DECEMBER 30, 1987
The blue plate special is back. The old-time lunch bargain of the 1940s has returned to Grand Forks with the opening of The Pantry. This is a downtown restaurant at 109 N. Third St., in the building formerly occupied by the Girl Scouts. It’s well located for people who work or do business downtown, with a handy back door to accommodate quick entries from the alley.
The blue plate isn’t what it used to be. At The Pantry, it’s an almost elegant meal of something like three pastas blended with cheeses, or beef stroganoff with a French flair. It is served with vegetables (yes, vegetables are back, too) and wedges of French bread. And it isn’t 98 cents. But for these times, The Pantry’s blue plate is almost that reasonable at around $3.50 or $3.75.
Since the deli-style restaurant opened here early in December, it has been drawing longer lines for lunch each noon. And customers have started trickling in all afternoon, sometimes just for coffee and dessert. Paul Ringstrom, who operates The Pantry with his uncle Warren LeClerc, says he is looking to expand hours after the New Year.
It seems as though they have a good thing going here. I was attracted to the place even before I got through the front door. I like the blackboard out in front on the sidewalk, where in various colors of chalk, you can read the specials of the day.
Once inside, you queue up. And while you await your turn, you have a chance to look over the foods in the delicatessen case. When you give your order, you get a wooden block—the kind children used to play with—and you take it to your table. Before long, they bring out your order and find you by the letter on your block.
On a recent lunch visit to The Pantry, I ordered a house salad, and added chicken salad for a grand total of $2.97, including the tax. Constant Companion asked for the blue plate special, which was beef stroganoff. It came to $3.97 with tax.
The food is good. So good, in fact, that I went back twice after my initial visit. After lunch one day, I had a chance to visit with Ringstrom, the chef. He told me he has loved baking ever since he helped his grandmother as a child. Ringstrom was born in Devils Lake and grew up in California. He is a graduate of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., where he majored in hotel administration. After graduation, he spent a year in Europe. From the time he bought his first croissant, he has had a passion for French food. So strong, in fact, that he has learned the language, and puts a French twist in almost everything he bakes.
Ringstrom has worked in hotels and restaurants enough to know he wants to help make the decisions. And going into business here with his uncle gives him that opportunity. At 25, he is enthusiastic as he launches into his business. The Pantry will succeed, I predict, if it keeps its quality of food at reasonable prices. What this takes is hard work, and Ringstrom and LeClerc seem ready.
As in all businesses, there are rough spots that need smoothing out. But they are managing to handle unpredictable numbers of customers and stay relatively serene.
My suggestion would be to have the waiters and waitresses slip into aprons and pink pinafores to lend a more professional look. With a little more training, the waitpersons could do a better job in serving and clearing tables.
On the positive side, The Pantry is like a gem. It adds one more option to the variety of eating places in downtown Grand Forks. It will draw me back because of such details as pepper mills on each table, making it possible to help yourself to coarsely ground pepper; slices of lemon in the ice water; wooden boxes in which sandwiches are served; dishes with red and blue designs, which are so much nicer than institutional-type plates, cups and bowls; lace curtains on the windows; and the chance to help yourself to a free mint out of a little machine as you leave.