Unni SimensenDarren Calabrese
Unni Simensen, the founder of Scanway Catering in Halifax, is semi-retired, the operations taken over by her son, although she still bakes for some events and consults for restaurants.
When I was young, in Norway, I was thinking of being a nurse. It was in my heart because I looked after my grandmother in Oslo one summer. I loved to care for her and had to do assistant-type things; it was hard to believe I was 11 years old. But food was my passion. My mother was an amazing cook and I took cooking courses.
We lived in a little place by the ocean – that's why I love being by the water in Nova Scotia. My husband – he died in 2013 – and I went to Montreal in 1968 for 10 years. We had no money, slept on the floor for a year, used camping chairs, learned French and English. When we came to Halifax, we thought we were on our way back to Norway. We were going to stay a couple of years but really liked it. I started my business in 1981. I couldn't understand what people meant when they asked me if I used real cream in my cakes. I was wondering "Is there anything else?"
We had to bring in fresh herbs and supplies from Montreal and Boston, because they either didn't have them here or didn't have the quality. One supplier said: "You are so picky, we don't even want to deal with you." I asked him: "Would you like to come to my restaurant and get a bad product?" Some people thought I was a man, called me "Mr. Simensen." A couple of guys said they'd never work for a female boss.
The bakery [Scanway Catering & Pastry] still makes our popular cakes and now doughssants [glazed croissants shaped like doughnuts] that sell out every day. I can't believe they're so popular. I treat myself once a week; they're amazing.
We made up to 60,000 of our Florentines, by hand, just in December. They are better than sex, a lot of people told me. They give instant energy and happiness. People send them still to family and with their kids to university.
Today there's big competition but I just did my own thing and didn't worry too much. We were lucky because there weren't so many caterers then. We made beautiful presentations with European touches, finesse – a new style a lot of people in Halifax hadn't seen. Never premade food. When it came to weddings, a lot of people wanted meat trays. I said, "You can't have a bride eating off a meat tray with mayonnaise dripping down her dress," so I came up with better ideas, going to the market early, buying fresh produce, my car loaded.
We've catered in the most unique places, with no power, no water, nothing – we bring everything in and make it work. I've always said, "Your staff is your gold." That goes right down to the dishwasher, as you can't run a kitchen without a team. For one wedding in Cape Breton, strawberry shortcake was on the menu. Unloading, we realized the strawberries were back in Halifax. Our driver went to a strawberry field and picked enough in time to serve 150 people.
Saege Restaurant closed; our lease was up but it wasn't Geir's [Simensen's son] kind of clientele. It was for older people and did well for lunch and brunch, not dinner. It was very expensive to run, before food or power and insurance, $15,000 a month.
For lunch, people don't drink wine or have three-courses like the old days, they have a salad and a glass of water, maybe a coffee.
Looking back 35 years, I did change the landscape of food here. There wasn't a lot of fresh food; it was mostly deep fried. We never had a deep fryer in the kitchen. Quality was the standard. Catering is a work of passion because at lot of time it's going to work at 4 a.m., putting your head down later on a table, sleeping for half an hour, changing and working the rest of the night. It's like acting – behind the curtain is different but when you come out to the customers, you smile.
If I was 10 years younger, I would definitely open a new restaurant. We would have opened a smart little bistro, nothing overly fancy but with a lot of character. It would have done so well, but – there comes a time.
I can't even think about all the catering events. Queen Elizabeth, movies, bands – one I most remember is for a couple in a hospital room, the woman was sick but she could eat. We set up, decorated a beautiful table. One customer said it is in her mother's will to have her funeral catered by Scanway. That I got to deal with the full range of celebrations in life is tremendous.
At home, I open the fridge to see what I have and what I want to cook. I always have lots of butter and cream.
As told to Halifax-based freelance writer Cynthia Martin.
This interview has been edited and condensed.