World Courant
How a lot would you be keen to pay for a donair costume?
Eating places that promote the candy and savoury deal with on each side of the nation have been asking themselves simply that, as they fervently outbid one another in a web-based public sale for the distinctive meaty apparel.
The costume is being offered on the Alberta authorities’s surplus web site, and the bids had topped a whopping $6,500 on Thursday afternoon.
It is East versus West, with Halifax restaurant chain King of Donair and Alberta’s Blowers & Grafton vying for the peculiar piece, together with Edmonton’s Swiss Donair and PrimeTime Donair & Poutine.
King of Donair payments itself as the primary donair store in Canada — having first opened in 1973 — and co-owner Nicholas Nahas stated his group is decided to deliver the costume to the East Coast.
“It is about delight,” stated Nahas in an interview Thursday. “We’re not shy to say we are the first ones to introduce the donair in Canada…. We really feel it must be right here in Halifax, as foolish because it sounds.”
Nicholas Nahas is co-owner of King of Donair along with his two brothers, Norman and Andrew Nahas. (Submitted by Nicholas Nahas)
The donair — which consists of roasted shaved beef, tomatoes and onions wrapped in a pita and drizzled with a candy sauce — was declared Halifax’s official meals in 2015.
It was created within the port metropolis within the Seventies by Greek restaurateur Peter Gamoulakos, who wished to share the flavours of his homeland with Halifax. The style of the standard Greek gyro was not effectively acquired, and so he made some changes.
The donair finally made its method out West, as droves of Maritimers fled to Alberta searching for higher wages, and their favorite late-night fare.
However the western Canadian eateries do not all the time get it proper, based on Josh Robinson, who owns the Blowers & Grafton restaurant chain within the Calgary and Edmonton areas.
It typically appears extra just like the Greek gyro and consists of elements like pickled turnip and lettuce.
Blowers & Grafton serves up genuine East Coast fare, and even ships its donair meat to Alberta from Nova Scotia. (Blowers and Grafton)
Robinson, who’s initially from Halifax, sought to vary that. Blowers & Grafton serves up “genuine Halifax avenue meals” — they even have their donair meat shipped from Nova Scotia.
Robinson stated when he noticed the costume, he knew he needed to have it.
“We discovered it so humorous,” stated Robinson. “There’s an entire bunch of issues we have been discussing and we might have a variety of enjoyable with this factor.”
Given Robinson’s connection to the donair’s birthplace, he promised the costume wouldn’t be staying in Alberta ought to Blowers & Grafton win the race.
“I feel it belongs in Alberta as a lot because it belongs in Nova Scotia, and I feel it could actually have some journey alongside the best way,” stated Robinson.
“The cool factor concerning the donair is that it is develop into a Canadian staple — it is really one of the vital Canadian issues on the market. That is a part of what my companions are interested by. There’s a variety of enjoyable issues we will do with this donair swimsuit throughout the nation.”
Nahas says an genuine donair incorporates thinly sliced spiced beef on pita, with tomatoes, onions and candy sauce. However maintain the lettuce. (Nicholas Nahas)
Nahas stated profitable the costume could be a becoming method to rejoice his restaurant chain’s fiftieth anniversary.
“Possibly we’ll discover a place to hold it up and clearly if we get it, we’ll have it patrol up and down the street,” he stated.
Each Robinson and Nahas stated they’re exploring the opportunity of attempting to work with the Alberta authorities so as to add a charitable facet to the public sale, given it is sure to fetch a number of thousand {dollars}.
Neither are keen to say simply how far they’re going to go to snag the swimsuit.
However there’s one different factor they’ll each agree on: lettuce has no place on a donair, or a donair costume.
“I do know a variety of good barbers on the town,” stated Nahas, including that King of Donair now has places in each Nova Scotia and Alberta. “We’ll get a bit of haircut and trim that inexperienced stuff off if we find yourself profitable.”
Public sale closes Aug. 14
How the Alberta authorities got here into possession of the weird merchandise shouldn’t be clear, and requests for remark Thursday weren’t instantly returned.
Nonetheless, the query was posed by a person on the public sale web site.
“This costume was a prop for an promoting marketing campaign and is not required by the division,” replied Surplus Gross sales Edmonton.
The costume’s description stated it is made of various latexes, vulcanized rubbers and synthetics, and comes outfitted with a silver-coloured physique swimsuit “for an genuine tinfoil look!”
The web site stated the public sale is operating longer than regular — a full month — because of “the rarity” of the piece. Bids shall be accepted till Aug. 14 at 8 p.m. MT.
Donair costume sparks bidding warfare between Halifax, Alberta eating places
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