Smoke's Poutinerie with Alana Johnston (LIVE)

"Smoke's Poutinerie with Alana Johnston 🔪 (LIVE)" is Episode 190 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Smoke's Poutinerie with Alana Johnston 🔪 (LIVE)" was released on February 14, 2019.

## Synopsis

The 'boys are joined in snowy Saskatoon by Alana "The Knife 🔪" Johnston (*The Birthday Boys*, UCB) to review a chain set on spreading one of Canada's quintessential foods to the world: Smoke's Poutinerie. Plus, a live edition of Snack or Wack.

Recorded live at The Broadway Theatre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

## Nick's intro

"*Courage, my friends; 'tis not too late to build a better world.*"

Those are the words of Tommy Douglas, a theology-school graduate and ordained Baptist minister who would later become the Premier of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan.

The importance of Douglas' contribution can be seen via counter-example in the U.S., a nation whose barely functional health-care system consists of a (?) of employer-provided insurance paired with public programs whose funding is subject to the whims of the party in power, if they even fund the government at all, and either way involves substantial, even bankrupting, out-of-pocket costs for patients. In 2004, the state-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced a special called "The Greatest Canadian" which recognized Saskatchewan's own Tommy Douglas as the nation's greatest citizen of all-time.

And in 2007, the CBC released a sequel called "The Greatest Canadian Invention" in which insulin took the top spot. But rounding out the top 10, sandwiched between the electric wheelchair and radiation therapy, was a French-Canadian dish of fries, curd, and gravy, known as poutine.

Like many famous foods, its inception is disputed and possibly apocryphal, but it first appeared in Warwick, Quebec sometime in the early 1950s. Initially scoffed at by non-French-Canadians as a Quebecian curiosity, that skepticism eventually subsided due to its undeniable deliciousness and its value as a booze sponge in a nation famed for its heroic intake of alcohol.

In 2008, a hair-metal enthusiast and newcomer to the restaurant industry, Ryan Smolkin, opened a quickservice eatery centered around the potato/dairy/gravy dish, naming it a variant of his last name. Offering more authentic, standard poutine alongside playful variants like pulled-pork poutine and jerked-chicken poutine and staying open well past last call, Smolkin soon built his concept into a chain with locations across Ontario and provinces across the country. Smolkin expanded south of the border in 2014, with American expansion the first step in global domination.

At one point, their ambitious franchising plans called for 800 U.S. outlets by 2020. In 2015, the poutinerie opened an outlet in the heart of Los Angeles' Hollywood neighborhood, located in a strip mall alongside actor Danny Trejo's Cantina and a busy sports-bar-and-wing outlet with a single-entendre name of Big Wang's. But the LA location abruptly closed in 2018, and as of 2019, the number of outlets in America is just four.

Still, the eatery prospers in its homeland with dozens of locations scattered across the Great White North, though the health affects of this carbon-saturated, fat-laden dish on the population are no doubt exacerbating the very Medicare system fathered by "The Greatest Canadian."

But as long as Smolkin's shops sling one of Canada's greatest inventions, his concept just may ascend the ranks among places like Tim Horton's, A&W, and Pizza Pizza to become one of the greatest Canadian chain restaurants.

This week on *Doughboys*: Smoke's Poutinerie.

## Fork / Knife rating

 Mike Mitchell
 Alana Johnston 🔪
 shared
* Veggie Traditional
* Perogy Poutine
* Buffalo Chicken Poutine

Nick and Mitch both agreed their favorite was the Buffalo Chicken. Alana 🔪's favorite was the Traditional.

With these scores, Smoke's Poutinerie makes the Golden Plate Club!

## Tim Horton's Mini-Review

The Doughboys also took a quick trip and tried out a Tim Horton's.

Nick requested to not put this on the wiki as an 'actual' review, and I would never have done such a thing!

But to note: they had the Maple Dip Donut and Coffee and seemed to enjoy it very much and argued about whether it was better than Dunkin Donuts or not.

## Snack or Wack 🇨🇦

In Snack or Wack, the Doughboys have a snack and decide if it is 'good' or 'bad.'

For this Canadian edition, they try a number of Canadian candy bars: Coffee Crisp, Caramilk, Crunchie, and Oh Henry!

 Mike Mitchell
 Alana Johnston 🔪

Nick and Alana 🔪's favorite was the Coffee Crisp, while Mitch preferred Caramilk - but everyone liked everything.

Coffee CrispCaramilkCrunchieOh Henry!

## Quotes

I go to the door and he's like "Alana, can I just put my plug in the outlet?" It's 2:30 in the morning and I'm thinking 'This is the worst sex I'm going to have.'

## #hashtags

* #Mitch3
* #SmokeShow vs. #SmokesNo

## Related Episodes

* 137. Carl's Jr./Hardee's 3
* 166. Pink's Hot Dogs
* DD. Wiger Alone
* 190. **Smoke's Poutinerie**
* BC7. Cornbread
* DD. It's A Wigerful Life
* DD. Wige Hard
* THON21. Doughathon
* DD. The Mitchy Clause
* DD. Water 3: Snow
* DD. 7/11 Challenge
* 385. Sonic Drive-In 2
* DD. Chips: Can We Trust Them?