JASPER – While more than a dozen restaurants were damaged or destroyed in the Jasper wildfire last summer, some are already planning their comeback.
Wendy and Glen Leitch, who ran Patricia Street Deli for two decades, have moved to Edmonton to open a new sandwich shop by the end of July.
“We’re 70 years old, and Glen and I came to know over the course of a few months that we just didn’t have it in us to rebuild,” Wendy said. “We knew that it was going to take a few years, and it just made sense, having our daughter and son in the Edmonton area.”
Glen noted the costs were prohibitive for them to reopen at their original location and it would be up to their children Jaimie Kreklewetz and Dustin Florence, who are taking over the business, if they ever decided to open a satellite location in Jasper once the rebuild was finished.
“For the near future, it’s just been a real nice fit for Wendy and I to move on from there,” he said. “And the comment that I’ve been using a lot is it takes a lot of courage to stay there and rebuild and see the growth in Jasper, and it takes as much courage to leave.”
The deli’s second iteration will be located at 10567 111 St. right behind MacEwan University in the heart of Alberta’s capital city. The Leitch family has raised more than $40,000 through Kickstarter toward helping the deli rise from the ashes.
The new location offers 2,500 square feet, a significant increase from 560 square feet in Jasper, meaning the Leitch family can offer indoor seating and a variety of new offerings, including alcohol and a gluten-free sandwich bar.
For fans of the original Patricia Street Deli, the new location will keep the core menu items and even the name.
“Patrica Street Deli’s beginnings were in Jasper National Park, and we’re bringing that back with a great deal of confidence and pride, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without the support of the people who’ve come and have known us for a long time,” Glen said.
Although the lack of commercial space presents a unique challenge for Jasper restaurants that were displaced, a pop-up village in the Connaught Drive parking lot will offer eateries such as Andaaz Indian Cuisine a place to temporarily set up shop this summer.
Shreyas Patel, one of the owners of Andaaz, described that food trucks typically weren’t allowed to operate in the townsite, but was pleased that local officials came up with this plan.
Patel had strong expectations for this summer, not only because Jasper residents help each other out but also because of the pop-up village’s location.
“I would honestly say that this has to be the best location for something new like this,” he said. “Anybody who comes to Jasper, they’re probably going to come through Connaught Drive at least once.”
Patel added they intended to move back into their original location once the building was renovated and were grateful for the temporary location.
“We are going through some tough times, and that’s when we’ll come back stronger and better,” he said. “That’s what I’m hoping, and that’s what we are working on as well.”
Jason Munn, who owned Syrahs of Jasper for a decade before it burned down, was working as an executive chef at Marmot Basin this winter and hopes to open his own place again.
“It’s kind of a wait-and-see right now with the current location, and then I’d really like to be back in that spot,” Munn said. “In the meantime, I’m entertaining some offers right now and just trying to decide what my next step will be going forward, but I’ll definitely be a chef somewhere in Jasper this summer, just not as an owner.”
Syrahs of Jasper was one of the town’s most high-end restaurants and was recently featured on the food series Cuisine of the Rockies.
“It was my heart and soul put into it, so it’s been tough, and there’s good days and bad, but yeah, it’s just moving forward,” Munn said.
Although the new restaurant will likely not be as high-end as Syrahs, Munn planned to keep the quality of the experience and was still considering what the exact focus would be.
“A lot of people have reached out since the fire, just telling me how much the restaurant meant to them,” he said. “That’s been heartwarming, so definitely, I love Jasper, and I intend to build something here again.”
Although Elk Village Restaurant burned down along with the rest of Jasper House Bungalows, Elk Village owner Enrique Alonso was able to fall back on his other restaurant, Su Casa Mexican Lounge, which he launched in March 2024 with two friends.
Alonso hopes to restart Elk Village once the space is rebuilt, but was unable to provide a timeline. Until then, he will focus on Su Casa and is confident that Jasper will continue to do well, despite the shortage of hotel rooms and staff accommodations.
“I think Jasper’s gonna do really good,” Alonso said. “I think tourism in Jasper is going to stay another day, and I also think a lot of people … will probably want to know what Jasper looks like now.”
Jay Barton was the general manager of Wicked Cup, a café attached to Maligne Lodge, which was also destroyed. He praised Karyn Decore, president and CEO of Decore Hotels, who kept him on to help at the Tonquin Inn and work on rebuilding the café.
Just before the fire, Wicked Cup had built a new cocktail bar, was getting ready to launch its new menu and planned to be open in the evening.
“Now we’re working on getting that back and going again, but this time, when we do it, I can promise you, it’s gonna be way better and more top-notch than anyone’s gonna expect,” Barton said.
The goal will be to start rebuilding next year and hopefully reopen in 2027.
“Truthfully, we miss everyone, we can’t wait to see everyone again, and we will be back, and we’ll be back even stronger,” Barton added.
