Old favourites and new surprises on the menu at Derica’s

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This article was published 02/01/2023 (855 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Those who frequented the Timberline Restaurant in Richer may be shocked the next time they walk into the popular pit stop off the Trans-Canada Highway to a different menu and décor.

That’s because as of Nov. 18 brother-and-sister team Derek and Erica Brunet opened a new restaurant in its place, with many familiar menu items to keep regulars placated and fresh offerings to keep newcomers coming back.

“We wanted to keep the spirit of the place alive,” Derek said from the new, spacious interior of Derica’s Restaurant.

In September former Timberline owner Linda Gauthier announced via social media her retirement from the restaurant industry. Gauthier wrote she purchased the restaurant 12 years ago when it was known as Ma and Pa’s Timberline.

Now at Derica’s, some things have changed.

Colourful signs with expressions and witty proverbs signature to the former Timberline no longer fill the walls, but the Brunets keep a small one atop the ice cream machine to serve as a memory of the eclectic former fixtures.

The menu has seen changes, too.

While the award-winning pizzas and coveted sandwiches and hot dogs remain staples on the Derica’s menu, new choices for breakfast and lunch, like Denver sandwiches and breakfast poutines in the morning and Buffalo chicken and taco wraps in the afternoon, are new offerings.

The restaurant is the pair’s first foray into business, and as a team no less.

“I never thought I’d be in business with (Derek),” Erica joked.

Hailing from the Whiteshell, Derek and Erica secured the location on Nov. 1 and, within a few weeks’ time were open for business.

The siblings understand what the familiar location means to the community, but were adamant on making the place their own instead of picking up where Gauthier left off.

“It’s easier for me to just adapt to our own restaurant instead of somebody else’s,” Erica said. “And then we can be a little more creative with our menu and how we want to run a business.”

“But we do get that’s a hard transition if we just changed it completely,” Derek added.

In addition to fielding feedback from the location’s most dedicated diners to perfect the menu, the pair keep in touch with Gauthier when a machine acts up or something springs a leak to manage operations. Yet, the place has transformed into their own space, a deliberate decision.

“Otherwise it just didn’t feel like it was ours, we were just working under somebody,” Erica said.

The pair’s next order of business is to expand the restaurant’s seating area and make their presence known in the community by sponsoring sports teams and seasonal events.

Derica’s is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.