Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Good morning, Fort McMurray, wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world. You've tuned in to the Mac city morning show. My name is Elliot Pierre, and I'll be your host today as per everyday. Uh, we're going to start this off the same way. We start off every episode with a moment of gratitude. I know you could be doing a million other things with your time. So the fact that you're spending with us truly does mean the world to me. Now on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:26 Oh, she caught me loves you're listening to the next anymore.
Speaker 0 00:00:35 All right. Now our guests today, this is going to be a, another good one. Um, me and this gentlemen, we've bumped into each other many times over the years, but we've never had a chance to actually sit down and chat and that's becoming a reoccurring theme in my life. I know a lot of people, but we don't get to chat that often. So I'm looking forward to this one, for sure. Now, as per usual, I do not introduce my guests because they can do a better job at that than I, so on that note, sir, can you please introduce yourself and tell people who you are and what you're about?
Speaker 2 00:01:01 I'm Jeremy here from 57 North brewing. Um, one of the brewers here at 57 North as well, um, as well as one of the operating partners.
Speaker 0 00:01:09 Nice. So this is a, I don't want to say it's a newer restaurant in Fort McMurray. Where's it located?
Speaker 2 00:01:15 Uh, we're located in the Morrison center downtown. Um, newer, we started in 2019, December three months before the COVID-19 plan.
Speaker 0 00:01:22 That's right. That's right. So it's been a little bit of a interesting start. We'll call it an interesting start for you.
Speaker 2 00:01:30 It was definitely an interesting start. Um, you know, we were gaining a little bit of traction. We just get in the brewing, set it off and, uh, then you know, the world kind of turned upside down.
Speaker 0 00:01:40 Great. So in regards to the restaurant itself, um, describe the menu. Describe the feel of what you guys are going for here.
Speaker 2 00:01:48 Um, what we really, really tried to make the feel for the restaurant was, was more Canadian, Northern region style, um, 57 North. Uh, the reason the name came up actually is we are 57 degrees North in parallel. Um, so what we thought is, uh, between me and the other partners, East coast meets the West and everything in between.
Speaker 0 00:02:09 That's awesome. I love it. Well, me and Tanner had the privilege of coming down and trying some poutine at here, a restaurant a few weeks ago. And it was, it was good. It was good routine. Now you convinced me and describe the poutine. You, you made the right call in regards to the meal. I'm still on the fence if it's a poutine or not, but what was the poutine that I ate? Uh, the smokey Joe protein. Okay. So what's in the smokey Joe poutine for everybody at home,
Speaker 2 00:02:34 I'm slow, smoked brisket, 14 hour smoked brisket, uh, with also pulled pork. Once again, slow smoked another 12 to 14 hours, uh, with your traditional uncuff fries, gravy and the cheese curds.
Speaker 0 00:02:46 There you go. Now in Tanner, you had some of this as well, so you can chime in on this one. It was delicious. It was the perfect thing for lunch because I was starving. Now I'm on defense. If can call it a boutique though. Tanner, how do you feel about this?
Speaker 3 00:03:01 I think that a poutine is chiefs, parents, gravy and fries.
Speaker 0 00:03:08 I'm on the same page. It was delicious,
Speaker 3 00:03:11 But it was delicious. It's like a, it's like calling soup and ice cream can be if you freeze it. But is that how you want to eat it?
Speaker 0 00:03:20 Yeah, I don't know. So delicious though. Awesome. Really, really good. The brisket was insane. I got to say. So I'm interested in hearing a little bit about your history. Like what brought you to Fort McMurray? How did this all transpire?
Speaker 2 00:03:33 I moved to Fort McMurray in 2006, uh, in that winter. Um, so first taste of Fort McMurray was in the bitter cold. I moved here from the East coast, uh, with my family at the time finished high school and, uh, started on my path of my career. Nice. Well, part of the East coast, uh, Newfoundland originally, well, part of Newfoundland's a small town out, along the coast, outside of Gander, Newfoundland, it's called Musgrave. Right.
Speaker 0 00:03:57 Okay. I know I've, I've heard of that place. I've never been, uh, I've been to Newfoundland a bunch of times. I spent a lot of time in Gander actually. So I used to be a recruiter back in the day. So I spent an abundant amount of time on the East coast, especially Newfoundland. That's awesome. Beautiful province. Y'all gorgeous, gorgeous province. So you moved out here with, uh, your family. What high school did you go to when you came out here? Westwood. Westwood. Okay. We got a Merck boy comp and Westwood. How was your experience at Westwood?
