The Bolt

People still talk about the humbug bistro in Humboldt

You would have to be blind not to find the Main Street in this city...and yes folks it qualifies as a city. I prefer to use landmarks over signs anyway...lmao!

I wonder if Heather is really going to close her place

I had a belgian waffle at her restaurant this Saturday - best waffle I've ever had! And the root beer milkshake was awesome. Humboldt just isn't ready for excellent food. I was disgusted at how many vehicles were in the Mcdonalds parking lot, that is crap but they're wolfing it down.

I listened to John gormly and the people that phoned in all said that Humboldt wasn't like that. And Heather said the book wasn't about Humbolt. So it sounds like they all agree on that.

I'm a wanker and I have no more arguments against Heather's business so I think I'll start to attack her personally.

But where is she FRUM? lol

opening a bistro in humboldt and dissing it with fake stories! this is unbeliveable! no offence but your not going to get more customers dissing this town. this is so weird that i have told everyone i no and its out there! Fr: outraged humboldt resident

so she was on John Gormley haha he roasted her

I was at Heather's restaurant this Saturday. The tacos were excellent! I wish she would open up in Saskatoon.

Burp!

Unfortunately my second attempt at experiencing Heather's restaurant did not pan out as she was closed again. I only come to Humbug once a year or so and after reading her blog and hearing the good food reviews I was looking forward to it. Instead I had "SUPE" at a nearby restaurant and it was fine, but not memorable by any means. I did sneak a peak at her menu though, and while it all looked appealing and is probably delicious, it was clear to me why she is experiencing "negative cash flow". Her lack of selection and industry cash cows have been omitted and so it would be impossible for someone to ever generate the type of revenue needed for even a small enterprise like hers. Even if she had the best food anyone has ever had at a reasonable price, her obvious inability to complete basic market & industry research and including some items that are both popular to the average "Humbugger" and profitable would have been simple. She could easily have accomplished this while maintaining her "no fry" and "fresh gourmet" approach. It is so unfortunate not just for Heather, but for many "Humbuggers" who appreciate delicious gourmet food and will now have to either continue to drive to Cuspidor or tolerate the endless array of fried/common/boring menus scattered throughout the town. Perhaps the material or inspiration she seems to have collected for her writing has been profit enough and maybe she never even intended to stay. But if she truly wanted to make a go of it, she could have. She just needed to spend more time doing research and less time blogging. Btw, "SUPE" is served at virtually every restaurant in the world, even the trendiest, hottest eateries. Why? Even the best gourmet soups, using the finest whole natural ingredients will generate between 500-1000% profit margins. It's a no brainer!

Being a good cook doesn't make you a restaurateur any more than going to church makes you a Christian.

thanks for the link to acts of gord, I liked it . wheres the hidden chapter?

I think she just needs to embrace the rednecks style

Jeremy says: "This crowd likes to eat the SAME THING EVERY time they go out, and have coffee the same time everyday with the same people at the same place. You cannot change these elderly people and there ways of thinking."

That just screams country hick, not sure about redneck. And inbred is just a fact, not an insult. I"m think that she should call her place the REdneck Bistro and roll in the cash!

If this bistro isn't closed quite yet, perhaps we should start a pool as to how long it takes before it is.

holy man this stuff is funny. I swear it's about the town I live in. We don't have a "flinstone whistle" but I'm sure that story about buying the truck is about my uncle!

Humbug is a different place to grow up in from an actual city of more than 200 000. I lived in Cuspidor for years and I moved away after 9 years to Humbug. What Heather needs to understand that one person should not expect 5000 to live life like she does, to be successful she must adapt. If everyone was the same we would ALL live in Cuspidor. People live in Humbug because they like routines, family, QUIET. Obviously she didn't, and selfishly felt that because she doesn't agree with the views of Humbuggians that they are all redknecks and dumb. But for someone to come into a town and think that they can change/"open" the minds of people here than they must be slightly ignorant themselves. This crowd likes to eat the SAME THING EVERY time they go out, and have coffee the same time everyday with the same people at the same place. You cannot change these elderly people and there ways of thinking. The younger crowd of Humbug go to Cuspidor (which is only an hours drive) probably twice a month minimum and the adventurous take the time, and eat at Calories or Truffles Bistro to get there fix of GREAT food (my wife and I are 2 of them). These are reasons why Heathers did not succeed. It's not because she didn't have good product it was because she wasn't selling what the people wanted. Will I be sad to see Heathers close? Yes I will. Will my life change because of it? No.

