Duane Hicks
How can a brand new restaurant feel comfortably modern and yet rich with history at the same time?
The answer lies at Flint House, located at 232 Scott St., which opened its doors to the public yesterday evening.
Owners Duane and Grace Cridland and their team—including executive chef Brian Lapointe and director of operations Ed Gackley—want people to slow down and revisit “the food experience.”
“We want to have an atmosphere that makes people go out and have a meal experience, not just grab a plate and run,” noted Cridland.
“We’re really focusing on the whole dining experience,” he added.
“We really believe that that’s where our niche will be.”
Cridland said he takes pride in saying the restaurant only has one TV and you won’t find it—it’s hidden.
“More than anything, we want people to just go out and bond and enjoy each other’s time,” he remarked.
“And food is a great igniter of conversations and friendships.”
When it comes to the menu, Cridland said Flint House is going for “premium casual.”
“There’s the regular dishes you find in a fine restaurant—you can get a steak, you can get pasta, you can have chicken or fish,” he explained.
“But we’re also going to incorporate some tacos, some flatbreads,” he added.
“There’s a nice balance of both, we think.
“We’ll have a pretty big menu in the future but we’re just going to roll it a little at a time,” Cridland stressed.
Less is more for the early roll-out,” he reasoned, noting the current menu features six entrées, soup, salads, and some desserts.
Flint House is open Monday through Saturday. Cocktails are at 4 p.m., with the kitchen open from 5-10 p.m.
Historical ambience
Flint House is decorated with a mix of the old and new, the rustic and the historic, to create a pub-like atmosphere.
Many details are sure to spark conversations amongst its patrons.
Cridland said some older citizens already have stopped in and talked about how “fabulous” the location was when it was J.S. Holmes back in the 1930s.
“It was the original day of the malt soda shop, so it’s very intriguing to hear those people come in and tell their stories,” he remarked.
“And I think there’s going to be lots of that.
“Different age groups remember it being the Agnew family,” Cridland added. “People remember it being the Berry family.
“In essence, it started in the early 1900s—we can’t really peg a date—but it was a Dominion Bank and then an Imperial Bank, and then it went on to be J.S. Holmes.”
Upon entering the restaurant, many people first notice Flint House’s tin ceiling, harkening back to the 1920s and ’30s.
It is a restored version of the building’s original ceiling, with additional tiles garnered from Blair and Doug Anderson at Betty’s and a salvage company in Two Harbors, Mn.
Just last weekend, some of the tiles were pulled from the ceiling of a general store in Virginia, Mn.
Pieces of a humidor from the old Berry Patch—one of the former businesses located at 232 Scott St.—were salvaged and incorporated into the bar, including the liquor shelves now lovingly referred by Cridland as “our booze-idor.”
Meanwhile, three tables at Flint House are made from doors from St. John’s Anglican Church. The doors were inlaid with hundreds of wine corks before being epoxied.
The corks were those saved by Achour Cheblaoui, former owner of La Flambée (now Flint House). He collected every wine cork he ever uncorked over the past 18 years, Cridland noted.
Flint House also features a row of benches from the same church along part of its west wall.
“The benches were housed in the basement of McTaggarts for years and years and years, and no one knew what to do with them,” explained Cridland.
“We were searching for benches somewhere and, by simple accident, we bumped into them,” he added, noting ultimately Dr. Bob Lidkea knew precisely where they were.
Wood from the Shortreed barn, which was blown down outside Emo last year, now is seen on the walls of the vestibule and the corridor to the washrooms.
The bathroom doors came out of the courthouse in Two Harbors, Mn., one of which reads “Council Chambers.”
But make no mistake, other parts of the restaurant are modern, including “a brand new stainless steel kitchen” as well as two bathrooms that are multi-sex (i.e., meant for either men or women) and very easy to access with a wheelchair.
Over the past 10 weeks, Flint House was rebuilt by local contractors like Gordie Galbraith and his son, John (Galbraith Electric), Keith Caul and his son, Riley, and Jack Esselink and his two sons, Chris and Jake.
Gordie Galbraith made all of the custom light fixtures. Devlin Metalworks made custom grates for the heating vents and areas which say “Flint” or “Flint House” on them.
Revco Carpet did the flooring while Brad Hughes painted at all hours in order to work around the other contractors.
Karen Sockolotuk of Stan’s contributed to the design process.
Overwhelming response
Prior to opening yesterday evening, Flint House hosted private events for family, friends, and colleagues on Friday, Sunday, and Monday evenings.
Cridland has been getting a positive response right off the bat—and, in fact, Flint House is booked solid for Christmas parties each Friday and Saturday this month.
“Everybody is having a lot of fun,” he enthused. “The atmosphere is very enjoyable and, obviously, our friends are very excited for all of us.
“The staff are very excited.”
Guests at Flint House on Monday evening were impressed.
“It’s gorgeous,” said Marianne Lawres, who attended the event with her husband, Kevin.
“It’s just so different,” she added. “It’s very comfortable and I love the ceiling.
“It’s rustic but not rustic.”
“My first thought was it’s very Duluth-style because they have a lot of these places there—like that old jail with the old architecture,” said Anne Barnard, noting there’s no other place like it in Fort Frances.
“It’s got very nice ambience,” said her husband, Steve.
“It’s very rustic,” added Anne.
“It’s good for Fort Frances,” noted Steve. “It’s our new favourite place.”
“It’s just what Fort Frances needed,” echoed Greg Graham. “It’s a nice, welcoming restaurant.
“It’s not a formal restaurant where you dine and take off—it’s more of a restaurant/lounge where you’re going to stay a while,” he added.
“You could in jeans if you want to,” said Anne Barnard. “Or you can come classy.”
Jim Hudson said he loves the tin tile ceiling.
“It’s so striking,” he remarked while looking around Flint House for the first time.
“It’s very impressive,” agree his wife, Tracy.
“It’s a comfortable atmosphere, it’s wide-open,” added Jim Hudson.
“I feel like when I walk in here, that I’m downtown Toronto and I just walked into a little pub,” said Sue Hanson.
“It’s Scott Street but you’d never know it until you get inside,” she added.
“It’s someplace different.
“You’d never know it was The Berry Patch or La Flambée,” noted Hanson.
To make a reservation, call 274-1143 (the same phone number as its predecessor, La Flambée).
You also can follow Flint House on Facebook.
