Photo description:

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS INTERSECTION - Centre Ice Cafe Intersection piece on Olha and her husband Oleksandr's two-month-old operation,Centre Ice Cafe, inside Centre Ice Cafe located inside the Dakota Community Centre. The couple, along with their two kids, moved to Winnipeg from Ukraine in March, after their home village was destroyed during the war. They operated a store/resto back home, and went looking for a place to set up shop, here in the city. They rented space at an existing restaurant in Albert Beach on Mondays and Tuesdays during the summer - when that spot closed at the start of September, they were approached by management at Dakota, who hoped they would take over the in-house canteen there, which was vacant at the time. Since then, their Ukrainian fare - perogies, cabbage rolls, borscht, pelmeni - have become such a hit, that more than 3/4 of their regular customers have no tie to the community centre whatsoever - they head there specifically for the couple's food - to enjoy at home. Photos of Olha & Oleksandr hard at work in the kitchen, shots of various dishes, fully prepared - shot of the canteen, with Centre Ice Cafe sign, to let readers know where to go. Dave's story. Nov 14th,, 2023