What was once a sushi restaurant on the corner of Broadway and Smith St. is now Nick’s on Broadway, a restaurant that serves freshly made sandwiches, wraps, soups and desserts all made from scratch in an open kitchen concept.

After being told by his father that the space at 287 Broadway was vacant, Nick Graumann, 25, and his girlfriend Anastasia Damaskin, 26, decided to put their culinary skills to the test and open up their own cafeteria-style restaurant.

Graumann and Damaskin are both graduates of the Culinary of Institute Canada in Charlottetown, PEI. Graumann has spent a number of years working in Winnipeg’s restaurants, including Elephant and Castle and Larters at St. Andrews Golf and Country Club. 

Menu items at Nick’s on Broadway include the Waverley Wrap, Broadway Bowl, Eggs Bannatyne, and the Corydon Club - a testament to Graumann’s dedication to keeping his business close to home. 

“I love this city. I wouldn’t serve the people here anything less than the hand crafted sandwiches that we do here,” he says. 

Damaskin has been living in Winnipeg for three years with much of her culinary experience coming from the East Coast. She says people in Winnipeg tend to avoid using seafood as opposed to the Maritimes where seafood is the forte for most chefs.

Nick’s on Broadway has only been operating for a month now and people are starting to make it their new go-to place. Over the extra loud music, one diner who works downtown is happy to see Nick’s on Broadway open. 

“There aren’t many restaurants on Broadway other than Tim Hortons, Subway and Little Maria’s,” she says. Other diners at Nick’s on Broadway told The Uniter that they were satisfied with the portion sizes and service. 

A new trend starting to surface more and more in Winnipeg is food made from scratch with a majority of products and ingredients coming from local suppliers which is what Nick’s is offering to its customers. 

What might set Nick’s apart from other restaurants downtown is the fact that they offer nut-free food and a celiac friendly desserts, and as Damaskin says, only using ingredients that can be pronounced easily.

Graumann hopes to offer an honest integrable service to customers and that shows. On the chalkboard menu, “Soup of Yesterday” can be noticed and underneath it says “always better the day after.” 

At the moment Nick’s on Broadway operates from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and hopes to expand business operations soon. So far the clientele at Nick’s has been mixed, from business folks to young students and downtown visitors.

Check out Nick’s on Brodway online at nicksonbroadway.ca or drop by 287 Broadway.

Published in Volume 69, Number 21 of The Uniter (February 18, 2015)