Sitting on a bar stool inside Alphie\u2019s Trough, Mark Hand looks out the window at the restaurant\u2019s million dollar view and ponders a question he needs to answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you were in this restaurant anywhere else in the world you\u2019d say \u2018this is a beautiful place.\u2019 It\u2019s strange that people don\u2019t walk down here. Hopefully we can change that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hand is a well-known Niagara chef, having helped open numerous restaurants and becoming a fixture in the region\u2019s wine industry. Now, he\u2019s working with Feastivities Events and Catering owner Peter\u00a0Van-Helsdingen to re-launch Alphie\u2019s 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\u2019 Union in the early 1980s when Alphie\u2019s was a popular student pub.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has kind of come full circle for me,\u201d Hand said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt allows us to pour red and white without having to waste anything or open a new bottle all the time,\u201d Hand said, adding that there will also be other Niagara wines available by the bottle.<\/p>\n
In order to fix a common complaint of not being able to eat at Alphie\u2019s within a typical lunch hour, Hand said the menu is designed to include fresh and delicious food that can be prepared quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone said \u2018we have 40 minutes to order, eat and pay\u2019. You can get here, in and out and back to your desk in an hour,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Along those lines, a new soup and salad bar is available while the entr\u00e9e menu will change regularly to give customers new options all the time.<\/p>\n
Also new is a Beer and Burger night on Wednesdays, when Alphie\u2019s will stay open until 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want people to give us a try,\u201d Hand said. \u201cIf they\u2019ve been scared off of Alphie\u2019s in the past, come for a walk down the hill and give it a try.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alphie\u2019s Trough Sitting on a bar stool inside Alphie\u2019s Trough, Mark Hand looks out the window at the restaurant\u2019s million dollar view and ponders a question he needs to answer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":35602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3319,1,4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35601"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35601"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35601\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35620,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35601\/revisions\/35620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35601"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>* Open Monday to Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
\n* Open until 7 p.m. Wednesdays for Beer and Burger night
\n* Open to faculty, staff, as well as the general public
\n* New menu promises to have customers in and out in 40 minutes
\n* Now managed by Feastivities Events and Catering
\n* Menu online at alphiestrough.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"