Gasthaus set to partially open June 14th

Ken Johnston
Editor

“I see the potential in this area,” said Werner Reimund owner of the Border Gasthaus which is set to open June 14th.
Reimund, who immigrated to Canada from Germany in 1995 said that the project is the culmination of many aspects of his and his family’s lives. When they first moved to the area they purchased the Scheidegger farm near the mouth of the Rainy River. They opened a bed and breakfast there and also logged the land.
Knowing that the wood supply on his land would not last forever, Werner began to look for other opportunities to keep him and the family busy. His wife, Antonie, worked in a restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany. Since they opened the bed and breakfast she has steadily gained fame throughout the area for her baking and cooking skills. Selling her top quality German Pretzels and other goodies at the local farmer’s market, she has developed quite a following. That business will be incorporated into the Gasthaus where pastries, cakes, buns and European breads will be made and sold. However Werner said that they have no plans to compete with the Quality Bakery. “I plan to buy all our toast bread from them and hope that we can sell their products and they ours.”
The first part of the Gasthaus to open will be the breakfast and lunch dining room. The 1200 square feet area, located on the ground floor of the north wing of the building. Lunch and supper will be served to begin with while construction on the rest of the building continues. Werner hopes to have the main dining room open within two months and will have total seating for 250.
Eventually they plan to have a lounge in the south end of the west wing with an outdoor patio area. Upstairs they will live above the west wing. In the north wing there will be six bed and breakfast suites, each with its own dormer looking towards the north or the Rainy River.
The entire Reimund family will work at the Gasthaus, but despite her back ground, Antonie will not be the head chef. She will instead focus on the bakery and pizza business. To deal with the dining crowds a professional chef has been hired from British Columbia. He will manage the kitchen and do all the food orders. He to has a German background having immigrated here in 1995. He at one time managed the food services for an 800 bed hospital and moved to Canada to open his own restaurant in B.C.
The cuisine will feature German food most prominently and also offer Greek and Canadian options. “I really missed the German food when I came to this area,” said Werner. That combined with his optimistic view of the tourism potential this area has to offer, Reimund felt the Gasthaus was the next career opportunity for him and the family.
Located right at the beginning of Highway 11, also known as Yonge St. the worlds longest street, the Gasthaus is poised to take advantage of the ever increasing tourist traffic coming through the area.
Its beam construction will definitely offer an alluring atmosphere for locals and visitors alike. Werner said 90% of the beams were cut from wood on his property and as far as he knows it is the only public building constructed in this manner using poplar trees. The other 10% of the beams came from the Nestor Falls area and are red pine. “We ran out of big poplar trees on my property and had to look elsewhere.” He said that he is surprised no one else has used poplar to build as it is a very hard wood with very strong fibers.
Having moved here to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life in Germany, Reimund loves the tranquility of the country life. With that in mind the Gasthaus, which means Guest House in German, will be like the traditional country restaurants in Germany.
As the lounge opens Reimund plans to have entertainment on a regular basis; “Entertainment for all ages,” he added.
Having done a lot of the work himself, Reimund also credits O&K Construction for the excellent job they did erecting much of the superstructure. At present he has his son Wolfgang busy doing all kinds of work getting things ready for next Monday’s opening. Wolfgang also provided the sawmill to mill most of the wood for the building.
Beyond the completion of the Gasthaus, Werner plans to add a trailer park with electrical hook-ups and a RV dump-station.
Werner and his family encourage the public to come in starting next Friday and try things like Fleishkaes with Sauerkraut on a bun for lunch or perhaps a Neptune Schnitzel for supper. They will open for lunch at 11 a.m. and supper will begin at 5 p.m.