Nonnie’s Grill and Artisan Shop, a popular little restaurant on South Cooking Lake Road with home-made meals and a place for local artists to showcase and sell their craft, was closed permanently earlier this month after nearly four years in business.
Owner operator Rene Fredeen said soaring costs to utilities and supplies in addition to a slow recovery from the pandemic left her no choice.
“I was a brand-new business (in 2020) and being a new business I was not eligible for any COVID relief. (Over the years increased) expenses, and most of it was utilities, just got out of control. Being a small business, (it was difficult) trying to make ends meet,” she said.
Fredeen said that even though she had a rough start during the pandemic, the public’s reception to her restaurant was warm. A customer base began to build, amassing 114 mostly positive google reviews over her time in business, averaging 4.6 stars.
Fredeen said that the idea for her unique restaurant/artisan shop came to her more than 20 years ago while working at Canada Post. A conversation with coworkers around what their lives would be like if they left their jobs gave Fredeen a clear vision of what she would like to do.
“I said, ‘you know, what I want to do? I want to open up a restaurant where I can create and explore and showcase people who are creative (with) their work, their time and their energy,” she said. Fredeen said over the years she noticed an empty building in South Cooking Lake and kept an eye on it thinking this might be a good place to realize her dream one day.
Meanwhile, in 2019, Fredeen was working in the payroll department of another company when she fell in the company’s parking lot, breaking her leg.
Fredeen was off work for a few months which she said gave her some time to think.
“I had a few months to think about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do. And if I wanted to go back into corporate Canada. I like being my own boss. I decided that I was going to look at opening up a restaurant,” she said.
In terms of her restaurant’s unique name, Fredeen said she wanted the restaurant to remind people of their grandmother’s kitchen; a place that felt warm, inviting and smelled terrific.
Because her own grandchildren call her Nonnie, using the name for her restaurant only made sense. Fredeen said the added twist of having local artisans showcase and sell their art inside her restaurant was very important to her. She carried work from approximately 15-25 local artists who made crocheted items, paintings, and pottery among several other different pieces.
“My mom was very artistic, and I’ve always been a creative person. I know how much love and time and effort gets put into my scrapbooking pages for albums that I do,” she said. “A lot of people have the ability and the talent to create things and they go unrecognized or unnoticed. I thought, what a great place to showcase people’s works of art.”
Fredeen said 95 percent of the food served at Nonnie’s was home made and her own favourite menu item was the Mama GG burger.
“My children called my mom and dad mama and papa G. My mom always made a fantastic hot hamburger sandwich with mushrooms and onions with gravy on it,” she said. “I paid homage to my mom.”
Fredeen said that although she had no choice but to shut the doors on her restaurant, she is not ready to shut the doors on her long-held dream. She said she has learned some lessons going forward and is currently searching for another place to call home for her restaurant.
“I just have a dream and I’m not ready to give up on that dream,” she said.
“I have learned a lot of lessons over the last four years and everything happens for a reason. We’ve met so many wonderful people over the years and we’ve become friends. It’s warmed my heart all the messages on (social media) I got from customers. We’ll come back on the other side of this. It may not be in the same location, but it could very well be in a town near and dear to everybody.”
Jana Semeniuk
Staff Reporter
