Raging Brit Cafe, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

How long have you been in Canada?
We moved here 11 years ago in June,the year after the 97 flood..

What factors made you decide to leave the UK and start again?
Having four children and wanting more for them, England is a wonderful country and I still love it but it is just too crowded, there is still a lot of space in Canada with far more opportunities for the future.

What attracted you to being located in that part of Canada?
We traveled over most of Canada on our yearly holidays,we would rent an RV which is an ideal way to travel when you have children and just drive,we knew we were not interested in a big city as we were trying to avoid the problems we were leaving behind,but I also knew I could not live in too much isolation,Winnipeg seemed the perfect Balance a moderate sized city with nearly everything you need, friendly, a short trip down to the states for a bit of added interest and slap bag right in the middle of Canada, it has been everything we were hoping for and we have all been very happy here.

Is there anything you miss from the UK which you wish could be adopted into Canada?
A4 Roundabouts to ease the traffic holdups I still hate stop signs there are just so many of them...As for just the missing part the list is mainly made up of shops like Marks and Spencers,Tesco,Sainsburys to name but a few and of course the friends I had that I miss dreadfully,the other thing I think I miss is the diversity of England from its quirkiness to its pagentry, to the pretty villages and shopping in the high street and the ever changing scenery even down to the very sarcastic sense of humor these are the things I never thought I would miss, I was  very wrong!!

Do you think you would ever go back to the UK for any reasons?
My children are all settled here my oldest has married a Canadian and home to me is where the children are,maybe one day we will winter in the UK but I would not want to live there again it has changed so much in the last 30 years great place to visit and shop but not live not for me anyway.The Children and my husband go back every year his mother is still alive but since losing my father 2 years ago I have no desire at the moment to return.

Have you always been in the food industry and what made you decide to setup a British themed business in the Canada?
In England my husband had a Print works and I was a stay at home mum,we came to Canada and needed to start all over again, my husband did not want to get back into print so he opened a water store I would help in there when needed but we decided to sell 3 years ago and he is now doing Real Estate and much prefers it, My oldest daughter was fed up with university and wanted to start a small business of her own so we decided to do it together then my younger daughter also joined us, we started small just printing T shirts and gradually grew into what we are today from T shirts to a few British Chocolates and sweets to a full grocers and now the restaurant and with that one of my sons also came it to help so it is truly a family business, we have a lot of laughs and there have been a few tears, there have been some bad times it has been a huge learning curve for all of us but the good times far outweigh them hopefully we will be around for may years to come.

Do Canadians like your food and what percentage of your customers are Canadian compared to British expats?
This is a hard one to answer I did try to keep it completely British for the first year but I felt a lot of the Canadian population would not try us as they had very poor impression of what  British food is like,now in our second year we have a very mixed menu keeping all the British favorites but adding in a lot of the popular comfort foods from this end of the world,I am really happy with the mix we offer and as for percentages of British versus Canadian I would say it is now about even.

Whats your biggest item seller of British food?
In the Restaurant it has to be the Fish and Chips the best outside of England we have customers who will travel for miles just for their plate of Fish and Chips and just as many come and pick it up to eat at home,and yes we do wrap it in newspaper still and of course serve it with malt vinegar Tarter sauce and a wedge of Lemon,following that it has to be the Bangers and mash,then Toad in the hole and Liver and Onions,we also do themed nights which are very popular on Thursdays it is British Pie night so we have steak and Mushroom and Steak and Kidney Pies ,Friday is Curry night,Saturday English Roast and Sundays it is our Brunch day so we offer the full menu plus a few more breakfast type meals.
Every Saturday night (from 5pm)we do Roast Beef with Yorkshire puddings, Roast Potatoes, Mashed potatoes,some mixed Veg and gravy it is a very popular event and we have customers who come back week after week for their Sunday Roast on Saturday!!
And I must not forget to mention the puddings #1 Deep fried Mars bar served with ice cream #2 Spotted Dick and Custard #3 sticky toffee pudding.

Additional to the British cafe, we noticed that you also sell British groceries. Do you ship anywhere or just in Canada?
We have shipped all over the world but mainly it is in Canada using the greyhound bus service.

What is the best advice you can give to someone reading this and is thinking of starting a British business abroad?
To understand that it is a lot harder than you might think,to be passionate about what you do and be prepared to work very hard.

Restaurant is located:
2615 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Phone: 204 663 3907
Email: ragingbrit@gmail.com
Website: http://www.ragingbrit.com