KENORA — When the ice is thick enough on Lake of the Woods to drive on, it’s time to head to the Hard Water Café.
This ice shack does not have a line in the water, but rather a line of baked goods you can only find for about two months a year.
The Hard Water Café has just opened for the season. It's a short drive off the main ice road access point in Kenora at the Ministry of Natural Resources landing on First Street South.
It's the seventh year the café has been running, but it might be the the last.
“We only did it because we were curious to see if people would come,” said Claudette Howe, co-owner and chief baker. “They will and they do!”
Howe and her partner started the popular local spot because they saw a hole in their weekends that needed to be filled: a good cup of coffee while ice fishing.
When they started it was coffee, hot chocolate, soup, sandwiches and few small baked goods. But as word got out after their first season, their offerings grew. You can now find cake, baked bars, hot dogs, weekend specials and one of their biggest hits: cheesecake cones.
Wondering what to order? “Whatever you pick would be wonderful, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it,” said Howe with a big laugh.
The Sudbury native retired from her regular day job and decided a small seasonal business would fill some of her time. Unlike most seasonal businesses that operate in the summer, she chose winter. The colder, the better.
“We get better when it’s really, really cold outside,” she said. “You’d be surprised.”
On warmer days, foot traffic to the café picks up as people make it a destination to come for a visit. They are often greeted with a smile and a warm firepit.
“We get lots of regulars and I’ve never had a bad encounter with a customer.”
How said she is looking to move on, at this could be the last winter they're in operation. Although she hinted that if someone wanted to take over they would consider selling the business, which she said has a lot of growth potential.
The café is open weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. until the ice goes out, likely sometime in March.
