The terms "fine dining" and "industrial mobile structure" don't usually get set at the same table, but Cimo Mediterranean Grill has invited one Atco trailer to dinner, from now until the end of the Canada Winter Games.
The Victoria Street restaurant did some projections and decided they needed to do something for the throngs of extra tourists, athletes, officials, sponsors, supporters, and motivated local residents all converging on downtown Prince George in a matter of weeks.
The husband-wife team of chef Dean Russell and general manager Carey-Lynn Campioni decided the situation called for extra space.
"We brought in a pop-up restaurant, kinda-sorta," said Campioni. "We are super busy during the winter season, and the whole city will boom during the Canada Winter Games, so we wanted to meet that wonderful challenge. We are getting ready, and supporting the spirit of the Games. We are so excited to be involved."
Campioni and Russell moved to Prince George seven years ago from the Lower Mainland to improve their lifestyle. Their real estate buying power and career development opportunities here got them deep into the high-end restaurant business and also a 20-acre farm for their horses and gardens. Now, Cimo's kitchen waste gets composted on their spread, the dirt turned into their garden soil, and Cimo's ingredients are grown fresh from the plot.
She said she could hardly wait to tell their story to the incoming Games crowds.
"Our culinary diversity in P.G. is amazing, and we are so lucky to have such a strong food culture here," Campioni said. "I love our restaurant. I'm really proud of what we serve and how we present food, but I am also proud of the other downtown places that do the same. I'm so delighted that we can do our part to show that off that side of Prince George to the rest of Canada. One thing I know the visitors will take away with them is a sense that we do food well; we do hospitality well."
The Atco trailer was therefore wrapped by Trim Line Graphics in Canada Winter Games images, so no one would be confused about the reason Cimo's made their expansion by plunking a portable down in their parking lot.
Inside the trailer, the Cimo's main ambiance was recreated. It is furnished for cozy socializing with wine and pasta in easy reach. There is a fireplace, a wide-screen TV which will broadcast Games sports during the two-week extravaganza in February, and the tables are arranged so crowds of people can be seated together even if they don't know one another, for extra Games camaraderie.
"We are even working with Selen Alpay, the owner of Canadian Tire, because we have a corridor connecting the portable social room with the main restaurant. We will use that walkway to display the Canada Winter Games clothing he has for sale at his store," Campioni explained. "We just want to do whatever we can to make the rest of Canada appreciate Prince George like Dean and I do."
Campioni said the trades industry and the City of Prince George "really stepped up" to get the portable room put in place with all the permits and installation services taken care of quickly so they could step up their promotion of the massive moment about to happen here.
