Natasha Thomson, left, and owner of Knotty Pine Bistro, Barb Lychak, right, hold some of the awards presented to the restaurant after the conclusion of poutine week. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

By Ian Gustafson

Canadian Delicacy

Knotty Pine Bistro takes home two poutine week awards for popular dill pickle dish

Mar 25, 2022 | 8:00 AM

After a week of P.A. residents fulfilling their cravings with 11 different varieties of cheesy poutines, the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of P.A’s Poutine Week has come to an end and one popular dish has risen above the others.

The Knotty Pine Bistro’s Dill Pickle Poutine won both awards given out after poutine week. They were awarded as Gravy Bowl Champion for selling 300 poutines, which was the most during the event, and Poutine Choice Award for the restaurant with the most votes by social media.

Barb Lychak, owner of Knotty Pine Bistro said the fundraiser was a great success, but it depended on the community.

“That is great, not only what we were doing, but the public enjoyed what we were doing enough to vote for us, so that is huge too,” lychak said.

From March 12 to 20, seven restaurants in Prince Albert had their own unique poutine and $4 from each dish purchased went to the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of P.A. The restaurants who participated were Boston Pizza, Mr. Mike’s, Original Joe’s, Rock & Iron, Shenanigan’s, The Knotty Pine, and The Spice Trail.

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Lychak explained she chose to make their poutine with their signature creamy dill sauce because she was told by her customers they love it. It also has in house made seasoning and topped with shredded mozzarella cheese on the fries. They even hand breaded the pickles.

“Friends suggested certain aspects of it and kind of put it all together, so we had a few taste testers and they said ‘yeah, this is really good,’” she added.

Several people she said told her they would have it again, and some customers are even asking for it to be a permanent item on the menu.

Natasha Thomson, development coordinator for Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Prince Albert, said they’re excited how well the first ever poutine week went.

“We sold over 1,000 poutines in our city, which is amazing. We were so happy that the people of Prince Albert came out to support this event,” Thomson said.

She explained the money raised during the event will be used to continue to support the matches they have in the community and to recruit more volunteers. Currently, they have 23 children on their waiting list to be paired with a big brother or sister.

“We really want to thank everyone who came out and tried some poutine in support of this event. Thanks to all of our restaurant partners and all of our community partners as well who helped promote and make this event successful,” Thomson said.

The event was modelled after their Saskatoon office held a similar event for the past five years and the P.A. location is excited for the week-long event to make a return next year.

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Ian.Gustafson@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @IanGustafson12