Tuesday, June 26: Mama Z’s Boulder Café in Dease Lake received Connie’s highest restaurant rating so far—a Four and a Half (out of a possible Five)! The why of that rating in this town of 650 people in one of the remotest parts of British Columbia began with dinner Tuesday night. Connie ordered fish and chips—cod that was delicious. I saw a mysterious item at the top of the menu called “The Petr” that said this was the chef’s choice of whatever he thought was excellent on a particular night. After the meal he comes out and flips a coin and the customer calls it. If the customer wins, the menu said, the dinner is on the chef; if the chef wins the customer pays double. I didn’t realize that if I ordered it the flipping of the coin was required; I had only wanted what the chef thought was the best item on his menu for the day. I ordered it and received a roasted half chicken with lightly steamed fresh vegetables and made from scratch mashed potatoes. It was delicious.
When we finished dinner, our waitress, a college student from Vancouver who wanted to see what it was like living in the north and make some money for college, brought the chef out in his white coat. We shook hands and he flipped the coin. It bounced out of his hand and onto the table“heads” as I had called. So, my dinner was free. It was fun and the food was good. The restaurant was clean with draped sheer curtains on all the windows. Connie decided
that the quality of the food, the cleanliness of the place, and the entertainment (The Petr) merited a Four. By the time we finished breakfast this morning, the rating had gone up to Four and a Half!
We told Mama Z about Connie’s system and how she rated it. Mama Z began to cry. She told us how hard she had worked since going way out on a financial limb 18 months earlier to get the restaurant. Her hard work obviously paid off. If you ever make it to Dease Lake on the Cassiar Highway a stop at this restaurant will be worth your while. Try “The Petr”!
On route from Dease Lake to the junction with the Alaska Highway outside Watson Lake in Yukon Territories we came across Jade City, a wide place in the road with two jade businesses as the only commun
ity. Both businesses mine jade and design jewelry. According to The Milepost the Princess Jade Mine in the Cassiar Range about 80 miles from Jade City accounts for 75% of the world’s jade supply. Of course, we stopped to visit. Connie shopped while I walked the dogs and took advantage of their free coffee. That reminds me, once we left the Starbucks on every block in Vancouver, whenever we’ve asked for decaf coffee we get funny looks. Sometimes we are offered powered decaf. Clearly, there is not much demand for decaf in these latitudes.
When we finished dinner, our waitress, a college student from Vancouver who wanted to see what it was like living in the north and make some money for college, brought the chef out in his white coat. We shook hands and he flipped the coin. It bounced out of his hand and onto the table“heads” as I had called. So, my dinner was free. It was fun and the food was good. The restaurant was clean with draped sheer curtains on all the windows. Connie decided
that the quality of the food, the cleanliness of the place, and the entertainment (The Petr) merited a Four. By the time we finished breakfast this morning, the rating had gone up to Four and a Half!We told Mama Z about Connie’s system and how she rated it. Mama Z began to cry. She told us how hard she had worked since going way out on a financial limb 18 months earlier to get the restaurant. Her hard work obviously paid off. If you ever make it to Dease Lake on the Cassiar Highway a stop at this restaurant will be worth your while. Try “The Petr”!
On route from Dease Lake to the junction with the Alaska Highway outside Watson Lake in Yukon Territories we came across Jade City, a wide place in the road with two jade businesses as the only commun
ity. Both businesses mine jade and design jewelry. According to The Milepost the Princess Jade Mine in the Cassiar Range about 80 miles from Jade City accounts for 75% of the world’s jade supply. Of course, we stopped to visit. Connie shopped while I walked the dogs and took advantage of their free coffee. That reminds me, once we left the Starbucks on every block in Vancouver, whenever we’ve asked for decaf coffee we get funny looks. Sometimes we are offered powered decaf. Clearly, there is not much demand for decaf in these latitudes.We weren’t far on down the road from Jade City when we encountered a large bull moose running down the road. An hour after that we saw a black bear with a brilliant sheen glistening in the sun.
Whitehorse, a city of about 75,000 and the provincial capitol of Yukon Territories, is our resting place for the night. Hopefully, tomorrow night will find us in Tok, Alaska.
I haven’t received any fishing reports from the Old Goats. How about it, guys?
2 comments:
Woohoo - I bet Connie had a ball with the jade shop, and the food sounds delicious :)
Hello Milo! It's nice to know your name. AKSnowLuvr (Tori) from Weather Underground here. I use blogger too, so that family and friends can check in on our wild life.
First of all, the most important thing:
http://alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/Reports/Fishreport/anglerreport.html
This is where I go for the real deal on where the fish are. :)
Second, I love your blog. It sounds like you have had a wonderful trip up, and taking your time to enjoy it for what it is instead of just steaming straight up and not stopping to smell the wildflowers (or lack of decaf coffee! eh, what's that?) LOL!
I stopped in Tok on my last night of my journey from CO before heading into Anchorage. It was February, and it was -35°F. Your stay will be much nicer. No recommendations on facilities... I pretty much made bee-lines to the room and hotel as quickly as possible in that weather!
Enjoy the last legs of your trip. the wildflowers are out in full force, and so are the moose!
Cheers! and welcome to Alaska!
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