Our favourite local spots have always been the best place to meet with friends and family. When we have a reason to celebrate or we’re just looking to enjoy a night out, restaurants are the places we turn to.
With restaurants limiting seating capacity and emphasizing takeout, we can start to miss the feeling of having an exciting night out. While the options for where we eat may have changed, the food itself is still what fills our bellies and Nunavut’s local restaurants are still here to provide the food we gather around.
Gathering together in our communities is especially important now, and even if we can’t celebrate in all the ways we used to, there are still ways to support people and restaurants.
We often gather around sports, and what better place to pick up a few pizzas for game night than the Slapshot Canteen in Rankin Inlet’s new arena. After their wildly successful campaign donating pizzas to local community members and families, they can be part of your get together— for a game night, movie night, or just to satisfy your craving for pizza. Putting aside the hockey pun, supporting Slapshot Canteen is a great way to bring people together around food from a local spot that gives back.
Wings are another staple of a good game night—or maybe just part of your average Wednesday. While Iqaluit’s Storehouse Bar & Grill is operating at half capacity, try taking your weekly wing night ritual home! The bar food experience is all about snacking on something with friends while enjoying a cold drink. Take-out bar food goes a long way to bringing that experience with you wherever you decide to gather with friends.
While our celebrations are being made smaller, it doesn’t mean you have to take all the cooking on yourself. Even if you’re not cooking for more people than usual, local catering is a quick way to keep everyone fed and happy without adding more work for yourself. Catering from Saxifrage Resto-Cafe in Cambridge Bay can provide you with the food for your event or simply add to the dishes you were already planning to cook (maybe a personal favourite or family recipe). You can let them take complete control and focus on enjoying the time with others.
When it comes to celebrating, a cake goes a long way to making your get together feel like a truly special occasion. Qillaq Lodge in Cambridge Bay can provide you with their usual coffee and snacks catering, but you should also consider a specialty cake to really celebrate in style. Personalized and handmade, a cake provides a moment you can gather around and focus on the people or event you are all celebrating.
Gathering together in our communities is especially important now, and even if we can’t celebrate in all the ways we used to, there are still ways to support the people and restaurants that make those gatherings such a treat with their delicious food. In time, we can fully return to those places, but for now we can support them from our homes and from around our own tables.