Sam's Place Deli Expands With Soft Launch of Hot Dog Joint 'Sam's Place Wienery'

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Entrepreneur Sam Sayer has expanded her business of putting meat on bread as she has soft-launched a new hot dog joint ‘Sam’s Place Wienery’ for this week that began on Tuesday.

Sam Sayer says her love for hot dogs was also a reason for expanding her business operations with a ‘wienery.” Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The ‘wienery’ is located behind her delicatessen ‘Sam’s Place’ on 188 Hunter St. W.

“We truly had an empty space between our new kitchen and the sandwich shop but it wasn't really usable for anything so we thought why not give this a shot,” said Sayer, Sam’s Place Deli and Wienery owner.

The soft launch runs from Tuesday until Friday from noon to 6 p.m. There are seven selections of hot dog combinations that the place is offering during the soft launch. Customers can also dress their own plain or special combination hot dogs. Beef, pork and beyond meat wieners are options available for any hot dog. Pogo corn dogs are also on the menu.

“The beef hot dogs are actually American, so those are Nathan's. They're world famous of course. We've got Wagner's dogs which are pork dogs out of Toronto and then we have the beyond-meat bratwurst,” explained Sayer.

The following are the featured topping combinations for this week’s soft launch:

  • Dog River Dog: house-made vegetarian chili, cheese sauce, shredded cheese and green onion

  • Chicago Dog: Mustard, relish, onion, tomato, pickle, celery salt and banana peppers

  • Chou Dog: Creamy five-cabbage slaw

  • Dad Dog: Cheese sauce and shredded cheese

  • Poutine Dog: Empire cheese curd, vegetarian gravy and Hickory Sticks

  • San Fran Dog: Bacon, lettuce, tomato and mayo

  • Sonoran Dog: Pico de Gallo, bacon, mayo, mustard and hot sauce

The soft launch will help Sayer determine what adjustments need to be made before her grand opening at an undisclosed date.

“We have a real thing for art so I'd really like to have more on the walls,” explained Sayer. “Aside from that, we just want to make sure we have the kinks out and we can run as smooth as possible, all set for everybody when the time comes.”

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New Turkish Restaurant 'Class Istanbul Kebab House' To Host Its Grand Opening This Sunday

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Peterborough’s newest restaurant brings a taste of Turkey to town as Class Istanbul Kebab House is set to make its grand opening this Sunday at 2 p.m.

Mert Baran, Class Istanbul Kebab House owner showcases his Iskender Doner: doner kebab meat with a hot tomato sauce over pita with yogurt. Photo by David Tuan bui.

The restaurant brings authentic Turkish cuisine with familiar dishes such as wraps, shawarma, baklava and a variety of shish kebabs. They also bring cheese pide (Turkish pizza), Turkish desserts and their national dish, doner kebab.

Mert Baran, Class Istanbul Kebab House owner said that every time he’s been in Peterborough, he’s never seen any Turkish restaurants in town. He wanted to bring his heritage cuisine to share with the city.

“We want to bring our food up here,” he explained. “I really want people to try it. I trust our kitchen, I trust our food and it’s really tasty.”

The restaurant is located at the former Nicholas Oval restaurant on 116 Parkhill Rd. E. They have soft-opened since Monday and have already been met with several customers leaving positive feedback according to Baran.

“People have come by, tasted our food and they really love it,” he said. “I always have had good comments since we opened the restaurant.”

Class Istanbul Kebab House is the first restaurant Baran has ever owned. He owns a construction company and has done a lot of business near Peterborough since 2009. He always enjoyed his time spent in the City when he visited.

He has a house in Woodbridge and in Bridgenorth. He thought about opening his restaurant in Toronto but opted for Peterborough as he moved his family to his Bridgenorth property to focus on Class Istanbul Kebab House.

“I really love Peterborough,” said Baran. “That's why I opened my business up here.”

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New PTBO Strong Restaurant Booklet Launched to Support Mental Health

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Peterborough diners can save on local eateries while supporting mental health initiatives as PTBO Strong has launched their fundraising restaurant book, ‘Reversing the Trend.’

The deals cannot be combined with any other offer. Photo courtesy of PTBO Strong.

The booklet has various buy-one-get-one-free deals for over 50 different throughout Peterborough. Some participating restaurants include Taso’s Restaurant & Pizzeria, Curry Mantra, P.J.’s Diner, The Pin, Brothers Pizza and more.

