Very northern, very delicious: Meet the sushi queen of the Northern Peninsula

Leila Beaudoin · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 09, 2025 12:30 PM EDT | Last Updated: March 9

Michelle Lidstone weaves successful and retired of her commercialized room with ease.

Only taking a interruption to service 1 of her customers with a smile, and 1 of her customized dishes. 

"Do you privation immoderate sauces with that, my lover?" she says to a customer picking up tempura shrimp and tuna sushi.

Her repertoire of dishes could springiness Gordon Ramsay a tally for his money. Only Lidstone is thousands of kilometres distant from wherever she gets her spices, and her eating country is really a state presumption with beer, doughnuts and radical talking astir the weather. 

"If I don't person it, you don't request it," said Lidstone, 57, smiling down an apron portion prepping sushi — everything from California rolls to tempura shrimp. 

"I conscionable learned however to bash this from a Japanese guy. That is an awesome guy, and an awesome cook. His sanction is Goki. And helium taught maine everything I request to cognize astir Asian food." 

Lidstone says they traded room secrets. She taught him however to marque Canadian nutrient and helium taught her however to marque sushi.

"And sushi is ever champion fresh. It's nary bully if it's not caller and warm," she said.

WATCH | Michelle Lidstone says if you can't find it successful her store, you don't request it: 

Michelle and her hubby Dean person been moving the multifaceted state presumption for 25 years.

Lidstone's Irving is disconnected the beaten path; located successful Roddickton-Bide Arm. It's conscionable nether 2 hours disconnected Route 430, sheltered by mountains and the ocean. But contempt its isolated determination and challenges to the section economy, concern is good.

Lidstone won't springiness distant her recipes, but she says the concealed to occurrence successful a tiny town is diversifying your product. 

"If I did not person each this nutrient that I americium providing, I don't deliberation my concern would marque it," she said

She makes an array of nutrient that sells out weekly. Some are combos that radical bid successful advance.

"It's sushi, Chinese food, and Asian food. Like I bash teriyaki chickenhearted with sesame seeds," Lidstone said.

On apical of that, she has Italian dishes, pilaf rice, fancy burgers and hometown favourite cold plates.

"Everybody loves a acold plate," said Lidstone, who archetypal started cooking with her parent successful Labrador City, wherever she grew up.

To this day, she inactive uses her mother's homemade pizza dough recipe, and runs her room conscionable similar her parent did, with passionateness and the tendency to marque radical blessed done food.

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