Frozen pipes, Hawaii dreams

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2014 (4236 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A few weeks ago, during the middle of the deep freeze, I was sent to take photos at the RAW: Almond pop-up restaurant on the Assiniboine River at The Forks.

The atmosphere inside the crazy tent/structure that Sunday morning was jovial and filled with anticipation as people arrived for brunch.

While I waited for the reporter to arrive I chatted with one of the crew working the counter. He was wearing a big fur hat and gold rimmed sunglasses. Besides the cold, all I wanted to do was figure out how to get a chance to take his photo.

Avi Waldman it turned out was the brother to the head chef that morning, Talia Syrie from Tansi at Neechi Commons.

While we talked I noticed a lot of effort was being put towards de-frosting the water supply and keeping the structure somewhat heated. Considering recent issues in the city regarding frozen pipes, I’m sure many can understand the situation they were in.

We chatted for a few minutes about the issues they were having trying to battle the weather.

“The biggest problems is the heaters staying on… when they’re on they’re great when they’re not, you don’t realize until it’s really cold.”

I asked how the patrons are with the cold temperatures, “They dance. They dance a lot. We entertain them with music and sing to them. So, they will often dance with us. It distracts them and gets them warmed up.”

I finished by asking him what he would do differently if they had a lot more financial resources to make the experience better.

“I would do it in Hawaii.”