They can be purchased online for $30 and supports mental health initiatives from organizations such as A Right to Heal (that also carries the booklets for purchase), Elizabeth Fry - Ellen House, Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes (PATH) and Kawartha Food Share (KFS).

“We are happy about that as it helps a little with our fundraising,” said Sheila Nabigon-Howlett of PATH. “I have used the booklet several times and found it great on all occasions. It’s a great deal for the diner also for mental health advocacy in Peterborough and of course for the restaurant owners as well.”

“We are so thankful to be included as the recipients of the Peterborough Strong Restaurant Book,” said Ashlee Aitken, KFS general manager. “It has been an incredibly tough couple of years for our clients and member agencies with the rising cost of food and living. These proceeds will allow us to purchase much-needed food items to keep our food bank shelves well stocked for our community members in need.”

More restaurants will be added to the booklet in the near future according to Tim Burke, PTBO Strong co-founder. They expire in July of next year.

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The Vine Bringing a "Plant-Forward" Pescatarian-Friendly Menu As Peterborough's Newest Restaurant

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Showcasing vegetables and incorporating seafood in a ‘plant-forward’ approach is the philosophy of Peterborough’s latest restaurant, The Vine which is having its soft opening over three days from Thursday to Saturday.

Flowers had the soft opening on Thursday and Friday with the brunch on Monday. Bookings for the first two days have already filled up. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The business is owned by couple Tyrone Flowers and Lauren Mortlock and is located at 165 Sherbrooke St. at the former Electric City Bread Company location. Flowers took a leap of faith when he discovered the business was closing down.

“Just on a whim, I came to look at it and then decided, 'You know what? We talked about this five years ago when we moved to up Peterborough that we wanted to open a place,'" said Flowers.

Flowers has worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years from dishwasher to head chef. He worked at the Publican House for four years.

The menu showcases salads, soups, sandwiches, entrées and pizza. A brunch menu that also incorporates eggs and dairy is available on Sundays. Pitchers of Gatorade and Kool-Aid and a tater-tot waffle are ‘hangover specials’ that are featured in the brunch.

Despite Flowers being a meat-eater, he believed offering a pescetarian-friendly restaurant and beyond would offer a different dining experience for Peterborough. He still strives to make plant-based ‘meat’ taste like the ‘real thing.’

“I was given the idea from a former colleague and we went with it,” he explained. “We did some research and we saw all the fun things we could do with making everything like all the vegan options seem real and everything so that's why we did it.”

He recognized the vast and diverse range of restaurants that already existed in town and that going pescatarian would be a unique take that would not trample on other businesses.

“There's already a bunch of great places in town that do the meat well, you've got some vegan restaurants too and we didn't want to step on anybody's toes by doing one thing so we decided, ‘Why don't we combine it?’” explained Flowers.

The Vine is having its grand opening on Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. The restaurant is currently trying to obtain its liquor license at the publication of this article.

The following are the restaurant’s operating hours:

  • Tuesday to Friday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

  • Saturday: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

  • Sunday: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

  • Monday: Closed

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Erben Restaurant and Music Venue Opens in Downtown Peterborough

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A new restaurant and live music venue on George St. N. has opened Wednesday; with an official grand opening event happening this Saturday.

Erben is equip with a full service restaurant and bar in the front, and a live entertainment venue in the back. The venue includes a full stage and second bar available for live music and private events.

Owners Belinda Scollick and Shea Bertrand say their restaurants focus is to provide quality menu items that are “assembled from the freshest ingredients, with bold and inspiring flavours.”

“Downtown is infinitely much more fun now with the addition of Erben,” says Terry Guiel, executive director of the DBIA. “The tasty and cozy design of Erben set's a great tone for this live music gathering spot that doesn't shy away from being all about the party. A welcome addition to our downtown.”

Saturday’s grand opening will begin at 11 a.m., with drinks and food served all day. From 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. attendees can enjoy . The dance floor will be open for a night of partying from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. with Erben’s DJ. There is no charge or cover for this event.

The party will feature giveaways for beer, Pete’s games and even a pair of tickets to Bluesfest in Ottawa.

To learn more about Erben, visit the website.

