How would Huiyang Ren, owner of Aline’s Thai & Pizza, describe herself? “Good at cooking, but not good at speaking English,” she says. While the language does pose its challenges, good cooking has certainly allowed the chef to make a place for herself in Île-des-Chênes.
At Aline’s, located at 449 Main Street, Ren cooks alongside her husband, Zhe Gao. The pair started to run the restaurant in May 2017 after they moved to Winnipeg from their native China. They were drawn to the small-town charm and sense of community that Île-des-Chênes offers.
“This town is a good and peaceful place for me,” Ren says. “The people who live in this town are very friendly.”
Aline’s Thai & Pizza already existed when Ren and her husband bought it, and they chose not to change the name, although their focus is pizza, not Thai food. Only a few hints of Thai influence remain on the menu, such as the Special Thai pizza or wings with a Thai-style sauce.
“We kept the old name and the menu for the customers,” explains Ren. “And we didn’t do much to change the menu when we started, so that people can make their orders easily.”
Over time, though, she says, they decided to expand the menu to give their customers more options.
“After a while, we added more options on toppings and crust,” she adds. “We have gluten-free crust, lactose-free cheese, and if you like very crispy curst we have thin crust as well. We can meet the different customers’ requirements. We specialize in fully baked, fresh, homemade dough and we started using our own homemade sauce.”
For Ren, the most important thing is to make a quality product that people will enjoy. They buy fresh vegetables every day and make their dough fresh almost every day to keep their product up to snuff. They also make sure not to go too light on ingredients; the pizzas all come with a generous serving of toppings and cheese.
“I love cooking,” she says. “Baking the pizza until it becomes golden and crisp. I enjoy the making process. When people tell me they love the pizza cooked, I am so happy and feel fulfilled.”
That said, the journey has had its challenges. Ren says one of her biggest challenges is doing business in English every day.
“Sometimes I know what people are saying, but I don’t know how to answer. And it’s very hard for me to listen to different accents in English,” she admits.
But like any good businesswoman, Ren doesn’t let the difficulty stop her. She studies English every day, and although it is a long process, she plans to be fluent one day.
In the meantime, she notes that delicious food is a language everyone understands.
