Easy Simon Pies proprietor turns focus to high quality meals for seniors

Article content material

Bob (Simon) Whitworth want to decelerate from his time-consuming job as proprietor of Easy Simon Pies — to not retire however to focus on elevating the standard, seems and style of meals that seniors are offered. He doesn’t imagine seniors ought to must put up with meals that, though they might (or perhaps not) be dietary, usually are not good to take a look at and fairly boring to style.

Article content material

Whitworth has expertise serving one of the best of meals as founder and proprietor of Easy Simon Pies, one thing he has loved since 1987.

Article content material

Born in England, he lived for a time in Broadstairs, a coastal city east of London, however was despatched to Scotland for his training to attend Gordonstaun, one of many U.Ok.’s prime boarding faculties that features in its alumni Prince Philip and his son, King Charles III.

A stockbroker for a time, Whitworth got here to Canada and Calgary in 1974 and determined he needed to be within the restaurant enterprise. His first eatery was known as Whitworth’s Inn, positioned in what’s now East Village. All went properly, particularly after a fantastic overview within the Herald by meals author Garnet Web page, till town determined that it was on one of the best website for its new Municipal Constructing.

Undaunted, he relocated to the North Hill and opened a burger place — once more issues went properly till the powers that be thought that meals and a former Shell fuel station weren’t suitable.

Whitworth had been making pies there, so he carried on and in 1987 — with the assistance of a machine for making pastry — used a pal’s pizza parlour kitchen to proceed making beef pies and saved them in freezers in his storage.

Article content material

Article content material

He did open a storefront downtown, on the nook of seven^th Avenue and Centre Road, however the sale of the constructing additionally meant one other shift.

For 15 years he offered out of the Blackfoot Farmers’ Market, the in 2004 grew to become one of many founding members of the Calgary Farmers’ Market that opened in Currie Barracks and shortly grew to become a vacation spot purchasing mecca for these searching for contemporary, native merchandise.

Easy Simon Pies have been huge sellers, and it quickly upped the variety of decisions to a pie menu that supplied 21 completely different varieties plus fruit tarts and cheesecakes.

When the Currie location closed, the market moved to a constructing simply off Blackfoot Path S.E., and Whitworth moved with it till 2011 when he determined to exit on his personal and leased a close-by constructing on 77^th Avenue S.E.

Pies are offered from that retail retailer seven days per week, however farmers’ markets usually are not year-round operations so house supply grew to become a should throughout our lengthy winter months — not just for pies and tarts, however an ever-expanding choice of soups and a menu of frozen meals that features gadgets equivalent to beef stew, butter hen and Jamaican beef curry.

Article content material

One other new take was the supply to not-for-profit teams to fundraise by promoting pies and meals. Lots of of teams, together with faculties, sports activities groups and corporations, have raised cash for charities promoting Easy Simon merchandise or redeemable vouchers.

They’re obtainable at a set worth with the teams figuring out their retail prices; a risk-free program with no-expiry date as frozen gadgets will be picked up at any time.

Few folks appear to rave about hospital meals and Whitworth says he’s not in any respect impressed with different meals that he sees delivered to folks residing at house.

Whitworth’s focus is now on offering dietary however tasty meals from his Ogden plant, that look “ok to eat” to make sure that seniors eat in addition to they need to.  

Notes:

Calgary’s Inventive Restaurant Group (CRG), proprietor of Bonterra Trattoria, Publish Pizzeria & Bar and Free Home Craft Beer Corridor, has acquired Ticino Restaurant on Banff Avenue, including to its Rose & Crown pub property there. It’s being rebranded as a brand new idea known as Fats Ox that CRG government chef Glen Manzer says will function a northern Italian menu.

David Parker seems usually within the Herald. Learn his columns on-line at calgaryherald.com/enterprise. He will be reached at 403-830-4622 or by electronic mail at [email protected]

Article content material