The Crew On May hopes to bring new flavour to Thunder Bay's south side

The owners of a new restaurant on the south side of Thunder Bay, Ont. are hoping theirbusiness could be part of an entertainment revival in the area.

A former pizzeria on South May Street has been transformed into The Crew On May, a bar and eatery notable for its warm wood decor and menu items like bannock burgers, and duck pizza.

"I was given free reign over the menu," said Derek Lankinen, a chef and one of three partners in the new venture, adding that there was one condition.

"My partner wanted to see the best Indian taco he's ever had in his life," he said.

"He seems fairly impressed so far. So that's good."

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Culinary experience put to use

Lankinen, who won Thunder Bay's top chef competition in 2013, and has also worked as head chef at The Foundry, said he was actually working at a mining camp in western Canada when he got the request to come back and help set up the new restaurant.

"I was in the middle of Alberta in a truck, driving," he said, "and one of my partners called me."

I had never met this guy before, and he told me he wanted to get that attitude that my food had, he wanted to have that in his building and have that feeling in his building."

"And so he just wanted me to help him figure out what this place was going to be," he said.

They tried to create a place that would be welcoming and relaxed, with decor inspired by northwestern Ontario, he said, pointing out framed photos of the Nipigon area on the wall, and accents like an old barometer from a grain ship.

Hoping for a south core revival

The entrepreneurs are also hoping the restaurant could be part of a larger transformation in Thunder Bay's south core neighbourhood, similar to the revival that's taken place near the city's north side waterfront.

"The entertainment district in Port Arthur is booming. Every one of those old buildings that was doing nothing four years ago every one of them has a new interesting concept going in them," he said.

"And we see a lot of that same potential down in this area ... but we're probably about sixyears behind them, seven years behind them."

As someone who grew up on Thunder Bay's south side, he said he's glad to see more businesses opening on May Street.

The partners behind The Crew On May also have plans of their own to open a second business on the street in the near future, he said.