A 'Bight' of Thunder Bay

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You could hardly imagine a better location for an eatery than Prince Arthur’s Landing in the heart of Thunder Bay’s Marina Park.

Bight Restaurant & Bar enjoys a postcard view of the harbour, intriguing sculptures and the marina and the Sleeping Giant.

“We wanted to have a restaurant that really showcased the space,” says Bianca Garofalo, owner and general manager. “We have this gorgeous spot with panoramic windows facing the water and the mountain vista.”

Bight opened in December 2012 in the Water Garden Pavilion, as part of Thunder Bay’s waterfront makeover. Patrons can have drinks and appetizers on the seasonal patio or stay inside and savor a special dinner with a bottle of wine.

“We wanted to create an environment where all those things work in the same space, and I think we have,” Bianca says.

Already, the venue is getting raves, like this from Jarrod R. of Zionsville, Indiana, who on Yelp.com praised the service, the patio, and added, “We shared the hand-cut fries and the artisan cheese board, which was a hit. Dare I say, in four decades on this Pale Blue Dot, some of the best fries I’ve ever tasted.”

Bight offers casual fine dining with contemporary North American cuisine and an inventive gourmet take on top-grade steaks, fish, chicken, sandwiches, pizza, soups and salads.

The emphasis here is on using local ingredients whenever possible.

“We have a really eclectic menu that showcases a lot of great local producers and farms,” Bianca says. In fact, the farms and suppliers are listed on the menu.

The Tarrymore Burger (a local beef and bacon patty, house mustard, rosemary aioli, cheddar, Bermuda onion, arugula, tomato and in-house brioche) is named for Tarrymore Farm, which supplies  Bight with beef. Brule Creek Farm grinds the flour and Thunder Oak Cheese Farm delivers, of course, its internationally recognized gouda.

“I think there’s been much more of a return to eating in locally owned restaurants,” Bianca says, “where things are made from scratch and there’s support for local producers and farms.”

What’s on the Bight menu?

The combination of locally produced ingredients and culinary creativity makes ordering a tasty adventure. You might try the beef filet:  in-house dry-aged Angus beef, red wine and Gorgonzola butter, bourbon and mushroom barley risotto and grilled black kale. Or sample the Chicken Supreme: coffee and ancho crusted, roasted fennel with cumin, almond and fig risotto and apple bourbon sauce.

There are separate lunch and dinner menus, but some items are on both. The Mediterranean pizza, for example, features grilled zucchini and eggplant, cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, red onions, mozzarella and feta cheese, fresh oregano and basil and meyer lemon olive oil from Superior Olive Oil Co. of Thunder Bay. For its  fish and chips batter, Bight uses Sleeping Giant Brewing Co. 360 Pale Ale from the local craft brewer.

A dish that helps define an eclectic menu is steak tartare, the usual raw beef and, at Bight, served with red onion, fried capers, dijon aioli, minced pickles and potato chips.

Local Justin Frape, a frequent guest, is a big fan of Bight’s tartare.

“I typically order it with their hand-cut french fries. Sort of a different take on a burger and fries,” says Justin, who left a career in public accounting to start a bitters distillery this spring, Frape & Sons Boutique Bitters in Thunder Bay. (Bitters are commonly used in cocktails, but have culinary and beverage applications as well.)

For Justin, the unsung hero on the menu is the bacon and honey pizza. “It’s awesome. You get the sweet and salty. It’s got shallots and apples. Of course, apples and bacon always go well together. Whereas beef tartare isn’t something that can be shared, bacon and honey pizza goes wonderfully with a bottle of wine and a quiet hour or two.”

“I think the thing about our menu that’s beautiful is that we’re not afraid to do different things,” Bianca says. “Steak tartare might not be for everybody. … But then there are people who just love it.”

When considering menu changes, Bianca says, she and her staff, including Chef Allan Rebelo,  look at culinary trends.

“What are things that we love that are hard to get? What are some dishes from certain cultures that would be lovely to showcase on our menu? So then we wind up with this really great mix of locally inspired things, culturally inspired things and management favorites,” Bianca says.

Bight’s menu maintains popular Canadian comfort foods, but with its own take, such as its poutine. Paul Anthony Pepe, manager of  Tourism Thunder Bay, says it’s his favorite dish – “yum” is the word he uses. The Bight Poutine has hand-cut fries, shredded pork, Thunder Oak cheese curds, gravy, ­arugula and sour cream.

While Bight offers a new take on local food, Bianca recently bought a downtown south side restaurant that already had its own popular following. In November 2014, she bought Giorg Ristorante, a fine-dining Italian restaurant whose owners retired. “I remember being younger and having lovely dinners there. It was a really interesting opportunity and a really important business venture to have it remain open.”

Bianca expanded Giorg’s menu choices, but kept the favorites that longtime customers have come to expect. “We’re very respectful of that.”

Atmosphere & setting

Location, location, location certainly applies to Bight’s success. The restaurant sits adjacent to the waterfront’s popular “splash pad,” a reflecting pond that lures waders in summer and ice skaters in winter. Its location will be even more popular when all the new condo units are finished nearby, and later a new hotel.

The interior design idea for Bight mimics materials common to northwest Ontario, resulting in a birchwood motif with a blending of slate and wood.

Justin, a former president of the Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce, describes Bight’s airy atmosphere and dining offerings as a critical piece of the waterfront. “It’s wonderful in the summer. It certainly has the best view in the city. It sort of extends out into the waterfront and feels like you’re part of it, in particular if you’re sitting on the patio in the summertime.”

The city was not expecting a restaurant of Bight’s quality to open at Prince Arthur’s Landing, he suggests. In a bustling area, especially in the summer, Justin adds, residents probably envisioned grab-and-go concession food, but Bight is “a very pleasant surprise.”

For her part, Bight’s owner finds the renewed Thunder Bay waterfront draws people to Marina Park. “It’s always been a beautiful location, but I don’t think people came to the park as much as they have the last few years, just because of the increase in activities and the development.”

In Bight’s first year of business, it served 100,000 customers, Bianca says. Some people who stopped said they had not been down to the park before and used the restaurant as motivation to visit. Others will stop in and try Bight during Marina Park events like the annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival and Summer in the Parks concerts and activities. Recently Bight is seeing more first-time guests from Minnesota’s North Shore and farther south in the state.

Whatever their reason for visiting Thunder Bay, we suspect that a nice Bight of lunch or dinner might bring them back.

Good to Know

Bight Restaurant & Bar: 2210 Sleeping Giant Parkway, Marina Park, Thunder Bay. 807-622-4448. www.bightrestaurant.ca.

The name: The dictionary defines bight as a curve in a coast or the bay formed by such a coast.

The philosophy: Bight uses a farm-to-table philosophy for its menu, which lists the local farms that supply ingredients from meat to flour.

The prices: Starters range from $6 to $19; dinner entrée prices range from $15 to $42.

The hours: Open at 11:30 a.m. daily, closing at 10 p.m. Sunday-Monday, 11 p.m. Tuesday- Wednesday; midnight Thursday; 1 a.m. Friday-Saturday.