Yellowknife, where power outages now outnumber food trucks

Yellowknife residents experienced their third power outage in a week on Friday evening.

Residents reported a loss of power across the city’s downtown shortly after 8:30pm as National Indigenous Peoples Day celebrations drew to a close.

“We go all winter without a cold-weather power outage and now we have three in one week for no apparent reason,” one resident tweeted.

Cabin Radio felt like taking this opportunity to at least present a sliver of good news while you sit, powerless, in your living room, illuminated only by candles and the relentless blaze of a sun that won’t really set for another two months.

A number of you have been wondering where all the food trucks are – we are, after all, into mid-June, and yet truck sightings have been minimal at best.

One of a Thai has been a downtown regular and there’s always Gastown Grill for the uptown crowd. However, after five trucks were given dedicated spots by the City of Yellowknife for the summer season, some of the others have yet to be seen.

We reached out to each food truck operator this week to see what the plan is.

Chingon Tacos, the new venture of former Twin Pine Diner owner Robin Wasicuna, is expected to open on Franklin Avenue this coming week.

Wasicuna had been waiting for truck parts, but said everything is now in place. (See, this is already way more interesting than a power outage article, isn’t it?)

“There are not a whole lot of food trucks on the road, so we should be fairly busy,” said Wasicuna earlier in the week.

Saffron food truck’s Mitu Nahar says the Indian restaurant on wheels has been itching to get out and start serving. After an appearance at Festival on Franklin, Nahar hopes to be out starting this coming week.

“The food is spicy and really hot,” she said, with great anticipation, when we spoke by phone.

Fish on the Bay, a new entrant to the food truck market this year, is also expecting to make regular downtown appearances beginning in the very near future, we are told.

Lastly, Booster Juice – with a designated spot right outside Cabin Radio on Franklin Avenue – was also spotted at Festival on Franklin, but we don’t yet have a definitive answer as to when the truck will be making regular summer outings.

And now the power’s back, so that successfully killed those 10 minutes.

There was no immediate update on the cause of the latest outage from either the NWT Power Corporation or Northland Utilities. We’ll update this article if we hear more. (Or if Booster Juice turns up.)

Sara Wicks contributed reporting.