When 293 Wallace first opened five years ago, chef and founder Hiro Takeda’s vision was that the spirit of continuous learning and experimentation would never get stale.
The restaurant is ending its last week with this spirit still strong.
With reservations already maxed out on the last day of business, Sunday, the restaurant is still taking reservations for other days this weekend. Yet in the spirit of learning, regulars be warned that their much-beloved menu items may be swapped out this weekend for some experimentation Takeda and head chef Brent Gillis have planned.
Takeda said the last hurrah will be an ‘off the cuff’ menu with limited portions of each creation. The focus will be on traditional cooking, with fresh ingredients.
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There’s a lot to say about the five years spent creating a unique culinary culture in the restaurant, but both Gillis and Takeda go back to the tasting menus they started on Mondays, the slowest day in the restaurant business.
The tasting menus included invitations for patrons to be adventurous with their famous cheesecake with ants, naturally citrus flavoured Takeda explained, and other forays into experimental and foraged food culture.
The collaborations have been many, including one-night themed dishes created around the movies the Hope Film Club was showing, foraging for Douglas Fir and other local delicacies with Justin Brown, using fruits collected by the Hope Mountain Black Bear Committee or mentorship and help received from businesses. Even those in direct competition with the restaurant would extend a helping hand when needed, Takeda said.
Takeda’s focus with 293 Wallace, other than creating an adventurous dining experience for the small-town and out-of-town crowd, was for the restaurant to be a space of learning and growth for those who chose to work there.
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“There’s plenty of staff members, I saw them come in as people who were always in trouble and causing trouble, to managers at this point,” Gillis said.
Many of the staff members have stuck around, too, with most of the managers at the restaurant in their third or fourth year at 293. Gillis, now general manager and head chef, started as a dishwasher at the restaurant.
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“As somebody who has been unemployed and dropping out of school, then getting with Free Rein and starting here. Having people put trust and faith in me and giving me an opportunity, and letting me grow, pushing me where I wasn’t neccessarily comfortable to move onto the next step. It’s been an amazing experience.”
Both Takeda and Gillis are moving on to more drinkable career paths, with Gillis looking towards a career in brewing and Takeda heading up research and development at Copenhagen-based distillery company Empirical Spirits.
With the closure of not only 293 Wallace, but also The Globe and other establishments over the past year, residents may be wondering where to go for their next meal. Pick up next week’s Hope Standard to read more about the state of the dining industry in Hope.
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