Sitting on a bar stool inside Alphie’s Trough, Mark Hand looks out the window at the restaurant’s million dollar view and ponders a question he needs to answer.

“If you were in this restaurant anywhere else in the world you’d say ‘this is a beautiful place.’ It’s strange that people don’t walk down here. Hopefully we can change that,” he said.

Hand is a well-known Niagara chef, having helped open numerous restaurants and becoming a fixture in the region’s wine industry. Now, he’s working with Feastivities Events and Catering owner Peter Van-Helsdingen to re-launch Alphie’s Trough, the Brock University restaurant nestled along the Bruce Trail on the Niagara Escarpment. Ironically, Hand was the Entertainment Co-ordinator for the Brock University Students’ Union in the early 1980s when Alphie’s was a popular student pub.

“It has kind of come full circle for me,” Hand said.

Feastivities has taken over management of the restaurant, which is now open Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Hand will share the kitchen duties with fellow Feastivities chef Pascal Badaoui.

There’s an entirely new menu, which includes appetizers big enough to share for either $8 or $10 and entrees for $12. On tap will be three types of Great Lakes Brewery beer, as well as the new Wine on Tap option that will include both a red and white from Creekside Estate Winery in Lincoln.

“It allows us to pour red and white without having to waste anything or open a new bottle all the time,” Hand said, adding that there will also be other Niagara wines available by the bottle.

In order to fix a common complaint of not being able to eat at Alphie’s within a typical lunch hour, Hand said the menu is designed to include fresh and delicious food that can be prepared quickly.

“Everyone said ‘we have 40 minutes to order, eat and pay’. You can get here, in and out and back to your desk in an hour,” he said.

Along those lines, a new soup and salad bar is available while the entrée menu will change regularly to give customers new options all the time.

Also new is a Beer and Burger night on Wednesdays, when Alphie’s will stay open until 7 p.m.

“We just want people to give us a try,” Hand said. “If they’ve been scared off of Alphie’s in the past, come for a walk down the hill and give it a try.”

Alphie’s Trough
* Open Monday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
* Open until 7 p.m. Wednesdays for Beer and Burger night
* Open to faculty, staff, as well as the general public
* New menu promises to have customers in and out in 40 minutes
* Now managed by Feastivities Events and Catering
* Menu online at alphiestrough.ca