Family recipes are heart of Fleur de Lis

 

It’s always a good plan to be hungry when you cross the Canso Causeway that separates the mainland of Nova Scotia from Cape Breton Island. First, you’ll pass under a sign that says, in English, “Welcome to Cape Breton,” then you’ll pass under a second, newer sign that says, in Mi’kmaq, “Pjila’si Unama’kik,” which loosely translates to “Welcome to the land of fog.” You are now six minutes from the Fleur de Lis Tea Room and Dining Room; time to start thinking about what you want to order for lunch.

The Fleur de Lis is located in the Causeway Shopping Centre (known locally as “the Sobeys’ mall”). It is owned and operated by Brenda Chisholm-Beaton—also the mayor of Port Hawkesbury—and her father, Archie Chisholm, who worked at Co-op Building Supplies for 20 years, and at Georgia Pacific.

“Dad and I opened the restaurant in March 2003,” says Chisholm-Beaton. Her mother, Sandra Chisholm, managed the Kentucky Fried Chicken in town for 30 years.

“Per capita, it was one of the highest-earning KFCs in Canada,” says Chisholm-Beaton proudly. Sandra, popular with her customers at the KFC and later, at the Fleur de Lis, “had so many skills,” says Chisholm-Beaton, which she was grateful to learn and implement herself.

From the onset, her mother was pivotal in the Fleur de Lis’ success, Brenda insists. However, it was Brenda and her father who created the business plan, and Brenda who decided on the Fleur de Lis’ menu.

“I said ‘no deep-fried foods,’ ” she laughs. “It did not go over well with Mum. Battle of the century! I said it wasn’t healthy for the workers or the customers; Mum said how would we serve fish and chips? We made a deal. For the first three months, no deep fryer. If it wasn’t working by then, we’d get the deep fryer.”

As it turned out, they’ve been “busy since the first day,” Chisholm-Beaton says. This year, the Fleur de Lis celebrated its 19th year in business.

And the fish and home fries?

The famous carrot cake, which is packed with (what else?) carrots.

Pan-fried, both. The fish is local haddock. For the fries, “We use sliced potato rounds and sauté them on the grill,” says Chisholm-Beaton. “My Mémé (grandmother) Margaret called these des griades.”

Based on family recipes, the Fleur de Lis’s home-style and nourishing offerings are a product of Brenda’s Scottish and Acadian roots. Then she added a modern tweak with more health-conscious choices and preparations.

“The most popular items on the menu are the fishcakes, the seafood chowder, and the maple nut salad,” she says. “Everyone wants the recipe for our maple vinaigrette!”

Other choices include pasta, fajitas and quesadillas, an all-day breakfast, and “Cape Breton Favourites” such as hot turkey sandwiches, and liver and onions, both served with “mash,” (mashed potatoes), and homemade beans, along with baked-daily tea biscuits. Daily specials range from corn beef and cabbage to spaghetti dinners with garlic toast. Portions are generous, and the food is always piping hot.

The desserts, all homemade, are prepared on the premises, like everything else.

“Hard to pick a customer favourite,” Brenda says. “It’s probably a tie between the dark chocolate brownie [served with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle], and the carrot cake [with cream cheese icing], though a lot of people love the macaroons!”

Let’s not forget the over-sized cinnamon rolls: “Two times bigger than a hockey puck,” confirms the owner proudly.

A staff of 12 to 20 runs the restaurant as smoothly as freshly-churned butter.

“I think of myself as Sandra’s protégé,” says Melanie Delorey, a Port Hawkesbury resident and veteran server. “Sandra was very determined, a go-getter. She always accomplished what she set out to do.”

Thirteen years ago, Delorey started her job at the restaurant washing dishes. “Then, I was Archie’s helper in the kitchen, and then I became a server.” Asked what she enjoys about her job, Delorey doesn’t hesitate: “My customers, my co-workers, and Brenda! The customers are amazing. I know the regulars by name, and I know all their usual orders.”

“We’re really like a family here,” says Brenda, who adds that she is “very engaged with her staff,” and all of them “cross-train” by working as dishwashers, cook’s helpers, and waiters. “We all clean.”

