The Dam Smokehouse, a smoked meat centred restaurant, came to life when its owner tasted southern barbecue cuisine and wanted to bring it back home to Northeast Saskatchewan (Facebook/The Dam Smokehouse).

By Aaron Schulze

Dam Fine Year

Nipawin smokehouse celebrates anniversary

Jun 16, 2019 | 2:01 PM

As said by the owner himself, the Dam Smokehouse has survived its first year in an often volatile restaurant business.

Faron Saufert opened the smoked-food restaurant in June 2018 wanting to get his foot in the door in the food industry, after being in the agriculture industry for 20 years.

Growing up in Porcupine Plain, Saufert told northeastNOW he wanted to open a restaurant that served smoked meat after going to St. Louis for an Ag Tech conference. After numerous days of eating lunch and supper at southern barbecue joints, he wondered why there wasn’t a smokehouse in Northeast Saskatchewan.

“I said to my wife if we ever go ahead and start a restaurant, that’s what I want to do,” Saufert said. “One day, I woke up and said ‘alright, I’m done doing what we’re doing, let’s go ahead, jump in full feet, and take this venture on.’”

Because of tourists that travel through (and finally having some time to fish and golf when he couldn’t during his agriculture days), Saufert opened the Dam Smokehouse in Nipawin.

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Interesting enough, it wasn’t just Nipawin residents and tourists that kept the Dam Smokehouse afloat for its first year, as Saufert cited strong community support from other communities such as Carrot River, Choiceland, Melfort, Porcupine Plain, Prince Albert, and Tisdale.

“We get a lot of repeat customers,” he said. “Not everybody is a fan of smoked food, but when they come and give it a try it’s not overly powering. It’s manageable and I think there are people that are pleasantly surprised when they do have it.”

However, running a restaurant centred around serving smoked food led to many learning curves during the Dam Smokehouse’s first year.

“When it’s gone, it’s gone,” Saufert said. “I can only put so much meat in a smoker each day, and some days you prepare way too much and some days you don’t prepare enough, but that’s just the way it goes. You don’t know what you’re going to get from day to day.”

The worst day in the Dam Smokehouse’s first year was in November when only 14 people walked through its doors.

Ironically, the next day was its busiest day ever, with 187 meals served.

Despite the uncertainty of how many people could arrive through the doors each day, Saufert said he never wants to sacrifice the Dam Smokehouse’s quality.

“I’m not pulling out ribs and brisket and rewarming them,” he said. “It’s made and it’s gone. That’s how we do it and it’s how we’ll only do it.

“We try to hit a mark where we’re thinking we’ll have this many people today and that’s what we prepare for. Unfortunately, the odd time we don’t have food for people who come later and that’s the way it goes.”

With a first year’s sample size under their belt, Saufert and the Dam Smokehouse staff have better understanding of the busier times such as the summer months, and the quieter times when it’s -40 C outside.

Looking ahead to year two, Saufert hopes to expand the Dam Smokehouse’s craft brewery taps and the menu to offer something for everyone, even the non-traditional smoked meat fans.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: SchulzePANow