The Justamere Cafe’s First Annual Awards of Excellence!

Bahhhhh – bah -bab bab baaaahhhhh

(*Awards ceremony music*)
(*curtain raises*)

Ladies and gentlemen, restauranteurs and esteemed members of the academy… the day you never knew existed is upon us! It’s time for the first annual Justamere Cafe and Bistro Awards of Excellence! Just in time for Business week in Antigonish, and in the spirit of the awards they give, I’ve decided that the Justamere Cafe should have its own virtual ceremony. So lets not waste any more time – I’ve got lots of awards to make up and then to pretend to give out!

Let’s start the night out on a sweet note: The Award For Most Popular Dessert goes to…

Our Homemade Coconut Cream Pie

This dessert is always a winner. People who don’t even like coconut love this pie… Ah Heck! people who don’t love pie, love this pie! It was a clear choice and the vote was unanimous… from the creamy filling to the fluffy whipped topping, this pie never fails to sell itself – a clear winner and our 2013 choice for best dessert! Congratulations pie!

The next award goes to a Justamere All-Star and a personal challenge for myself… the Award For Favourite Breakfast goes to…

The Big Breakfast

If you ask anyone, they have their own theories on how to polish off this behemoth! Some say to start with the pancakes… others say to finish with them… and some just panic when they see it and it in no particular, nor attractive manner begin shovelling food into their mouths. All I know is that it’s a hit! It wouldn’t be rare on a Sunday to have a table with 6 students, and every one of them ordering a BB – and some brave souls even adding another pancake or two! Congratulations Big Breakfast, you are a 2013 winner!

For now, I’m going to take a moment and step away from food awards and focus on the people… The next award had very few nominees, but even if there were oodles, there would be no competition… the Award For Favourite Pregnant Server goes to…

Miss Carrie Cogswell

They don’t come much sweeter …. and they don’t come much pregnanter… (?) than this little lady! Carrie Cogswell is the Justamere Cafe 2013 winner for favourite pregnant server! Congratulations Carrie – We all love you!

Our next award is perhaps even sweeter than our Coconut Cream Pie! It belongs to a little lady whose dedication and love for the Justamere has been concrete for her ENTIRE life. Our 2013 award for Youngest (and Biggest) Fan goes to…

Miss Mhairi Wilmott

She’s already a regular and she’s only 3 years old, Mhairi Wilmott has got it all! She’s cute as a button, polite, and has got a fierce appetite for Justamere pancakes! The waitstaff are always delighted to see her and she never fails to brighten our day! No other restaurant will do for this little lady – She even plays pretend Justamere at home – which makes Mhairi our 2013 youngest (and Biggest) Fan! Congratulations Mhairi, your next pancake is on us! 🙂

Now it’s hard to top a category like that, but it’s time for one of our biggest awards of the ceremony – Our 2013 award for Biggest Seller goes to… (“The envelope please…”)

Quesadilla!!!

 There was no biased involved in this choice… but while I do eat one of these at least 3 times a week, the numbers don’t lie. Honestly, if I served tables for a day, and didn’t listen to anyones order and brought them all a Quesadilla and Caesar salad … at least 60% of the time, I would have been right anyway. These are definitely a best seller. It’s not rare that we hear that these are the best quesadilla’s for miles and miles around! There you have it, our 2013 … and 2012, 2011, 2010… best seller is the Quesadilla!

On to beverages! While the Justamere Cafe and Bistro isn’t necessarily known as a hip drinking spot, it isn’t unheard of for us to sell a hearty amount of one particular drink on sunday’s… Nabbing the Award for Most Popular Drink for 2013 is…

Caesars! 

It’s unofficially Caesar Sunday every weekend at the Justamere! These are one popular drink with the brunch crew! Whether you like them spicy, dark, or by the litre, we make caesars just how you want. And let me tell you… serving these bad boys all Sunday long sure makes you thirsty by the end of the day… By 4pm I’d take them spicy, dark, light, or mild, but definitely, definitely, by the litre.

Now Award ceremonies have an irritating habit of running quite long, so now that the big awards are given out, I’m going to quickly run through some honourable mentions…

Best Original Song: Dwayne Burke – It’s Getting Hap in Here
Best Desk of 2013 – Devlin the Desk
Best New Lunch Menu Item – Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos! – 2013’s Best New Lunch Item

Jumpiest Waitress – Kelsey Macdonald
Broke the Most Mugs in 2013 -Stephanie McCarron
Most Popular Lunch Special – Chicken Bruschetta Pizza
Best Justamere Blog Writer – Jillian Pulsifer

It was an honour just to be nominated!

There you have it folks! That’s the end of the first annual Justamere Cafe and Bistro Awards of Excellence! There were some surprises and some upsets, but all in all it was a great evening! Thanks for tuning in and taking part and I hope you all enjoyed the ceremonies!.. But it must be said before I go that although I was the only one choosing the categories and doing the voting, it’s not hard to find favourites when it comes to the Justamere. This restaurant becomes filled with great people and food everyday – stories collect and customers become friends and it all works together in my favour. Blogs write themselves sometimes, and people like Mhairi and the food we love to make her can turn into inspiration… and just looking around you can see that it’s all pretty award worthy from where I’m sitting.