-=> Quoting Michael Loo to Jim Weller <=-

 ML> Over the years I've been struck by the similarities between
 ML> many Tex-Mex and Mex-Mex foods

Tex-Mex and northern Mexican is quite similar which makes sense.
They're both beef ranching, cheese making, wheat growing areas with
a lot of back and forth contact. But Central and Southern Mexican
food is quite different. Back when I lived in Ottawa there was
briefly a restaurant near my house that served both Yucatan and
Portuguese food (due to the nationalities of the two partners.) The
Mexican section of the menu had things like pork and chicken dishes
with a bunch of different mole sauces, empanadas, black beans,
achiote recado sauces, pibil (pit roasted meat wrapped in banana
leaves) and tropical fruit flavours like tamarind and coconut. It was
too exotic for Ottawa in 1975 and folded quickly even though the
food was amazing. 

 ML> The question I have is what benefit is there to Starbucks?

It's not my first choice for coffee but I'll sip one politely at
the ribbon cutting when it opens.

 > In the past Yellowknife has been a test market for a lot precedent
 > setting ventures.

 ML> Ah, trend setters!

When McDonalds Canada test marketed their upscale "Build Your Own
Burger" menu, with touch screen order kiosks and table service,
Yellowknife was the only location outside of Vancouver and Calgary
in the first run of 60 stores. And ours was the very first to open
(by a matter of two days) in Canada.

The options include ...

3 buns: Black and White Sesame Seed, Brioche or "Artisan" buns

Also a gluten free, low carb lettuce wrap option.

5 cheeses: their standard processed slices, Monterey Jack Jalapeno,
real Cheddar, "Swiss" and Blue Cheese.

12 toppings: Tomato, Lettuce, Guacamole, Sundried Tomato Pesto,
Caramelized Onions, Crispy Onions, Sliced Jalapenos, Long Sliced
Pickles, Grilled Mushrooms, Red Onion Rings and a couple more that I
forget.

9 sauces: Ketchup, Garlic Aioli, Mustard, Smokey BBQ, Big Mac
Sauce, Chipotle Aioli, Grainy Mustard, Mayo, Sriracha Sauce

The burgers come with loaded fries: poutine, chili-cheese, sweet
potato fries, and some others that escape me at the moment or a
decent garden salad. And there's real milkshakes on the new menu.
            
We also have the first Miniso store in Canada outside of the major
markets of Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Montreal and
Halifax. It opened here May 1st and is run by a Chinese family in
the immigrant entrepreneur fast track permanent residency program.
They're not from China actually but Jamaica where they also ran a
retail store for a few years. 

 ML> If it's testing new names or
 ML> co-branding combinations, that means leasing
 ML> property, which must be good for you

Yep. I did the Miniso deal and a second Chinese immigrant retail
operation last month. That makes three since the program started.

 > barren land condominiums, allowing mobile home owners in rental
 > parks to jointly buy out the owner, and take over

 ML> So the condominium association administers the
 ML> tract but not the structures thereon?

Exactly.

 ML> I presume the ownership agreements specify the permitted uses
 ML> for the lots.

The permitted uses start off with the municipal zoning bylaw which
allows for mobile homes, custom built single family residences
(provided that they are long and narrow so that they'll fit on the
lot), renting out homes, home occupations including small day cares
but not full blown commercial activity. The condo association tacked
on some additional but not unreasonable restrictions e.g. no
derelict vehicles without plates in front yards, not more than 2
dogs per household etc.

 > the first telco in North America to purchase a cable TV company

 ML> But has its own unintended consequences, at least on
 ML> the consumer side, as in Lilli's area where it is (but
 ML> has not yet been challenged as) a monopolistic venture.

I didn't say that it is a good thing! At least in Canada, the CRTC
has the power to regulate monopolies fairly effectively, especially
when it comes to rates.

 > the Jason family gave up their franchise

 ML> Question is what made the franchise less attractive.

As I mentioned earlier, curtailing burger sales and bulk sales involving
air freight, pushing for an unnecessary drive through lane and,
insisting on renovations every 10 years when there was no market
pressure to do so. And Gabi was in her sixties, quite wealthy (the
place was grossing over $4M per year and netting (I'm guessing here)
about $1M but also exhausted after decades of operating the place by
herself. Headquarters seemed to kill every sale opportunity of here;
they really wanted a new operator working from a larger location
with a drive through, with no insight into local market dynamics.

 > grandkids [...] curious about their heritage

 ML> You need more Asian and south of the next border representation.

There's lots of Asian influences through friends and schoolmates if
not from inside the family. Ray's best friend in high school was
Vietnamese-Canadian and Neekha's Yellowknife BFF is Filipina-Inuit,
perhaps the only one in the world! But there are very few Latinos of
any persuasion in this part of the world.

 >      Title: Todd Perrin's Cold Smoked Seal Loin

 ML> That looks like a good recipe for smoked anything and might
 ML> have palatabilized even certain elderly meats that you have
 ML> foisted on innocent tourists.

He started off with cleanly harvested, flash frozen meat. Mine was
both frost burned and rancid which some Inuit don't seem to mind.
I've had tasty seal meat in Newfoundland back in the early 70s.




Cheers

Jim


... Northerner: Why would I fly when it's only a 16 hour drive?

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