The chef behind this St. John's sandwich shop won't let a pandemic get in his way
Opening a restaurant is a gamble at the best of times; food costs are soaring and good help is hard to find, while permits and licences are a rocky landscape.
Opening a restaurant during a global pandemic when absolutely everything is up in the air? That requires a whole new level of grit.
Enter Mike Boyd, owner, operator, and head chef at Mickey's Sandwich Shop on Water Street in St. John's. While Mickey's is one of the newest restaurants in town, Boyd is an old hand who has been in this game for a long time.
After working for years at the world-famous Langdon Hall in Ontario under Jonathan Gushue (now the executive chef at the Fogo Island Inn), Boyd became the head chef at the Reluctant Chef in St. John's in 2013.
"It was there I started to really find my groove in the industry," says Boyd. "Newfoundland has an amazing bounty of ingredients and culinary traditions, so it wasn't hard to stay inspired."
If you ate at the Reluctant Chef during that period, you know Boyd was a star. He created some truly astonishing dishes— a tiny dumpling stuffed with haggis jumps out as a memory.
But it wasn't just the food coming out of the kitchen that made his food stand out; his dishes were executed with such precision in a kitchen many would consider a claustrophobic's nightmare. Boyd created, cooked and plated 60 multicourse meals a night out of a glorified bedroom closet.
After several years in that role, Boyd jumped ship and ventured into the world of private chef gigs on yachts.
"I worked on yachts, private islands, and estates for celebrities, business moguls, mafiosos — and even a Central American president," said Boyd.
A sandwich shop in St. John's is admittedly a far cry from conceiving meals for billionaires on massive boats, but it's where Boyd wants to be.
See for yourself: Andie Bulman visited Mickey's Sandwich Shop on Water Street to check out Boyd's sandwich menu, and ask about why he decided to open during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"My beautiful wife is here and I want to be on this beautiful island," he said. "A sandwich shop is something I have wanted to do for years. You can make sandwiches as simple or as complicated as you want."
Although, Boyd admits he'll be stretching the concept of "sandwich" to its limits.
"We're going to be doing flatbreads, hotdogs, wraps, and tostadas, too.… Honestly, the word 'sandwich' will be used loosely."
Mickey's is going to buy local and support local, too. While Boyd will always feature a few classic sandwiches, like deli stacks on ciabatta bread, he'll be playing around with lots of hyper-regional flavours.
"Yesterday, I was able to get herring that had been swimming the water near Petty Harbor. Within an hour, I had that pickled and in a jar, so I'll be doing a pickled herring smørbrød," he said.
"We're also carrying kombucha from the St. John's Fermentary, Volcano Bakery breads, and we'll be supporting local growers and foragers whenever we can."
He's also attempting to keep the prices reasonable.
"I want the shop to be accessible, so sandwiches will be priced between $9 and $16," he said. "We're also going to sell our own mustards, freshly baked cookies, that kind of thing."
Amid a flailing economy and a terrifying pandemic, opening a sandwich shop seems especially risky, but Boyd saved money by making the tables himself, painting and cleaning the place by hand, and designing every single aspect of the renovated space and brand.
"It has been a roller-coaster. I think opening any sort of business for the first time is hard enough as it is — the global pandemic brought a lot of uncertainty and anxiety," he said.
"Ultimately, I'm just thankful and appreciative that I have been able to still take a chance at this dream. I feel fortunate."
Food 'n Fun is a series all about food — and fun — as Andie Bulman takes viewers to places in Newfoundland to talk about delicious things.
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