By Stephen Lylyk, Feb. 14. 2022

The Valentine’s Day Gourmet Takeout takes place at the Conexus Arts Center today. Attendees are welcome to celebrate the special day with a gourmet food menu. The takeout aspect of this event is a creative way for the Conexus Arts center to do something special for seasonal holidays during Covid 19

“When the pandemic hit,” said Conexus executive chef Leo Pantel, “We were dealing with restrictions. So we decided to go ahead with a takeout feature.”

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Conexus Arts center staff were forced to adjust their typical Valentines plans

“Because it’s on a Monday, we just provided service on the one day,” said Patel. “Typically we’ll do it over two or three days. Not everyone celebrates on the same day, we want to tie it in with a weekend, this year because of the Superbowl we were a little restricted.”

For this Valentines’ Day, Pantel added a unique element for the occasion.

“When we looked at doing the Valentines [event],” said Patel, “we wanted to make it special. We wanted to make it romantic, and we want to package the two obviously for the happy couples celebrating on that day.”

The menu for this event provides many specialty dishes, “Smoked Breast of chicken with shrimp and tarragon Newburgh sauce, and Mini Chocolate Rasberry Gateau de crepe.”

Patel described how the products used to create this menu were acquired by stating, “We deal with premium vendors throughout the city, province, and across western Canada.”

One of the suppliers was Pineview Farms, a Saskatchewan-based natural meat farm.

“Our whole business,” said general manager of Pineview Farms Amanda Hartman,  “is based on natural meat protocols. That includes how we raise the animals, what we feed them, how they’re slaughtered. The whole thing is like a holistic process.”

Patel also mentions how a lot of the products for these meal events are what they already possess in-house.

“We create alot of products in-house. We had Rasberry stuff that we’ve had in stock for special events like this. We buy at the freshness of the season and marinate it or whatever the case may be.”

Those wishing to acquire the food from this menu must go through the following process.

“The client would purchase through a website or through our ticketing system,” explained Patel. “We have multiple pick-up times so not everyone comes at the same time, it’s spread through a 90-minute window.”

A representative at the Conexus arts center discussed the current policies for Covid 19 relating to inside the building

“Masking is still mandatory,” said receptionist Brenda Gessell, “but as for proof of vaccination… I was unable to get an answer [it] will be discussing it in the meeting tomorrow.”

Patel also explains that through these events, and through the ticket sales, they have determined that they have a loyal customer base

This is not the first takeout event that the Conexus Arts center has done

“Other feature nights have been St Patrick’s Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas. But also Family weekend events, and family dinners throughout the pandemic.”

Patel discussed how through these events he’s been able to analyze the customer base that has grown, and how they hope the growth will continue.

“Our feeling is that we have a loyal customer base. So we’re happy to look after these customers. We also provide a unique tasting experience. So it helps us bring new customers that may not have known that we do something like this.”