I'm from a small town and I have never laughed so hard and been more appalled in my life!! I agree with Norman.. Books girl BOOKS!!!!

I don't believe even one of your "stories". More would have happened to you than I have ever heard of and I have been here 30 years.

I think she might be closing that bistro a lot quicker than she planned on. Lampooned?! That's awesome. I just want to know where Heather is from :)

All I can say is wow. I get a call from a friend who tells me that some people have run across my working chapters and are flying off the handle. It's called a literary caricature, people - relax.

My plan, for months, has been to close the bistro and I'm working on a book as my 'plan b'. If I was interested in hurting people of a particular town then I would have named that town and stuck to the facts. Personally I thought I had lampooned myself as much as my embellished characters. That's all I have to say. If you don't like my book then stop reading.

What are you people talking about?!?! HUMBUG DOES NOT EXIST. It isn't real. You can't be from there, it's a fictional place. She made it up.

I grew up in Humbug many years ago. I was so glad to move away, I love Calgary now. I know that people in Humbug can be so rude to outsidres, its no surprise they're treating Heather like this. I havent been back for a while but hopefully I can meet Heather before she closes up, she is so bang on with alot of her stories.

I’m a Hummbugger who hasn’t lived in Humbug for quite sometime, but I am very proud of my Humbug upbringing. The problem with some people is that they have this thickheaded stereotype prematurely developed from living outside of a small rural town like Humbug. I understand that some individuals may grow up in a larger community like Cuspidor, where being raised in an area that doesn’t have a population close to or over one million residents means your probably a redneck, illiterate racist and most likely a homophobe. The funny part is I can read, I have a degree to prove it, I put suntan lotion on my neck regularly…nobody likes to burn, and the only time I was truly surrounded by racism and homophobic behavior was when I moved to Cuspidor. I feel that it was my Humbug upbringing by my single mother that truly melded me into the person I am. While living in Cuspidor I’ve became the person Cuspidorian friends call to help when they have car troubles, need a to be picked up from the bar late at night, help them move into there new house, etc. Why am I that reliable person that these Cuspidorians call upon in a time of need? Well I’m that person because I’m a Humbuggian from Humbug and that’s how we were raised. I politely hold doors open for the “high society” Cuspidorians who scurry by with out even a glance of a smile…but what’s there to smile about when you live in Cuspidor? I guess I would be a bitter person two if I grew up in a concrete jungle where you’re more concerned about the square footage of your cubical than the well being of your co-workers.

There is one particular thing that I found was accurate about Humbug, we do tend to know everyone’s business, for better or worse it’s just the fact of living in humbug. Sure so and so’s Dad may be a drunk, but you go to Cuspidor and tell me if and when a tragedy happens to a Cuspidorian family do they band together and support each other? I didn’t think so. Maybe this is where an individual might find it funny and make a remark that Humbugs have a narrow genetic pool, but really who would ever make such a repulsive statement. Maybe its because we band together in times of need, often supporting neighbors we may not even know. Humbug is a very welcoming place, but one thing is for sure…there is not a single individual from Humbug that enjoys getting this thrown in their face. So if you insult one Humbuggians way of life you more likely than not will insult every Humbuggian. Hope you have fun with your business for the next few weeks, maybe I’ll see you in Cuspidor.

Now I’m off to eat some ‘Supe’ before my long hard day of burning crosses and being a homophobic racist…might even find some time to burn a few books.

Sounds like you order black olives.

Thought provoking, to say the least, having been raised near Humbug. Much of what she writes rings true.

Twenty years ago, we moved to Humbug from Cuspitor. We love this place for many of the reasons that Heather points out in her chapter Big City vs Small City. We joined a service club here and had more friends and aquaintances in a month then we could ever dream about. Our children went through the school systems (we had some gay teachers even,there was no excessive discrimination) with flying colours and are very productive adults and spread throughout Canada. Heather hasn't figured out that in a small population, the warts and moles stand out real loud. Once you know who they are,you learn how to deal with them, because we have to live with them every day. Telling them to F off is unproductive because you are going to see them at Mike's (his office was there when he bought the place) or the Credit Union tomorrow. We are no different than any other small town in America. Her writings have been "exposed", her "coffee shop" will close. It was one hell of a good read. She got a lot right and a lot wrong. I never met her. She has missed her calling. Books girl BOOKS!!!!!!!