Village Squire, 1976-04, Page 15box-office business at Stratford is reaching
record proportions.
The winter season was not so successful as
the summer. The Church, Mr. Mandel points
out, picked just about the worst winter it
could have for the first year and he doesn't
blame anyone for not wanting to come out
through a blizzard for a night out. Still a hard
core of supporters, mostly business and
professional people have been coming back
time and again and local clientelle is growing
once people find out that they don't have to
be afraid of a first-class restaurant.
Mr. Mandel admits he made a calculated
gamble in the type of food he serves. When
he first began to explore the idea of the
restaurant he asked people what they thought
would work, what kind of food they thought
should be served. Nearly everyone suggested
roast beef and steak. But that wasn't
particularly what he wanted to serve. So he
decided with his staff, to go for broke. One of
the dishes they served first was Ontario
Lamb, which he was told people just wouldn't
eat. As the summer went on he simply
couldn't get enough Iamb to keep up with the
demand.
Another choice was trout, because it was
one of the few fish he could obtain live. There
was even a fish tank bought to hold the fish
that was to decorate one end of the church.
But demand was so high that the fish were
hardly in the tank before they were being
fished out again to go to the kitchen. The
restaurant was using from 800 to 900 trout a
week and the owner of the trout farm where
the restaurant got the fish couldn't believe
the demand. The fish tank now stands
discarded in a corner.
Jean Marie Lacroix, chef of the Church Restaurant shows some of the lobsters prepared for the
evening meal at the -Church. He came to Stratford from London, England.
to him again and made the deal firm. The chef
then began lining up the other members of
the team that would provide the food for the
restaurant. Most of the chef's staff, Mr.
Mandell says, has grown to like Canada and
want to immigrate permanently.
While the culinary experts had to be
brought in, most of the waiters at The Church
are local men, at least during the winter. In
summer, when the staff swells from to 20
usual in winter to 40-45 university students
mostly from hotel schools are hired.
The restaurant opened J my 2 after a trial
run late in June. Looking back, Mr. Mandell
says, and realizing the amount of work that
had to be done to put the restaurant in shape,
it's a marvel that the opening was so soon. He
gives great credit to the craftsmanship of the
workers of the Stratford area. The kind of
dedication and efficiency shown by plasterers
and bricklayers and other construction men is
sadly lacking in England, he says.
The Church in its new incarnation was an
instant hit. Popularity, Mr. Mandell says,
came faster than expected, or desired. He
had hoped to build slowly, to give his staff a
chance to get the feel of things before the
people started to pack in. But laudatory
newspaper and magazine articles, particular-
ly in the Toronto press started things off with
a bang. Soon the restaurant was booked two
and three nights in advance which can, he
says, be good and bad. The good part is the
security for the restaurant, the bad is that
people get to think that the place will
automatically be full and so don't bother
trying to get in even though this may be a
night when things are slacker.
At its peak last summer, the restaurant
served -600 people in a day.
This summer he's looking forward to an
even better season. The restaurant will be
open for the full season where last year it
missed the June business. The Festival
season this year will be longer too, stretching
into September and October. And already
■■
uilll�t �l�lli it
PETER S.
MacEWAN
Realtor
38 St. David St.,
Goderich
524-9531
District Representatives
Lueh Kuehl. Clinton
482-7304 Office
482-7306 Res.
Joanne Bullen. Bayfield
565-2421
4
‘'ILLAGE SQUIRE; APRIL 1Q -b. 1 t