A unique Prince Albert restaurant has found some new owners.
Jaklin and Blair MacGregor have passed the reigns of the Persia Bistro over to a group of three Filipino couples.
Jaklin, who cooked all the meals fresh daily, said they decided to sell the business about seven weeks ago, but they’ve been looking into it for over a year.
“The thought has been there for a while. [There’s] been a few different offers but we just felt like we wanted to make sure somebody just from Prince Albert, somebody local, that will look after the business,” Jaklin said.
She said they chose these new owners because they are a tight-knit group that are very hands-on, and have some restaurant experience.
Blair, who would help out at the restaurant, was happy to see the new owners keep some of their recipes, “but it was also nice to see Prince Albert have another type of food with the Filipino foods being offered now too. So it’s more variety, more cultural for Prince Albert.”
The decision to give up the restaurant after four years came down to Jaklin’s health.
“Health wise I’m going through a little bit of a hard time and that came into the picture as well here to make this very difficult decision,” she said.
The family moved to Warman in August, so Jaklin’s sister was running the place on her own and “it was getting difficult to run the business with not enough manpower and we weren’t able to get back as much, and so we felt this is the time to start looking.”
Jaklin’s passion is cooking. She said she and Blair presented the question to themselves whether to open the bistro or have another child four years ago, and they decided on the bistro. So letting her “baby” go was tough, she said.
“It’s never a chore. I have a passion for cooking,” she said, adding one day down the road they may open another restaurant.
However, both Blair and Jaklin are happy for the new owners and hope the support they’ve received from the community will continue on under the new ownership.
Shiela Aruthcamagan is one of the six new owners who officially took over Dec. 2. She said the group has known each other since they’ve moved to Saskatchewan.
Although they’ve never owned a business together, they have worked together at different jobs in the past.
For Aruthcamagan, the experience has been really overwhelming as the support from the Filipino community and Prince Albert has been great.
She plans to keep some of Jaklin’s original recipes that have been fan favourites, but added some more Asian flare to the menu.
“Her bestsellers are all handed over to us. Especially the buttered chicken, the meatball and the lentils,” she said, adding they will also be keeping the name and décor the same for at least a while.
She said the restaurant is a blessing and hopes the public will embrace the change.
“People really tend to be, I must say, they don’t like changes at all, but it’s worth a try.”
sstone@panow.com
On Twitter: @sarahstone84
