“How does a Vietnamese chef produce such incredible cottage cheese perogies and Glums Kuak?!” That’s one TripAdvisor review that had stuck in my mind about The Dawning.
I first discovered The Dawning in the most uninteresting way: Google Maps.
My mom was pretty young when her family moved from Edrans to Winnipeg in the 1950s, to a little house on Vimy Road. And, that is the house that we visited Grandma and Grandpa Neufeld at until they sold it sometime in the 1990s. One day I was reminiscing about that little house, so I revisited it… on Google Maps. Ha. When I was little I hadn’t realized it was right off of Portage Avenue. I figured maybe I’d head out to that end of the city sometime and do a slow creepy drive-by, to look at the house that I’d once known so well.
While I plotted this little visit, I noticed the cute name The Dawning showing up on the map too. So I googled it, and began to read TripAdvisor reviews.
And thus, it’s been on my mind to visit The Dawning for awhile now. FINALLY we went!
I was delighted by the decor. “It’s classic Winnipeg!” I whispered excitedly to Andrew.
This is the kind of place that my grandparents would’ve for sure frequented — and it’s just a block away from the house they had lived in. But they just missed the opening of this restaurant by a few years.
The Dawning has been around since the year 2000. It’s pretty understated, in a strip mall, it’s not easy to find even when you’re looking for it.
But I feel like it’s a treasure.
We were thrilled to see several varieties of cottage cheese perogies on the menu:
So, for our first visit, Andrew ordered the traditional. They were delicious! The cream gravy was really flavourful.
And the cabbage borscht! This was um maybe the best cabbage borscht I’ve had. That’s scary to say… but it was really good.
While I love a good crackles & eggs breakfast, when I saw gloms kuak on the menu, I had to order it.
This is because I’ve had gloms kuak made by Don Hoeppner… who had made the gloms kuak at the d’8 Schtove… and who hired and trained Luak… who now owns The Dawning. Named in honour of Don Hoeppner. (You know. Don/Dawning. You get it.)
And I have to say, the gloms kuak at The Dawning did not disappoint. I could tell Luak was remaining faithful to the recipes Don had told him about — served alongside pho and other Vietnamese dishes.
I loved my experience at The Dawning. It felt comfortable and there was ketchup on the table and my coffee was always full and the Russian Mennonite cuisine they serve is spot-on. Can’t wait to return!
