“It’s not the dollars we make, it’s the people we serve,”
Tue, 03/26/2019 - 9:07am
admin
By:
Bonnie Kirchman
“The customers!” is the quick reply when you ask Kandi Momerak about the best part of running Kandi’s Kitchen in Gonvick. And Kandi has found many ways to express her appreciation for her customers in the nearly nine years that she has been running her restaurant.
If you go to Kandi’s Kitchen, you might leave with a cup that reads “We have the Coolest Customers”. Or you could take home a “Food so great you’ll scrape your plate!” ice scraper. On Mother’s Day, women are treated to a carnation and the men get a special gift on Father’s Day. If time allows, Kandi and her staff will put an extra effort into celebrating customers’ birthdays. She recently baked a birthday cake for a customer’s 82nd birthday. Kandi might add to someone’s special day by bringing out a pumpkin bar with a birthday candle in it. One customer was even treated to a surprise five-pound hamburger, complete with giant bun, all specially crafted in the restaurant.
But what Kandi’s customers probably appreciate most is the effort she puts into fitting her menu to her customers. She has a range of specials on the menu, from the meatballs on Monday, to tacos on Thursday, to barbequed ribs on Friday during the summer. Her many other specials include chicken Philly sandwiches, Reuben sandwiches, and western burgers. Kandi’s Kitchen also offers a variety of omelets that are especially popular on Saturdays. There are specials for seniors every Monday and Wednesday. On Easter, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day, Kandi opens her kitchen and serves a special Sunday buffet.
And there is klub! In the winter and into early spring, Kandi’s Kitchen serves potato klub on Fridays. Kandi makes her klub following an old family recipe. She hand-grinds the potatoes with an antique hand grinder passed down from her grandmother. Leslie Berg has been recruited to help with klub on a regular basis.
Kandi has had many different jobs including making wreaths and bundling fire wood. She has worked for potato farmers, welders, and a group home. She started in restaurant work when she was 12 years old, busing tables in Grafton, North Dakota where her mom worked as a bartender. At 15, she started waiting tables but she had to wait to start cooking until she was 16. Her family moved to Minnesota and she worked at the Village Café in Shevlin and the Pine and Prairie Café in Fosston.
Family is also important to Kandi. Her daughter Mckenzie works in the restaurant, and especially loves to bake items like pumpkin bars and caramel rolls for customers to enjoy. Mckenzie’s daughter Ellie will celebrate her third birthday on May 5th, which will also be Kandi’s ninth anniversary at the restaurant. Ellie and little sister Crimsynn who just turned one, are often at grandma’s restaurant. Other members of the Kandi’s Kitchen family include Renee Hutchens, who cooks at the restaurant, and Ashly Brenton, who helps wait tables. And Leslie Berg helps with plumbing and anything else that needs fixing.
When she isn’t at the restaurant, Kandi enjoys going to the movies. She also likes to shop in Bemidji, Grand Forks, and Thief River Falls. In summer she helps Leslie drill wells.
There are challenges to owning a restaurant in a small town in northern Minnesota. “Snow bird” customers are away for part of the year. Winter weather makes it difficult for people to get out. Keeping up with cleaning is harder in winter with all the snow and ice. And equipment has to be updated. Kandi has a new prep table and a new freezer and is in the process of getting a new stove. Being open 6 days a week, Kandi and her staff put in long hours at the restaurant. But they obviously enjoy working together to bring good food to their customers.
“It’s not the dollars we make, it’s the people we serve,” is how Kandi sums up her feelings about the work she and her staff do for their customers.