By Andru McCracken

Donna Perkins and Andreas Werner are taking over the Beanery 2 from long time proprietor Barbara Jackson.

The cozy restaurant in the Train Station in McBride changed management on July 1, and Donna and Andreas look forward to continue the tradition of healthy delicious food and fine coffee. The two have been friends since 2000.

Donna is a former mill employee and began working at the Beanery 2 after the mill shut down, when Barbara suggested she should buy the enterprise.

Andreas is a faller, but spent time cooking in the military, Donna has plenty of experience in the kitchen too.

“I fell into a job cooking at the hotel years ago and started prep cooking.” She said it was Donna Stapley who showed her the ropes in a commercial kitchen. “She kept saying ‘do it the way you do at home’,” she said. “I grew up cooking anywhere for six to sixteen anyway.”

“When he is not in the bush, he’ll be here to help me out,” said Donna.

Donna said she has a lot of support from Barbara’s patrons and her friends in the community.

Andreas said that the market for healthy food is large and growing, and Donna said that cooking for specialty diets would secure their place in McBride’s market.

Andreas said that once in a while he will have burgers on the menu, but the Beanery 2 will keep up its tradition of catering to specialty diets like vegetarians and people who are lactose intolerant, and those who are just looking for a healthy meal.