The Cathedral Village Freehouse Celebrates 15 Years in the Community

By Mike Shiplack

For L-P Specialty Services

Why has the Cathedral Village Freehouse been a success for the last 15 years? Easy. It’s never been about the success of any one person. Since opening in 1996, the Freehouse has been about supporting the community, whether through charity events such as Kidsport or giving local musicians and artists a change to show their stuff. The vision of supporting a community can be seen on the walls, the tables and heard through local musicians. Indeed, the Freehouse is more than a restaurant: it’s a meeting place where people from all walks of life gather to discuss ideas about how to make Regina better, or to just blow off some steam with an afternoon pint on the patio.

And it’s working. In 1999, the Freehouse underwent its first renovation to create a dynamic atmosphere that forms the restaurant, lounge, bar and patio. In 2006, the last major renovations were completed creating the Freehouse that you see today. And they’re not stopping there! As The Freehouse looks to the future, general manager Russ Conly has a few ideas that will help the restaurant accommodate this growing community. According to Conly, he’s looking to expand the kitchen to support the high-volume of lunch and dinner service and he’s looking to completely renovate the women’s washroom. On a grander scale, he’s hoping to bring a green initiative to the Freehouse that could one day include a rooftop garden complete with wind, solar and hydro-power.

“The Freehouse values individual personality and a sense of fun from our staff as much as from our customers,” says Conly. “Our success of the past 15 years is due to more then just selling and delivering food; it involves the appreciation of unique qualities and personalities and the characteristics present in the community.” It’s no surprise, then, that this community-oriented restaurant was created within the community — the Cathedral Community Association to be exact. The idea was lead by some of the best minds Regina has to offer, which includes writer, director and Order of Canada inductee Ken Mitchell, and the Honorable Lieutenant Colonel Dr. Bev Robertson, who owns and operates Bushwakker. In fact, with the support and collaboration of the Bushwakker family, the Freehouse proudly offers the Bushwakker Regina Pale Ale and the Dungarvin Irish Red Ale straight from the tap.

The Freehouse is also striving to continue bringing quality food to hungry masses. “We aim to be unique and creative while using local and fresh ingredients. Almost everything is made in house. In fact, we only have two frozen, ready-to-heat-and-serve items brought in…one of them being french fries,” explains Conly proudly. Further, they are bringing in a new head chef, Rodrigo Munoz, to help maintain these high standards the Freehouse has set for itself and that the customers have come to expect. Munoz will be taking over from Kurtis Offet, “ Kurtis has done wonders for this kitchen in the past two years, and I have no doubt Rodrigo will continue with that trend and will make our kitchen run even better” says Conly.

So the next time you and a few friends are looking to unwind, maybe debate the philosophies of life or talk about the Riders, stop by for a pint and a bite to eat at the Cathedral Village Freehouse. Just be sure to look around to see what 15 years of community support looks like.