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Couple Serving Up Schnitzel and Shawarma In Peterborough's West End

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Husband and wife Siddiqullah Ronnie and Mansura Shikder are serving Peterborough a unique menu including shawarma and their signature schnitzel at their restaurant Casper in Peterborough’s west end.

Ronnie serving a chicken schnitzel plate as one of five signature schitzels that include veal, turkey, pork, chicken and croque schnitzel. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Located at 901 Lansdowne St. W., Casper also serves Indian food, pasta, burgers, sandwiches and salads on their regular menu. They opened last summer with all their food made in-house and are his own recipes.

“It's a multicultural city here,” explained Ronnie. “I don't want anyone to walk into my restaurant and go out buying nothing.”  

availible sides with the schnitzel are basmati rice, onion rings, french fries or mashed potato. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

He was involved in The Schnitzel House in the same location in a partnership but reopened as Casper as a solo entrepreneur. He was not in Peterborough during its operation.

Ronnie wanted to specialize in schnitzel because it was a popular dish in the Middle East that he enjoyed and he wanted to add something new to an already diverse food market in Peterborough.

“Schnitzel, there’s not too much (in Peterborough),” he explained. “You can find everything like shawarma, burgers and pizza everywhere but schnitzel but maybe once in a while.”

The couple opened the business because they wanted to be their own bosses, settle down in Peterborough and spend more time together as a family.

“It was our dream to give our own business somewhere in Canada so that we can both work together in the same place and spend more time,” explained Shikder.

Ronnie (left) and Shikder (right) have two children together and moved to Peterborough less than a year ago. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Ronnie started his professional cooking career in his home country of Kuwait in 1999. He worked in a small but popular restaurant chain throughout the Middle East and Africa called Casper & Gambini as a kitchen staff and eventually a kitchen manager/head chef. His restaurant is named after the restaurant as Ronnie considers it a lucky name.

Ronnie came to Canada in 2014 and worked at Montana's BBQ & Bar in Richmond Hill. He became a kitchen manager and head chef during his eight-year tenure with the restaurant prior to opening Casper in Peterborough.

His years of experience in the culinary world gave him the confidence and knowledge to open Casper.

“There is no compromise on the quality of food,” said Ronnie. “That's what I learned from Casper and Gambini. Always quality, quality, quality.”

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New Restaurant Vik’s Lake and George Bistro Opens in Peterborough

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A new bistro opens its doors Friday in downtown Peterborough, serving up soup, sandwiches and other hardy dishes just across from Del Crary Park.

Photo by Samantha Bianco.

Vik’s Lake and George Bistro is owner Vik Sharma’s passion project.

“I had goals of opening my own restaurant,” he says. “Even though I am still learning, I am trying new things everyday.”

After living in British Columbia for ten years, Sharma moved to Peterborough in September with goals of running a business centred around the customers in the community.

The restaurants motto, “We serve with passion” are some of Sharma’s words to live by when running his bistro.

“People love good service. Of course the food is important but they dine-in expecting a level of (hospitality),” says Sharma. “You don’t get another chance to make a first impression.”

He says the new business has been busy with Skip The Dishes and DoorDash orders, even garnering returning customers before the official opening this Friday.

“Social media, word-of-mouth, anything to get that brings people in,” he laughs.

Sharma makes the beef burger patties in house, with his golden-brown hashbrowns cooked made-to-order and his signature green tea available for the breakfast, lunch and dinner crowds. The restaurant also offers Halal options depending on availability.

Although Vik’s Bistro is still finalizing their menu, the $7.99 ($6.99 for seniors) basic breakfast special has already been a hit in the community.

“If I hear (comments) from the customers, I always listen to them. It’s all about taking care of them, and listening to learn what they want in the future,” said Sharma.

With entrée options such as eggs benedict, poutine and various pasta dishes, Sharma says the menu is sure to feature something for everyone.

To those looking to try out the new restaurant, they are open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday to Sunday at 25 George St. N.

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City Seeking Peterborough Airport Restaurant Operator

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The City of Peterborough is seeking an established Food Service operator at the Peterborough Airport through a Request for Proposals process announced on Wednesday.

File Photo.

The restaurant was constructed as part of the Air Terminal building in 2011. The building has three wings made up of a City-owned restaurant facility with a capacity for 50 patrons, an airport lobby and administrative offices for Airport management and operations.

The City of Peterborough is seeking to establish a long-term operating agreement to provide food services at the airport.