The Fleur de Lis also caters for weddings and business functions. For these events as well as at the restaurant, “Eighty per cent of the work is prepping food,” says Chisholm-Beaton. “The chowder, the fishcakes—we even roast our own turkeys for the clubhouse sandwiches and turkey and rice soup. We don’t use processed foods, and—as much as possible—we source our food locally.” An image comes to mind, making Chisholm-Beaton laugh. “You would not believe how many carrots we have to shred for the carrot cake!”

Born in Antigonish and raised in Port Hawkesbury, Chisholm-Beaton is 47. She has three children: Candice (30), Alexis (16), and Finley (14), and is married to Tommy Beaton, a heavy equipment operator at Port Hawkesbury Paper. Brenda has now been involved with municipal politics for 10 years and is Port Hawkesbury’s and Cape Breton’s first female mayor.

“It was my father, Archie, who said to me in 2012, ‘The town probably needs you—you should put your name forward.’ ”

After some careful thought and research, Chisholm-Beaton did indeed put her name forward.

To her surprise, she began her political career as deputy mayor of her town.

Chisholm-Beaton served in this capacity from 2012-13, and as councillor until 2016. This period, she believes, built a “layer of trust” with the electorate.

Then came September 2016. Late in the municipal election process, it became clear that the colourful and sometimes controversial Billy Joe MacLean, after 22 years serving as mayor, would not stand for re-election.

“I was ready for competition,” Brenda says, who ran a vigorous campaign, buoyed by much enthusiasm on social media, which she is adept at using. “I thought there would be two or three others.”

Instead, she was the only person who had submitted her name for the job. She won by acclamation.

“I think my roots in Port Hawkesbury were an important factor in how I fared in the first election,” says Chisholm-Beaton. Not only did people know and respect her parents, these positive feelings also extended to her grandfather, Joe Chisholm, who ran a shoe repair business in town for many years.

In a sign of more inclusive things to come, Chisholm-Beaton attended a conference in 2018 that brought together the Union of Nova Scotia Indians’ tribal council, which represents the five First Nation communities within Cape Breton: We’koma’q, Wagmatcook, Membertou, Eskasoni, and Potlotek, and the mayor and municipal councillors. It was the first time in the town’s history for such a gathering, which focused on challenges and opportunities within the overlapping communities. Since then, Chisholm-Beaton, who has a Masters in Community Economic Development, has continued to develop meaningful connections to the First Nations’ communities of Cape Breton.

“It’s about taking care of people,” she says, “and making our communities better. We’re all stronger together.”

Hence the new sign at the Causeway, completed in 2021, which Chisholm-Beaton championed, with the support of many in Cape Breton.

The change was initially suggested by the Sylliboy family, from the We’koma’q First Nation. Unima’ki means “Cape Breton Island” in Mi’kmaw and loosely translates to “Land of Fog.”

“We can be leaders in truth and reconciliation,” Brenda says. “I want to be an agent of change. I don’t want to settle for the status quo.”

Chisholm-Beaton admits to a “fierce pride” she and so many others share about Port Hawkesbury.

“My number one goal with the restaurant was to give back to the community,” and she is grateful for the very loyal customer base. In turn, she hires and purchases locally, and makes it a priority to support individuals and community groups. For six years straight, before the appearance of COVID-19, the Fleur de Lis put on a Christmas dinner for seniors at the local community centre.

“We served 430 seniors,” she smiles. “That meant having 180 volunteers, some as young as five!”

Nowadays, Brenda is more often in the mayor’s office than in the restaurant, although she touches base once a week, and continues to do the scheduling for the staff, which keeps her up-to-date with their lives and needs. The restaurant is smoothly co-managed by Cynthia Samson and Cathy Belyea, who, along with the other employees, set a tone of welcome and warmth for customers.

Brenda Chisholm-Beaton says she “wants to leave the town better than I found it, in terms of livability, and sustainability.”

A large part of that rosier reality is providing excellent food to travellers and locals alike—and being an example to others in the restaurant business, that working from your own cultural roots and identity can be a winning choice.

Fleur de Lis is located at 634 Reeves Street in Port Hawkesbury. Hours, menus and contact information can be found on their website at fdltearoom.ca.