Sli City Grill Mobile is about to put down semi-permanent roots within City of Powell River. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the food truck will set up at the site of the old Willingdon Civic Arena on Marine Avenue.
“This has been a long time coming for us,” says owner Erik Blaney. “We've been planning it for quite some time now.”
A kickoff launch takes place on Friday, June 8, starting at 5 pm.
“We are going to have a buffet-style, appetizer bar, by-donation event; the table will be set for 5 to 6 pm,” says Blaney. “Then we’ll have some drumming and singing entertainment at 6 pm.
A blessing of the trailer and mingling period will follow. “We’re going to have the trailer brushed with cedar by some of the elders in the community,” explains Blaney.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Cheechlem Chi Chia Canoe Family, who will be canoeing to Puyallup, Washington, from July 16 to 28 for the 2018 Tribal Canoe Journey.
Regular hours at the Willingdon location will be 11 am to 8 pm, “or until we run out of food,” says Blaney. “Everyone is welcome to come out and try some of the wonderful seafood we have to offer, fresh from our boat to their plate.”
A certain amount of food items will be prepared for each day with a rotating menu based on the species of fish brought in by the company’s boat.
“Our fish boat is just coming in with all the prawns, so we're going to have prawns over the next couple of weeks,” says Blaney. “They will be out fishing tuna over the next month and a half or two, so we'll have a bunch of fresh tuna for August and September.
Menu items will be similar to those available in the restaurant at 5245 Highway 101.
“We will be offering the same things we have at our restaurant in Tla’amin, but we are going to have more of a seafood focus on the specials and the daily items in town on the truck,” says Blaney.
Prior to acquiring a city licence for operating at the old arena site, the food truck provided catering at weddings and other events around town, including Sunshine Music Festival and Diversity Festival. Those services will continue to be available, says Blaney.
“We saw a huge need to be more mobile with our kitchen operations, so we started planning out and dreaming out what we wanted about two years ago,” he adds. “We’re super excited.”
Sli City Grill Mobile Launch
WHEN: Friday, June 8, 5 pm
WHERE: Old arena site, Willingdon Beach
INFORMATION: tlaaminstore.com, [email protected], 604.483.1308
