Village Squire, 1980-09, Page 9you. I wouldn't know how to do it. But if
you want a beef or turkey dinner, then this
is the place."
The food, of course, comes first, and the
pride in her work starts in the kitchen,
which she strives to keep neat, efficient
and clean, even during the busiest times.
"I often tell people, come have a peak at
the kitchen," said Hattie, pride glowing
from ear to ear.
The two most popular regular items she
says are home made soup and pies. The
soup is made from "stock, bones and
meat," she said "the old-fashioned way."
Some of her speciality dinners attract an
equally large following.
"I never can keep enough lasagna," she
noted. "There are some truckers, in the
winter on a route from Toronto to Windsor,
and if they know I'm having lasagna,
they'll go out of their way to come here for
it. That's a long way to go for lasagna."
The hospitality at the Wildwood Inn
begins with the food as well, and
customers, as though they were equal
partners exercising a democratic right, get
a say in what foods are featured.
"I just take it as it comes," says Hattie.
"The people make up the menu. In a way
this isn't a restaurant, it's sort of like
home.
"Like, we're having meat loaf tomorrow.
I ask the customers about the meals a week
before. They decide.
"The menu for the week goes up
Sunday, so on Monday the people know
what's on the rest of the week."
SMILE AND CHAT
The hospitality continues with Hattie
and "her girls", and their attitude toward
setting the atmosphere and dealing with
customers. The girls will smile and chat
with customers, as does Hattie, "because
it looks that way like we have time for
everyone." Too, there are occasional
bursts of laughter from the kitchen and
restaurant.
"If the girls are relaxed, if the kitchen is
happy, then the restuarant is happy," said
Hattie. "People hear that in the restuarant
and it brings a smile to their face.
"I give the girls a lot of responsibility.
My rules are not very strict because it
removes the atmosphere. I never say you
work for me, I say you work with me.
"We need one another," added Hattie.
"I couldn't do anything without them."
Besides being a popular diner, the Inn is
also attractive to prospective employees,
and "the list of girls who want to work here
is a mile long", said Hattie, stretching the
truth slightly, but effectively making her
point.
The Hendriks are pretty proud of the
crew they have now, six local school girls.
"My husband went to pick them up at
school and they told him that we had the
cream of the crop," beamed Hattie.
"I do care for those girls, and it's
mutual, they care for me. If it's late they
will stay for me.
WE'RE HAVING A BALL
"We're having a ball," explained
Hattie. "We treat one another well. I can
holler at them and they can holler at me.
That way there is no friction. I can leave the
kitchen and know the work will be done."
The success of the restaurant suggests
the couple had been in the business for
years, yet the Wildwood Inn is their first
attempt at this kind of venture. In fact,
even the old Forty Winks wasn't a place
they'd set their sights on.
"The real estate fellow said why don't
you buy the Forty Winks," said Hattie. "1
said you're crazy. But we came and looked
and bought it the next day.
"I was lonely and wanted something to
do. 1 don't drive so I needed some thing
like this. Then I said the best thing to do is
what I do best - home cooking."
The couple came to Canada from
Holland 27 years ago and had lived in
Stratford, Kitchener and Sebringville
before coming to Lakeside.
Avey, a mechanic, has worked for
Hutton Transport for 17 years and still
keeps the job. While Hattie keeps the
restaurant running, Avey's assistance
plays a large part in the operation.
"He helps whenever he can," said
Hattie. "He makes up the rules. He's as
much in it as I am.
"In a business like this you have to get
along, otherwise it won't work.
"I'm not here for the money," pointed
out Hattie" I'm here because I like it. If it
was just for the money, that's all you would
think about.
"I treat everybody the same, If it's a
person with no clothes on, so to speak, or a
doctor or a lawyer. 1 don't look at them for
what they have, but for what they are."
In the end though it's the customer who
knows best why he comes.
"I eat here every day pretty well," said
Ralph Pearson of St. Marys, " five days a
week. It's handy on the way to work, It's
different things."
But what about the food, Ralph. Any
good?
"Ya wanna believe itl"
Truck stops
Do they really serve the best food?
BY LAURA DRUMMOND
"Wherever you see a group of trucks,
you know the food is good." Who hasn't
heart that claim? But is it true? That's
what Village Squire asked me to find out.
Bill Martindale, a driver for Borden's
Ice Cream in Southampton, was eating
his turkey sandwiches at the Wallace
Coffee Shop and Lunches at the north
end of Blyth. He was emphatic, "I
won't go back to a place unless the food
is good. I went to one place and they
actually served me those store bought
hamburger patties.
"I would drive another hour to find
the right place. Here, I like Anne's
homemade turkey soup and sand-
wiches. I just want a nice ordinary place
to eat. Nothing fancy-- just tasty."
Looking at Bill's physique, I believe
he knows the tasty places to eat.
Trucking and eating good homecooked
meals do seem to go together. Have
you ever seen a trucker pack a lunch?
After driving for three or four hours
straight, they need a break.
Most of the truck stops I visited had
homecooked meals. Kathy's Truck
Stop, at the west end of Shakespeare,
makes their own gravy, potatoes, chili,
soup, pies and homefries. They try to
have homemade meatloaf, scalloped
potatoes, and cabbage rolls. They get
their meat from a local butcher.
At Debbie's Restaurant two and a
half miles west of Clinton on Highway
IW, owner Murray Hohner says truckers
make up 25 to 30 percent of his
business. He says the secret to bringing
truckers is good homecooicing, service
and cleanliness. Murray and his wife
buy their hamburg meat in bulk and
make their own pies and soup. Just the
night before I visited him, they made
450 pounds of french fries which they
expect to last four or five days.
WELL WORTH THE WEIGHT
He admits it takes a bit longer to cook
their hamburgers because they are
thicker. But people have said it was
well worth the wait..and 'weight.
Murray emphasizes it is much more
work to homecook meals. Looking at the
beads of sweat on his face, I believe
him.
Serving homemade food is nothing
new to Maxine Seers, who runs
Maxine's, west of Auburn. For 21 years
VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1980 PG. 7