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AGE 10 - WATERLOO CHRONKILE. WEDNESDAY, Melodoe Martinuk Chronicle Staff You’d think Diane Warriner would have developed a complex by now. After all, just about everyone who passes by her stand at the Waterloo Stockyards Farmers Market or hears about her new catering business reacts the same way-- yuk. But Warriner takes it all in her stride. Although she is now the owner of Fantasia Foods and Feasts. a new catering business specializing in Japa- nese, Indonesian, mid-eastern and Indian foods, Warriner remembers it wasn't that long ago that she too shuddered at the thought of such dishes. "It was months before 1 would put my foot inside a Japanese restaurant and even now there are some things l just won't eat. "I was used to lrish food; bland food; meat and potatoes. My mother wouldn't even touch garlic, yet somehow I ac- quired the taste for sushi. If I can, anyone can,"says Warriner. Born in Ireland, and a resident of Vancouver for 18 years, Warriner moved to Waterloo just last summer because her husband had taken a position at Universi- ty of Waterloo. Unable to get a job as a teacher, Warriner decided to go into business for herselrthus in January she established her small sushi stand at the farmers market. There, instead of the usual meats, fresh fruits and vegetables and other staples market-goers have grown used to seeing, Warriner displays such dainties asrice balls topped with smoked salmon and shrimp or chicken skewered and glazed with teriyaki sauce. Warriner admits that most shoppers rush by her booth, muttering something like "raw fish, no thanks", and even assur- ances that the food is "beginners sushi”--that is, cooked-can" change the minds of the fainthearted. Sometimes, she adds, there are some "surprises" when shoppers are_daring enough to sample her fare and are converted. Despite frequent rejection, Warriner is convinced there is a market for Japanese cuisine in Kitchener-Waterloo. She feels Ontarians are becoming more receptive W'wwvr V" -"'r" ' 7' _ K P l "T ‘1. "r,; u “wommmy‘a T -‘ w M,. P' ' ', . ", A market for Japanese food ss Ertt St. E. (an: Contra) WATERLOO'S ONLY FUTON MANUFACTURER PRESENTS / "Natural Sleep Centre" '33900 --" - - combines the strength ot hard- " r '. -' wood maple with the durability and . ..-" beauty of arborite. .. converts from a tut! length couch into a standard double bed in a matter ot seconds -. available m black. white or grey -. tulty guaranteed - inexpensive, lightweight and transportable Including futon Fri. “KLAMH THE ALL NEW to Asian foods, other than Chinese which has always been popular, and notes that sushi is the latest food craze in New York and Toronto, which now has 30 sushi bars. "I think there is a market here, especially because Waterloo has two universities and because there are so many large companies coming into the area to be near to the universities. Also, I think people are wanting a change in their food--they're becoming more sophisticat- ed," she says. From the booth, the logical second step was for Warriner to establish a small catering firm, offering Asian hors d'oeuvres, and after that, to start giving Japanese cooking classes in her home. Both she has done. Warriner discovered Japanese cuisine as a result of a project she, as a teacher in British Columbia, was preparing for her Grade 6 students, "I was enthralled with the Japanese culture as a whole--my students learned to make sushi and love it, and so did l," she recalls. Also a factor was her interest in nutrition and healthy living, which led her to explore further the Japanese macrobiotic diet, with its emphasis on low-fat fish, grains, fruit and vegetables prepared in a simple way. "Japanese cooking is very simple-the natural flavors of the foods used aren't masked by heavy sauces and spices," she says. "It's very healthy food, and like everything Japanese,' it's very graceful and beautiful." Warriner adds that many of her dishes are not authentic sushi, but have been Westernized to appeal to the North American palate. And she stresses that despite popular preconceptions, there is a lot more to sushi than raw fish. For Warriner the catering business and stall at the market are just the beginnings of a larger dream--within the next two years she would like to open a Japanese tea room or restaurant in the Waterloo area. . "This is just testing the market and trying out my skills, first of all. What I'd really love is a restaurant, serving Japanese foods and selling Japanese paper goods and other imported items, that's my dream. All I need is the financing," she .says. MEMBER OF CANSPA Illrillllll 'lllillllllll "ll Tllllllllrlll 'lllllltlll IllMlllllt IllllllIlllll Illlltllllllll TOMORROW’S SWIMMING POOL TODAY. CCCECCECCCCCCCECCECCEC] "Sushi that schmecks" is what Diane Warriner of Watertoo is offering to the people of Kitchener-Water) emu photo "THE BETTER POOL BUILDER" .35 FREDERICK ST.. KITCHENER pioneer& "raGiiiiirGiia'N iwmt‘f SINCE 1965 KITCHENS]! STB-SOM) GUELPH 821-8422 Wfiwfiwg‘: