Jagjeet Singh and wife Kamaljeet Kaur, co-owners of the Sukhdev Restaurant Sault location at 476 Queen St. E., are doing their part for those in need of a meal.
The restaurant is currently offering a free meal program that began Oct. 1 and continues to March 31.
“We are offering free meals to anyone who is in need," Singh told SooToday. "We don't ask any questions. If someone walks in we won’t even ask for their name. They can just tell us they are here for the free meal. The only question we ask is if they want the vegetarian or non-vegetarian option."
The generous program is officially offering 10 free meals per day to those who ask, but numbers vary.
“The other day we gave out 15 meals. On average, so far, we’ve given out five or six meals a day. Yesterday (Wednesday Oct. 9) we had four.”
The meals are light and include bread, rice and curry.
“It’s in our Punjabi culture. Whatever we earn, we take something and give it back to the community," Singh said. "It doesn’t matter if you’re from my culture or not. If you live in the same community we’re going to help you. That’s something that we learn from a very young age, to help others."
The business opened on Queen Street East in the city’s downtown in July.
It's one of several Sukhdev Restaurant locations in northern Ontario, the others situated in Copper Cliff, Espanola, Little Current, M'Chigeeng, North Bay, Sudbury, and Timmins. The Sukhdev Restaurants are family-owned.
Singh has lived in Canada since 2017.
He and his wife originally lived in the Greater Toronto Area after arriving in this country, then White River and Espanola before settling in the Sault.
“I like northern Ontario a lot. The GTA was too crowded for my wife and I so we moved to White River first and we found it too small. The Sault is not too big and not too small. We moved here in May and we’re liking it,” Singh said.
“We’ve found the community has liked our food and accepted us. It’s a challenge for anyone to move to a community and start a restaurant so I’m glad they’ve liked our food and we’ve gotten a good response."
The restaurant serves authentic northern Indian food.
“I know there are other Indian restaurants here but their meals are from different regions of India. We serve northern Indian food. It’s a bit less spicy and richer. There's more butter to it, and thick creams,” Singh said.
“We have Amritsari Kulcha which a lot of people like. It’s stuffed bread with potatoes and spices. We make our meals from scratch and always ask customers what spice level they would like their meals made to. We go from a scale of one to 10. If you like it spicy we can make it spicy for you, if you like it mild we can make it mild for you.”
Sukhdev Restaurant offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes.
“I’ve been in the food service industry for five years. I managed a Subway and a McDonald’s in other communities but this restaurant is my own. Many people from India have it in our minds that we like to start something of our own,” Singh said.
“We offer free meals to front line workers as well, like police officers, nurses, any front line workers. It’s for what they are doing for us. They’re protecting us and providing us services. It’s just our way to appreciate that but they are kind enough to come back later and pay for their meal."
Singh sees the need for food among those with little or no income in the Sault, as well as college and university students.
“It’s a difficult time," he said. "There are more people than jobs. It’s hard for a lot of people with all these expenses, the cost of living. It’s just something we want to put out there, that if you are in need we will help you, we will provide for the community. We might be losing something in revenue but I get the blessings. That’s what I believe."
The Sault's Sukhdev Restaurant is open from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.
More information on the Sukhdev Restaurant chain can be found on the company's website and on the Sukhdev Restaurant Sault Ste. Marie social media page.
