What used to be the shower and change room for labourers at the former St. Marys Paper mill has been, for nearly two years, the home of The Mill Steakhouse and Wine Bar, one of Sault Ste. Marie’s most popular eateries, and the subject of this week’s SooToday Mid-Week Mugging.
Glen Dahl, The Mill Steakhouse executive chef, is no stranger to kitchens, having worked as a chef at The Holiday Inn, Ramada Inn, a French restaurant in London, Ontario, and taught in Sault College’s hotel and restaurant management program for 29 years.
After teaching, Glen retired, but his retirement didn’t last long.
“I was retired for about two and a half years, then my son convinced me to come out of retirement to help his father-in-law (The Mill Steakhouse owner Tony Porco) get this restaurant up and running.”
That was nearly two years ago, in March 2016.
“There was no kitchen, absolutely nothing, it was just tearing down walls and reconstructing, so I was very much involved in the layout of the kitchen, ordering of equipment and hiring of staff,” Glen said.
“Had I gone into business for myself, this is the concept I would have chosen (the concept of giving an old building a new purpose).”
“In Sault Ste. Marie, I believe we’re unique. There are a lot of great restaurants and venues in Sault Ste. Marie, but nobody has a building dating back to the 1890s.”
The restaurant opened in August 2016.
“I’m very proud of it, we’re still working on it with six Red Seal chefs,” Glen said.
“I don’t believe there are any other true steakhouses in town. Steaks are our specialty.”
When it came to staff, Glen said he was pleased to hire some of his former Sault College students.
Joking with head chef Joel Grandmont, Glen said “Joel wasn’t trained at Sault College but we like him anyway.”
Joel, who was a chef at The Delta Hotel for six years before answering the call for The Mill Steakhouse, had no idea he would be the steakhouse’s head chef.
“I hadn’t been in a management role before,” Joel said, but credits Glen for hiring and mentoring him.
“I studied English literature at Queen’s University and I was going to become a teacher, but like a lot of people in this industry, I started working in kitchens and got bit by the bug, so I’ve been cooking professionally for 15 years,” said Joel, who received his professional training at Toronto’s George Brown College.
“It’s like a family here,” Glen said, adding he intended to stay only long enough to get the restaurant off the ground, but liked it so much he has stayed since it opened in 2016.
“Tony (Porco, the restaurant’s owner) trusts us to do things our way. He respects our experience. I’d say that’s one of the best things about being here,” Joel said.
“He’s in it for the long haul and he wants this whole complex to be for the people of Sault Ste. Marie,” Joel said, referring to plans to keep the adjoining Machine Shop going as a multi-purpose facility, as well as plans to keep developing the remaining former St. Marys Paper buildings.
“Everything we do is to enhance ’the lady,’ as Tony calls it (the restaurant and the rest of the former paper mill property)…she comes first. It’s a different concept,” Glen said.
“We’ve got to take care of the lady,” Joel chuckled in agreement.