Speaker 2 00:04:27 It was amazing. A great bunch of guys went to school with, um, my first tape had a registered apprentice program, done an electrical apprenticeship.
Speaker 0 00:04:38 Oh, okay. So did you pursue that? Did you, um, cause you're not in the field anymore. So let's hear a little bit about that.
Speaker 2 00:04:45 Well, you know, uh, all throughout high school as well, I always did the part-time job. I, uh, I actually started off at AMW here in town. Um, I actually, throughout the career of it all, I did all three locations. Whoa. Okay. Um, that was my first real taste of the service industry and uh, and the hospitality business. Right. And, uh, as I pursued electrical more, uh, yeah, I enjoyed it less and enjoyed the hospitality industry a lot more.
Speaker 0 00:05:12 Right. No doubt. I, I had the pleasure and it really was. I look back on it fondly. I didn't like it at the time, but I got to work out at site myself in a labor position out at Syncrude. Uh, when I was going to school, it was a summer job that my dad was able to get me. And at the time boil boy, it was a tough one. I look back at it now with fond memories, but yeah, site life for myself. Just didn't add up for everybody who does it. My hat goes off to you. It's uh, it's tough stuff out there working those hours, working in that environment. But yeah, I, I prefer in town. So I hear what you're saying with the hospitality industry,
Speaker 2 00:05:50 A hundred percent, you know, uh, and the commodity of it, you know, just to see different people every single day, meet new people and great new relationships. That's right.
Speaker 0 00:05:58 So let's talk about ADW a bit. Me and Tanner. We love eating food. It's a reoccurring theme. When you were at ADW, what was your go-to meal? What do you like the most?
Speaker 2 00:06:09 That's a tough one. Um, I know from past the episodes that you're a big kind of the whistle dog.
Speaker 0 00:06:17 Yes. Yes I am. I'm
Speaker 2 00:06:20 Not a big plastic. I'm more, uh, maybe like a teen burger, Papa burger kind of guy.
Speaker 0 00:06:24 Okay. All right. I love the teen burger, the teen burger, as far as like the taste is concerned is the best tasting burger. My issue with the teen burger is just, it's not enough food I need. I need more. So now I gravitate to the uncle burger.
Speaker 2 00:06:41 What do you get for your sides on your hands? All the way. There you go.
Speaker 0 00:06:47 I don't think you can go to ADW and knock at the onion rings.
Speaker 2 00:06:50 Travis, you don't have an extra $70 in your pocket.
Speaker 0 00:06:55 And like, I'm not a big, uh, not anymore anyways. I don't really drink pop anymore. Um, but there's no way you can go to NW and not get the root beer
Speaker 2 00:07:03 Either. I think that's a crime
Speaker 0 00:07:06 It's it's delicious. And then do they still do question? Cause I haven't got it in forever. Do they still do a float? You still get ice cream and yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:16 Yes you can. I don't know. I don't eat a whole lot of faster these days. Um, quite possibly. Um, it was never really into the root beer float guy. I'm a lactose intolerant individuals, right?
Speaker 0 00:07:27 Oh dude. Me too. But listen, sometimes you gotta take notes. Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:07:30 Yeah, I sure do. Yes. I agree with that.
Speaker 0 00:07:33 So now you're into brewing beer, like let's I like to consume alcohol from time to time responsibly, responsibly. Um, I think everybody knows that from the set decor, uh, that keeps moving and changing if you're paying attention at home because time growing, growing and shrinking, depending on what bottle you're looking at, but how did you get into brewing? Like that's fascinating to me.
Speaker 2 00:07:57 I mean, throughout the entire career of hospitality, uh, you know, learning every little bit aspect of, it was always a passion of mine. Um, when myself and the partners took over 57 North borough and we were all restaurant guys, um, not a whole lot of experience in the brewing world. Um, being the commodity of the industry, we met up with the Fort McMurray homebrewers association and I met up with an individual named Trevor Wakeland. Um, and he's one of those heads of the Ford Memorial homebrewers association. He came down and he started consulting with me and we created that relationship. And together today we brew a lot of different beers. We're testing different batches all the time. At the same time, we also have another system with us. His name is Kyle, um, between the three of us, you know, we're always tootle around with something trying to create that next brew.
