For 5 Questions this week, the Herald speaks to Emberlie Anderson, general manager of Crooked Pint in Grand Forks, at 1930 S. Columbia Road.
Q: You're doing takeout Thanksgiving dinners. Is this your first year to do that?
A: Yes, it would be. We are just looking for ways to be of service to the people in our community. We have a giveaway as well, just to try and provide for another family in need. Obviously, right now, times are hard for everybody, so we're just looking for ways to make some of that up as well. To register for the giveaway, we have a post on our Facebook page, and you can tag as many people as you'd like, so that they can get involved in the giveaway as well.
Q: How busy will you be with those Thanksgiving dinners? What's included?
A: We're not actually open on Thanksgiving Day, so we would be doing all the packaging and distributing the day prior. What's included is turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, a green bean almandine and herb stuffing and buns and butter. And then we have gravy, cranberry sauce, and we also have reheating instructions with the packaging. Apple tarts are an additional option. We have several orders, actually. I think more than we anticipated having at this time.
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Q: How has your staff adapted to work during the pandemic?
A: I think that working in this time has kind of been an adaptation for everybody. Everybody's kind of just plugging away. Our team is very strong, and we are very grateful that they continue to be here. It's definitely been a struggle, though, I think for everybody.
Q: How have the new state restrictions on restaurants impacted your business?
A: When we opened back up in May, we actually limited our hours to a 10 p.m. close time, as well as mandated masks for all of our employees. We started implementing prior to the mandate, so it hasn't done so much for our business in regards to the modification, but we've definitely seen a decrease in sales.
Q: Imagine: You've been convicted of a terrible crime and are being sent to the gallows. What's your last meal?
A: I have no idea what my last meal would be. Probably Crooked Pint. Actually, you know what my last meal would be? It would be, honest to gosh, our shepherd's pot pie, which we don't have on the menu right now, which is very unfortunate. With the shredded roast beef that we carried when we opened in 2017 with Habanero Jack, but I would put our Ghost Pepper cheese on it, to make it extra spicy.
