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Soup’s on

Cranbrook’s Rocky Mountain Redneck Café is a popular mom-and-pop operation

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Readers of Kootenay Business magazine like the Rocky Mountain Redneck Café in Cranbrook, B.C. This little breakfast-and-lunch restaurant was voted a favourite in the magazine’s 2014 Best Places to Eat & Drink Awards.

Kevin and Audra Wallace opened the business in 2008 and work six days a week to serve their customers. Kevin is the cook, and he’s truly a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. He agreed to talk to me because Audra was out of town when I called. Though he did consent to coming out for a moment so that I could get a photo of him away from the pots and pans, we did our interview where Kevin is most comfortable: in the kitchen.

What’s your cooking specialty?

Fresh soups. The Creole sausage soup has nice chunks of sausage in it, with lots of vegetables and some spice to heat it up. I do borscht, cabbage roll soup and some others. There’s no particular rotation—I just make whatever I feel like making. Audra does the baking—the dessert items.

Are you able to source your ingredients locally?

Some of them. I get my multi-grain bread from Kimberley City Bakery and my produce from Superstore. We’re a small operation, so we can’t really have standing orders with the suppliers.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Customers sometimes ask for specific things, and I use that as a guide. Otherwise, I just get ideas now and then.

What would you say is the secret of why the restaurant is so popular?

The secret is Audra—she’s the one out front, working with the customers. I’m the grumpy one in the back. We serve good, honest food, just like we always wanted to serve. We want to have a place where people enjoy coming to meet their friends and hang out. I think we have that here.

Marie Milner

Marie Milner is a writer and photographer for Kootenay Business magazine and several other publications. She appreciates the inspiration that she gets during her interviews and hopes to share that inspiration with you. View all of Marie Milner’s articles

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