Speaker 0 00:08:48 There you go. Yeah. Just surround yourself with the experts and how can you go wrong? Right,
Speaker 2 00:08:52 Exactly. Right. And knowledge is everything. And, uh, you, you get the guys that know what they're doing to try to teach you.
Speaker 0 00:08:57 That's right. So how many brews beers do you have on tap now that you guys are kind of selling and putting
Speaker 2 00:09:02 Out there? Right now, we currently have eight beers on tap
Speaker 0 00:09:05 Eight beers. Okay. And I'm not going to quiz you on the names, but I'm assuming they go from light to dark. You have all different types.
Speaker 2 00:09:12 Yeah. Something that meets everyone's needs. Um, you know, if you're that easy drinking beer guy that likes the most in Canadian bud light, we have that easy drinking lager for you. If you're like that in your face IPA, we have that ready for you as well. Um, if you something more, a little bit more traditional in the sense, uh, we also have that English bitter L one of the oldest beers on the market.
Speaker 0 00:09:33 Oh, very cool. No, like I'm going to have to come down. I know I was, uh, I came down and we ate there, but I ran out of time. I definitely want a tour of the police. Uh, next time you have an opportunity to give me one because I would absolutely love it. And it's amazing. And for the people on set Tanner, if you want to hit me with my camera, we were gifted some of the beer. We got a growler for you from your organization. Right up top there, we haven't cracked it yet though. That's uh, maybe this weekend, Tanner, maybe this weekend, we'll have to see. There we go. Tanner's going to be responsible for drinking the majority of it. So I have a tough job. It is. It's a rough one. It's a rough one. So through the transition of the pandemic for your restaurant, what do you, what are you guys you're still in business? Obviously you, you didn't close down. So how are you able to kind of pivot to, uh, remain relevant and still open during the last few months?
Speaker 2 00:10:22 I mean, it was a very big challenge at first. Um, you know, we went to the drawing board and yeah, pivoting ourselves was, was probably the perfect word for it. Uh, you know, we did what we did best was we offered service. Um, we started selling groceries. Um, we started sourcing an ant sanitizer when no one else could and start providing that to the community. And, you know, I carried us through the first round and then we started doing takeout meals and to go meals and meal preps, and then we reopened back up again. And, you know, we, people recognized that we just wanted to give back to the community and stay relevant. Um, and then this goal around the last nine weeks that we were shut down, we just launched, uh, or County line. So we just packaged two different beers and getting wheels out across the city and just keeping the brand alive.
Speaker 0 00:11:15 Sweet. So you can get yours now, like outside of the growlers, you get them in like in a can and like a six pack or how does,
Speaker 2 00:11:22 Um, we saw four-pack tallboys. Okay. And you can get those now. Province-wide nice. Really? Yes.
Speaker 0 00:11:29 Wow. So you're in other liquor stores or is it an in other restaurant establishment?
Speaker 2 00:11:34 Uh, 47 liquor stores across the province.
Speaker 0 00:11:38 He hasn't been busy trying to stay busy. Yes. That's awesome, man. Congratulations. That's not a small feat. That's huge. That's awesome. Look at that. Okay. Well next time I'm in Edmonton or Calgary or somewhere, obviously I can swing by liquor store and pick it up. You sure can. Yeah. That's neat. All right. Well, listen, man, Tom's already flying. So we got to get into Tanner's section. I know time flies on this show, but 10 has a section called the Mac city minute. He's going to ask you a few quick questions. I don't know what he's going to ask. Best luck to you, Dennis. And what's your question.
Speaker 2 00:12:07 Question. Number one. What is your favorite meal and brew combo? Definitely the Morrison street tacos and the code red heroic. Al question number two. What is one thing people might not know about brewing a beer can take a very short and long time to brew. Question number three. How does being from the East coast influence your brewing? Well, that's a very tough question. I guess, making a nice, easy drinking lager that appeals to the crowd because I'm from the East coast. That is the most mainstream drink that is drinked out there. Question number four. What is one hidden menu item? People should try Morrison street tacos downtown. And your final question. What is your favorite memory from working at H and w learning to make real onion rings? Those have been your five questions.
