The Knotty Pine Bistro will soon have new operators. (Facebook/Knotty Pine Bistro)

By Susan McNeil

Knotty Pine

New operators get contract at Knotty Pine Bistro

Mar 25, 2025 | 3:00 PM

After the existing operators of the Knotty Pine Bistro at Little Red River Park opted to not renew their lease, Prince Albert city council awarded the contract to new operators.

The new contractors, Deepak Deepak and Akshay Arora, were given the nod to operate the food services at Cosmopolitan Lodge and the Knotty Pine Bistro, beginning May 1 of this year and ending in 2030.

After taking bids this winter, the city fielded five inquiries and got to formal proposals, resulting in the recommendation to council, which passed.

The new operators were employees of the previous operator.

The change will save the city money. Starting during the pandemic, the city gave the restaurant annual grants, starting at $100,000 and reducing annually until it reached $20,000 last year. For 2024, the previous operator will give the city four percent of its net sales.

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The new operators will not get any grants and will pay for the utilities, saving the city several thousand dollars monthly.

“The new food services agreement we are discussing today would not rely on grant funding from the city, resulting in the contractor being self-reliant and building on the continued success of the location,” said Parks and Recreation manager Tim Yeaman.

He recommended that the city continue with the concept or restaurant/bistro, which started in 2019.

Before that the lodge ran as a canteen set up but needed funding from the city to keep operational.

Because the motion in favour was made at an executive committee meeting, it is not final yet. It still has to be formalized through a motion in a regular meeting.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social