By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Easystreet Cafe is more than its signature French onion soup and its stacked club sandwich to Tim Emmerich and Ardy Gonyer. It’s a downtown Bowling Green institution.
And now it’s their institution.
“I brought my wife here on our first date,” Gonyer said. “I brought her here the night I proposed.”
Emmerich’s connection with the restaurant began even earlier when he played on the Pee Wee League team sponsored by Easystreet – which became his family’s go-to downtown restaurant.
“This is a staple of the community,” Emmerich said.
So it was only natural that the two buddies thought about buying the establishment. The two – who have owned Call of the Canyon Cafe for three years now – decided to reach out for Easystreet owner Vic Pirooz.
“We had decided we were ready for a new challenge,” Gonyer said. “We called Vic and said, ‘If you ever think about retiring, we would love to continue your legacy.’”
It just so happened that Pirooz had been thinking about retiring. He had started in the food service industry at age 15, first as a dishwasher then head chef at Highland Meadows. He went on to own and operate Easystreet for the past 37 years.
Emmerich recalls the moment when Pirooz indicated he’d feel good about selling his restaurant to Emmerich and Ardy Gonyer.
“He said ‘I don’t want to sell my place to a couple of bozos who will run it into the ground,” Emmerich remembered. “I took that as a vote of confidence.”
A couple weeks ago, Pirooz transferred the business to Emmerich and Gonyer.
“They’re smart guys. They’re energetic,” Pirooz said.
Not much will change at the restaurant, at least not initially. The menu is loved by regulars and by newbies. And the staff is skilled.
“We’re excited to be continuing everything – high quality food and high quality service,” Gonyer said.
Many of the menu items were created by Pirooz – including the favorites of the new proprietors.
Gonyer’s go-to is the French onion steak sandwich with a bowl of French onion soup. Emmerich’s partial to the Easystreet club sandwich with the giant deep fried onion rings.
“The French onion soup is not going anywhere, I want to make that very clear,” Emmerich said with a grin.
Given a moment to ponder the menu, the two friends rattle off more of their favorites – boom boom shrimp, bacon wrapped gouda and potato skins – all popular items created by Pirooz.
Over the years, many of the recipes were tweaked by Pirooz to make them healthier, like the bison and elk burgers, and the 90% lean burgers. The soups, sauces and batters are all made on site.
As important as the recipes are the restaurant employees.
“There’s a lot of institutional knowledge with the staff here,” Gonyer said. “We are happy to have them here.”
Emmerich and Gonyer operate the Call of the Canyon with a “family” of employees created through teamwork and good communication. The two see the same culture at Easystreet, and plan to be involved where needed – serving, bartending, cooking or washing dishes.
“You’ve got to be in the trenches side by side, or you don’t have a pulse on what’s going on,” Emmerich said.
The two plan to stick with the same historic decor, featuring high back booths, beautiful woodwork, and old black and white photographs of the Bowling Green area.
“We love this old-time feeling,” Gonyer said.
The plans for the upstairs “Grumpy Dave’s” bar area won’t see any big changes, though the hours will be expanded and the space for private parties will be promoted more.
The current schedule upstairs includes comics on Tuesdays; karaoke on Fridays and Saturdays; open music jams on the first Thursday of every month; and “Theology on Tap” on the fourth Thursday of every month.
Though juggling two restaurants has some of their family members questioning their sanity, Emmerich and Gonyer pointed out that their two establishments are separated by just two boutiques and law offices.
“We can be at either place in 30 seconds,” Gonyer said.
No need for changing parking spaces.
“I’m going to get tickets for jaywalking,” Emmerich said.