Speaker 0 00:13:14 Okay. I got it. Like, this is my favorite part about when we do the Mac CD minute, is he, his questions trigger my brain. So real onion rings. What do you mean learning to make real onion rings? Aren't all onion rings veal,
Speaker 2 00:13:28 But NW has like the best onion rings out there.
Speaker 0 00:13:31 Okay. So like when they come in or you make, they're not coming in a box, like they're made from scratch really? Yes. Oh, interesting. Yeah. They are the best on your rings. Hands down.
Speaker 2 00:13:44 Yeah. That's a, that's a secret at all take to the grave that those are the best onion rings ever. And I know what to make them
Speaker 0 00:13:49 Really lucky. And you
Speaker 2 00:13:51 Can even go to MW and buy the seasoning. So you just got every little aspect.
Speaker 0 00:13:55 Wow. Tanner, I think, uh, we need to apply to and w just for like a day or two, so we can learn how to make these onion rings.
Speaker 2 00:14:02 Well, it's, uh, let's trade some videos for some onion ring knowledge,
Speaker 0 00:14:06 I think so. I think that's what we have marketing
Speaker 2 00:14:08 Knowledge for. Fast food knowledge. That's a good trait.
Speaker 0 00:14:11 There you go. Okay. The other thing that a Tanner asked, tell me a little bit about these tacos that you said are the, the does hidden gem on the menu. Okay.
Speaker 2 00:14:20 Uh, Morrison straight tacos. We started off with a mango Chipotle chicken, a fresh alopecia pineapple salsa, a Curry Mayo, and a soft flour tortilla. It is fresh and amazing.
Speaker 0 00:14:32 Wow. Tan. I'm hungry, man. Lunch. Yeah, I think so. Maybe lunch after this, for sure. So you've been in Fort McMurray for a really long time now, I think most, uh, individuals who live up here. Um, do you have the option at some point in their career, especially yours in the hospitality industry? You don't have to stay here. Um, some people have the opportunity to move, but obviously you've chose to stay in Fort McMurray. Uh, why the most part?
Speaker 2 00:14:58 Um, I actually, uh, I left town for two years in 2015. Okay. Um, I moved down to bam. Nice. Um, and took over really my first head chef position at the time. Okay. At Earl's and bam. Um, but still, eh, Fort McMurray is homeless. There's a great community. There's a great sense of family here as an amazing place to grow a family. Um, I instantly wanted to come back and, you know, Banff is a very beautiful place. That's right. So that says a lot for this region.
Speaker 0 00:15:31 That's awesome. I love hearing that I'm the same way. Like I moved away for a little bit to go to school. And after I, uh, finished college, obviously, you know, I moved away. I was out and I had opportunities to work in different places. And throughout my career, I've had opportunities to work in different places as well, but, Oh man, I love Fort McMurray. I just love it. I can't get enough. Actually. I had, in my early days, in my mid, mid twenties, mid to late twenties, I had an opportunity to move to Australia and I decided to stay in Fort McMurray. So that's how much I like it here. This is a great community. Yeah, man. So you've worked at, and w that's a banger of a restaurant and now you're telling me you worked at Earl's for a little bit to another banger of restaurant. What's your favorite thing to eat at? Earl's um, probably the chicken ranch, gumbo chicken Ridge combo. I'm going to ribs, chicken and ribs combo. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. There, I just like chicken and Ridge. I don't, I've never heard of that one. Yeah. Their chicken ribs are good. Their burger for me is the best thing on the planet. I love burgers. I love their burger. I have tried yours though. Your burger is really good as well. Uh,
Speaker 2 00:16:39 Another one of those little hidden gems, uh, one thing I can say about 57 North, we have a lot of little hidden gems. Um, our mango Chipotle chicken wings is absolutely amazing as well. Everyone in the city needs to try them at least once
Speaker 0 00:16:53 That's right now, if people want to get in contact and order your food currently online. Cause I think that's where most people are doing it. What's the easiest way for them to do that. I mean,
Speaker 2 00:17:03 The easiest way is through any of the third party delivery system, skip the dishes, a bulldog delivery. Um, but we also offer direct ordering as well. If you go on our Facebook page, there's direct links to order directly from us. We offer free delivery in house. Um, so that employees, multiple people, you know, trying to stay relevant with the current time.
