. I keep that separate.”

The name may continue on, but Blanchard said there was never actually anyone named Alycia in the family. He said his grandmother used to sell her Ukrainian cooking at a café named Alice’s Restaurant run by a woman named Alice.

“My baba took the name and she put a Ukrainian twist on it,” Blanchard said. “There actually was no Alycia ever.”

To Blanchard, the New Alycia’s symbolizes dedication to his family’s craft.

“It’s always been dedication for us to do it the same way baba did,” he said.

“The New Alycia’s is just a symbol of hope that a family business can still run and homemade food can still be produced.”

bailey.hildebrand@freepress.mb.ca