Anyone interested in submitting proposals to provide food services at the airport can find information regarding RFP-32-22 online at Bids and Tenders - City Of Peterborough.

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Couple Serving Up Tex-Mex In New Downtown Peterborough Restaurant

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It’s the first restaurant founded together by entrepreneurs Minal Burdrani and Sunny Dalia as they have brought the newly opened Poco Burro Mexican Grill to downtown Peterborough.

Burdrani (left) and Dalia (right) lived iN Toronto and Missisauga prior to moving to Peterborough in order to open Poco Burro. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The couple — who are also husband and wife — first opened the Tex-Mex restaurant at the old location of Jimmy Guaco’s on 343 George St. N. on Nov. 7.

They both had a background in business — Burdrani had studied digital marketing while Dalia studied procurement — and each of their families was invested in the food industry. The couple followed their passions which led to the birth of Poco Burro.

“Food is something that comes naturally to us and we wanted to really do something ourselves, said Dalia. “She (Burdrani) loves cooking food so we both decided for over a year and this is what we came up with. What we like the most is Mexican food, we can do it ourselves and we started learning about it for more than one-and-a-half years.”

“We always loved burritos and we thought we can serve it just because it's so highly customizable,” said Budrani. “If you're not in the mood for beans one day or meat, veg or go vegan, you can completely change according to your needs at that time of the day. That's what we personally like about burritos and we thought, 'Why not start with that?’”

The restaurant’s name translates as ‘little donkey’ in Spanish which also means burrito. Dalia and Burdrani originally wanted to use the English name for the restaurant but was already taken.

“He was so disappointed that I wanted this name and I cannot get it,” explained Budrani. "It (Poco Burro) rhymes so well and luckily we found a place in Peterborough, it rhymes with Peterborough so it was a win-win.

The majority of the food at Poco Burro is Budrani’s recipes including the sauces and salsa. Their signature protein, Spicy Chicken 65 is a homemade recipe that has been the top-selling product since day one according to Burdrani.

“It's basically marinated chicken in curry leaves, ginger, garlic and so many other things,” she said. “We focus on fresh ingredients and fresh small batches of salsa and sauces and hopefully that's what our main recipe is.”

Poco Burrito serves customizable burritos, quesadillas and tacos with nine proteins and vegetarian/vegan options. These options include pulled pork (carnitas), caramelized onion shrimp, Baja fish, chipotle tofu and more. Their sides include chips (with queso or salsa), soups and dessert.

The following are Poco Burro’s business hours:

  • Monday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

  • Tuesday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

  • Wednesday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

  • Thursday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.

  • Friday - 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.

  • Saturday - 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.

  • Sunday - 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

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Vietnamese Restaurant Hanoi House Is Closing Its Downtown Location; Consolidates to One Storefront

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Vietnamese restaurant Hanoi House is closing its Hunter Street location was announced on its Facebook page on Tuesday.

Tung and her newborn daughter Hunter outside the Hunter Street location that soft opened on Valentine’s Day in 2020. Tung’s family formerly owned the Golden Wheel Chinese restaurant located near Springville. Photo courtesy of Susan Tung.

The closure is due to decreasing overhead expenses incurred from running two restaurants (of the same brand) compared to one. Susan Tung, Hanoi House owner said she can operate and deliver the same level of service with one restaurant.

“I started thinking about it a few weeks ago and considered making the change in the slower months (in Jan. and Feb.) but then really considered the pros and cons of continuing operating the way we are,” she said.

All exclusive amenities and services at the Hunter Street location such as the oyster bar is being incorporated into their Lansdowne Street restaurant according to Tung. Staff are allowed to work at the other restaurant or are welcome to pursue other endeavours due to the Hunter Street closure.

According to their Facebook post, the restaurant plans to put a new concept into the Hunter Street location but would not disclose the information when asked.

Hanoi House soft opened on Hunter Street as its first location on Valentine’s Day of 2020. They opened in early December of the same year.

“Nothing lasts forever so it’s important to know when is the right time to keep moving on,” said Tung. “The business is still going, the location it mainly operates out of now is bigger which is a testament to what we’ve been able to achieve after starting off in this little space.”

Hanoi House specializes in Vietnamese cuisine including the country’s national dish, phở (pronounced fuh), vermicelli (rice noodles) and bánh mì (Vietnamese submarine).

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