Reconciliation with the Indigenous people is something that should be important to all Canadians regardless of background and one way for a person to do that is to celebrate and uplift Indigenous cuisine. Since its opening in 2015, Metis chef Christa Bruneau-Guenther has been an impassioned advocate of Indigenous cuisine through her restaurant Feast Cafe Bistro in Winnipeg.
“[The restaurant's name refers to] a way to pay respect to the plants and animals that give themselves to nourish us,” says Guenther. “As we eat together, we honour our connections, preserve our history and share our stories.”
The restaurateur and Wall of Chefs judge explains that finding a name for her popular establishment–which celebrates Indigenous foods with a contemporary twist–was a journey in itself. She was originally planning to opt for a Cree name, but felt that the name might be too hard to remember for people.
Bruneau-Guenther distinctly remembers a time when she was sitting in a café after preparing a meal and chatted with someone. The person asked her: “What does food mean to you?”
"Love, nourishment, family, community, celebration, wholeness, respect, bringing people together...Really, that’s what a feast is,” she says.
And in that moment, the restaurant's name came to be.
Feast Cafe Bistro is currently open for grab-and-go lunches and dinners throughout the week and offers an extensive catering program as well.
