OLDS — The passing of Queen Elizabeth II brings back memories for Emmanuel David, one of a few area residents who actually met her.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II died Sept. 8 at age 96 in Balmoral, Scotland. A state funeral for her was held Sept. 19 in London.
In David’s case, he met the Queen – or rather, she and Prince Philip met him – in 1987, while they were visiting Saskatchewan.
At the time, David was the executive chef of the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were staying at a “cottage” for a couple of days in nearby Fort Qu’Appelle. David estimates the building was renovated for at least $4 million.
"I was there cooking for the staff, you know. And she walked around in the garden and she picked some wildflowers to go back to her chamber room," he said.
“And then she stopped in the kitchen. I was there. She stopped in the kitchen and got talking to me, just like you and I are speaking right now. Just like that."
She asked David where he was from – he was born in Grenada – and asked a few other polite questions about family.
“It was about a five-minute conversation,” he said. “(She was) just like any ordinary person. Honestly, just like any ordinary person.
“Prince Philip came in and said he liked the truck I was driving (a Nissan quarter-ton, David believes) which was outside and he wanted one to knock over in England.”
In the end, David met the Queen and Prince Philip a couple of times and cooked a few meals for them during their visit.
“She liked pickerel and wild rice,” he said. "A very simple meal.”
Later on, the Queen presented David with a photo of herself and Prince Philip. It hangs on the wall near the bar of the restaurant he now runs in Olds.
Along with that photo is a letter from Grant Devine who was premier of Saskatchewan at the time. The letter thanks David for all he did to make the Royal couple feel at home during their visit.
That letter says, “On behalf of the government of Saskatchewan, I would like to thank you for your cooperation and fine hospitality during the visit to Saskatchewan of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh.
“As a chef at Brown’s Cottage, you went out of your way to enhance the comfort of the Queen’s immediate staff and such efforts are sincerely appreciated.”
The letter ends by thanking David for “all your efforts that made the Queen and Prince Philip’s visit to Saskatchewan a success.”
David immigrated to Canada in the late 1970s from Grenada, first settling in Montreal, before working in or owning and operating various high-end restaurants in Regina and Edmonton.
Over the decades he has been a member of Team Alberta and Team Canada as they’ve competed in cooking competitions and done extremely well. In fact, he’s won gold medals.
Around the time the pandemic hit, his wife, Clare Janitz, obtained a job at the Olds College of Agriculture and Technology.
They both lived in Red Deer at that time where David had just retired after running a restaurant there.
One day, when visiting Janitz, David saw that a former restaurant in Olds was empty.
He offered to rent the space and the Italian bistro Cacio e Pepe was born.
"That was around August and I opened up in October, in mid-COVID,” he said.
He said he told his staff, ‘if we survive COVID we can survive anything.’”
And they did. The restaurant has attracted diners from as far as Airdrie.
David enjoys living in Olds – and running the restaurant, even though his retirement was short-lived.
"I like the pace,” he said. “I have a garden; I grow a lot of different foods for my restaurant. I keep really, really busy. And the key is providing jobs for the staff. I’m seeing the staff grow.
“Many, many of my apprentices became really great chefs and that’s my biggest achievement, really. It’s not about me but it’s about people and their attitude.”