Speaker 0 00:17:25 There you go. That's awesome. No, the more you can get the service to the people the better now in regards to the operation hours. Um, what are your hours operation?
Speaker 2 00:17:34 Monday to Sunday? 11:00 AM till 10:00 PM.
Speaker 0 00:17:37 Okay. And you guys got tons of TVs there. That's the one thing you guys have? Lots of them. 18 TVs and total. So I'm just asking. Cause I'm cause the COVID like I haven't been, I haven't been out very much. I've been following the rules. Um, what kind of stuff are you putting on TV? Are you guys like showcasing sports? Are there fight nights? I what's going on with all the TV's in your, in your spot,
Speaker 2 00:17:59 A little bit of everything, you know, we, uh, we try to accommodate all the sports that we can. Um, if a particular guest wants to watch a particular game, then we're going to be happy to put it on there for them. Um, as well as Friday nights. Yes. We will be bringing those back as well.
Speaker 0 00:18:12 Okay. And then I saw this is something that's really cool. I saw the Dan Tulk has a beer tap. What's that about? How, how, how did Dan get a beer tap and how can I get in on this?
Speaker 2 00:18:25 I don't know. Well, one of the things that 57 North room we'd like to do is, uh, as the collaborate with the local community, um, you know, the first one we did was the code red or ROIC L uh, we made that with Paul spring and the local hero foundation, um, they named the beer, you know, helped us design the can told us that we made the wrong helicopter on there in the beginning. Um, but what this beer, while we particularly do is a proceed of every single pint and keg sold, uh, goes to support the local Uriel foundation. Um, the next thing was on the, on the chopping block, which would it be the 57 artists they all with featuring Dan talk, um, as well as six other local artists is, um, the idea behind that is, you know, when the COVID restrictions in law allowed us, when we had our live music, all these local musicians that were playing weekends after weekend at the pub, you know, we wanted to give back to them.
Speaker 2 00:19:20 They've had a very tough year last year, um, just to keep their branding alive. So Dan came down one day and brewed a beer with us, myself and Trevor and Kyle. And we call it the 57 hour to stay out. We were going to like, okay, we're going to put these artists is on. I can get their face out there, get their recognized. Um, and once again, a proceeds to the can goes to a local charity here, some other solutions, very cool. Um, and a very, very cool and unique thing. We're going to do 7,000 cans thousand cans unique to that particular artist. I was a little bio about them, a QR code to bring it to their music. Um, Oh, so something, a little keepsake and on a very limited trial run.
Speaker 0 00:20:01 That's very cool. Tanner. We got to get your face on a beer man.
Speaker 2 00:20:06 My face doesn't go anywhere.
Speaker 0 00:20:08 That's right. Tanner. Doesn't put his face anywhere. That is correct. He's the man behind the scenes. We can get a neck down or QR codes in my voice. Here we go. I like that. No, that's really cool, man. That's awesome. Especially the component of really kind of showcasing the artists, hooking them up, but then giving some of the money back to charity. That's awesome. I like, I've only seen, uh, Dan flossing with his picture next to the tap. So I was just like, what's that about? No, that's really cool, man. Good for you guys. And it works cause I've seen it. So there you go. Now on that note, man, we're done. That's it. 20 minutes fly. So before I let you go, though, please shameless plug. Tell everybody at about to your
Speaker 2 00:20:48 Establishment. What'd you guys do about where they can find you, how they can support you? Well, you can find us at the Morrison street and the Morrison center downtown, uh, 57 North brewing, also a kitchen. Um, you can find us on Facebook. We also have two other ghost kitchen, sister companies for kimonos, barbecue, saber global kitchen. If you go through any of those respectable Facebook pages, you can find us to order directly online. We offer free delivery all around, um, amazing food, amazing atmosphere and great beer. There we go.
Speaker 4 00:21:22 I don't think he could have pitch it any better. So awesome. Well on that note form of Murray wood, Buffalo, and the rest of the world, thank you very much for tuning in today. Once again, my name's Ben Elliot, Ben, my name is Lee Pierre. This has been the max any morning,
Speaker 2 00:21:35 So thank you very much for tuning in. It does mean the world to me,
Speaker 4 00:21:38 Have a great day and we'll see you tomorrow. <inaudible> talk about quenching your ugly thirst.
