For Embrun’s popular Homestead Pub, it was a short move but a necessary one.
Founder and owner Robin Wheatley originally opened the restaurant, bar and live-music venue at 968 Notre Dame Street in August 2018, but last October she pulled up roots and moved her food-and-beverage operations 700 metres down the road to number 893, the former Brasserie Etienne Brûlé Brewery.
“We purchased the old firehall because we had simply outgrown our original space,” Wheatley says, adding that with the move co-owners Jevon and Meg Rudder came on board.
Born in a small farming community in Alberta, Wheatley doesn’t describe herself as a serial restaurateur, but she has done yeoman service in the demanding restaurant industry.
“It’s been decades,” she says describing the classic, old-school pathway that has led her through a series of stages to ownership of the Homestead.
“I’ve been in the business my entire life. I started working as a dishwasher when I was 15 years old. Then I became a bus girl, did waitressing, moved on to bartending and then became a manager.”
“We remember your drink order”
The Homestead has a rustic, slightly country vibe with lots of wood, timber and iron, chalkboard notes for a harvest festival, Edison lights with bulb cages and a large bar with seating for about a dozen that draws your eye to the front of the dining room.
That, in turn, is bookended by a set of garage doors that in warm weather roll up to reveal a deck and patio, and Notre Dame Street beyond.
Wheatley estimates that 85 per cent of the clientele that visit the space, both indoors and out, are locals: farmers, military and government workers all contribute to an atmosphere that she describes as accommodating a small town feeling.
“You walk in and people know your name, you know? We remember your drink order.”
I walked in one early evening in late summer: no one knew my name, of course, but the Homestead was indeed comfortable and open and airy with the garage doors rolled up – and the waitress, Kayla, was engaging and very friendly.
In one corner of the dining room is a relatively large stage: the Homestead website includes a “live music submission” link, and their online events calendar lists musical acts on the weekends and open mic night on Sundays.
“We have local bands and bands from out of town, a sort of road trip series with different genres of music,” according to Wheatley. “Rock, country. We’ve had a skiff band. We’ve had Owen Riegling here with the Bud Light Tour.”
Open seven days a week, Homestead’s capacity with the patio and party room is about 118 people.
Comfort food and budget-friendly options
The food menu is perhaps less wide ranging, but that’s because here pub classics and hearty fare rule – perhaps just what you’d expect to find at a homestead.
To name a few dishes, there’s baked shepherd’s pie with house-made gravy, wings, poutine, St-Albert cheese garlic bread, home-made lasagna (to “fill your boots with,” says the menu), deep-fried pickles, “Outlaw” nachos, a bevy of burgers with fresh-cut fries, fish tacos and a steak sandwich among other dishes.
Fish Friday aside, the fish and chips, light and crispy and beer battered, are likely the restaurant’s most popular dish, part of a menu that is filling and isn’t a fussy one.
“I wanted a pub that was like home for everybody. We make homemade comfort food and do as much as we can in-house, including making all our sauces,” says Wheatley.
Lunch specials run Monday to Friday for $11 and Homestead Lager, by Amsterdam, is $6 a pint when on special.
“We try to have budget-friendly options, just because things are so expensive now,” she adds.
Dish concepts often come from collaboration, says Wheatley who talks with her team and encourages them to share ideas for the pub’s menus, which change twice a year.
“We have a lot of regular customers, so we like to be able to give them options, some variety.”
Juicy with sautéed mushrooms and onions, a cheesy “Rancho” burger I had, served on a paper-lined aluminum sheet pan, was very good: meaty and rich and good texture, the beef from La Ferme Gillette literally a few minutes drive away.
A Philly cheesesteak always piques my interest: it’s a rare dish to see on a menu and is firmly ensconced in the pantheon of America’s great sandwiches – and its character fiercely protected by those who hail from the City of Brotherly Love.
Homestead gives it their own style of Embrun love.
“We’re clearly not from Philadelphia,” cracks Wheatley. “We use Gillette beef, slow-roasted for 12 hours. It then gets pulled and seasoned and is really tender.”
It was indeed tender, and the sandwich gets a slight hit of garlic from the soft baguette which also holds onions, peppers and oozy melted Mozzarella which deviates from the usual cheesesteak Provolone. A short time under the sally gave it a bit of crisp around the edges.
The Homestead beverage menu, presented on plasticized sheets at the table, ranges from the major players – “we have customers who want brands like Bud Light,” says Wheatley – to Flying Monkeys out of Barrie, Ontario.
“We also have some local craft beers because we want to help support other small businesses in the area,” she says.
Community is the bones of it all
The drink, the food, the vibe are the sum of the key parts of Homestead Pub which pretty much determine that everyone, regular customers or those just passing through town, can be comfortable visiting.
Although Alberta and Embrun are 3,000 kilometres apart, Wheatley’s decade of experience as a restaurateur here tells her that small towns have more similarities than differences.
Aside from cooking and slinging beers and striking up the band, she says that her focus for Homestead has been on building a community – including hosting a charity golf tournament – around the restaurant and bar.
“Community is the bones of it all. People are looking for a place to call home with good food. That’s the standard. I don’t care where you go, that’s what people want.”
Food writer Andrew Coppolino lives in Rockland. He is the author of “Farm to Table” and co-author of “Cooking with Shakespeare.” Follow him on Instagram @andrewcoppolino.
