THIS BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT SHINES ON
Brought to you by this community-minded organization because they recognize that
good business is good for everyone:
Main St. Local Kitchen. The name says it all: a downtown kitchen serving up delicious, locally grown fare by local chef Ryan Clarke. Ryan and his wife Christina bought the restaurant, formerly Louis’ II, in July 2015, fulfilling a lifelong dream and recently took it one step further with a new look and a new menu.
“Ryan always had a dream of purchasing a restaurant,” says Christina. “When we decided to move back to Huntsville (from Kitchener) we went on the hunt and Louis’ II was available – Louis and Barb were ready to hang up their chef jackets and retire and it was the perfect opportunity to step in and make that dream a reality.”
At first, they ran the restaurant under the Louis’ II banner, taking the time to learn what their patrons and staff wanted, what was working, and what wasn’t. Armed with that information, they closed Louis’ II earlier this year to begin renovations to the space and revamp the menu.
They knew they wanted a cottage feel – cozy and welcoming – that was also clean and bright. And they knew they wanted to focus on a smaller menu offering that featured the abundance of local suppliers available in Huntsville and Muskoka.
“Ryan is very much about providing quality food that he feels good standing behind and feels comfortable serving to his family. And we are very much about supporting our community. When we saw how rich Huntsville and Muskoka are with food providers we wanted to incorporate that, not only to support other local businesses but it’s great for our economy. We focus on as much local product as possible.”
Main St. Local Kitchen is a busy place at lunch time
The feedback they’ve received couldn’t be better. “We have been overwhelmed with how positive and excited people are with the menu,” says Christina. “We’ve received great feedback on the variety of options we have for people with different dietary needs or who may be vegetarian or vegan. We are really happy that we can provide different options for everyone that comes through our door.”
Their local focus and the fact that Ryan was born and raised in Huntsville were a big part of the decision to name the restaurant Main St. Local Kitchen. “There were a number of different names we were thinking about but we came to love local – Ryan is local, we want to support our local small businesses, and we love our community. That word was important to us so we started with local and built off that – we are loving it.”
Ryan and Christina are celebrating Main St. Local Kitchen’s new look and menu with a dinner and a show Facebook contest – win dinner for two and tickets to the March 31 performance of Roald Dahl’s Willy Wonka at the Algonquin Theatre. To enter, you just have to like and share the Main St. Local Kitchen Facebook page and from there you can watch for future news and contests.
I like the new look, the food was good, and the prices still reasonable. But I was disappointed that the renovations did not include the addition of an accessible restroom. I was under the impression that accessibility was mandatory?
We look forward to visiting the Local this summer