When Aaron Kopnick agreed to open Paula's Bistro inside the
Old World Meats building in Ironwood, he already knew what he was going to name it before he even signed the papers. That's because he wanted his mother, Paula Rouse, to be remembered by the community for her love of cooking and the recipes she handcrafted to perfection.
Many of those items--like her gnocchi and ravioli--were available at Old World Meats prior to the arrival of the bistro. Kopnick had left his job as a kitchen manager and focused full time on his mother's catering business after her death in 2011 and one of his first clients was Old World Meats.
"We started talking about a partnership and this was a part of it," says Kopnick, referring to the bistro.
And while Kopnick admits he uses a large selection of his mother's recipes in his dishes, which are available for breakfast, lunch and dinner, he does plenty of experimenting on his own.
His favorite dishes are those that aren't readily available in the Ironwood area and across the Upper Peninsula.
"Right now one of my favorite is huevos rancheros," says Kopnick of the popular Mexican breakfast dish. "We make our own chorizo sausage, which also isn't very common around here, and use it in the recipe."
Having a full-service meat store just steps away from his kitchen, which is also set up for catering services, just makes life a little easier for Kopnick. The other day, he recalls, a customer wanted pork chops with his eggs instead of steak.
"That was no problem," says Kopnick. "I am happy to be able to accommodate those kinds of requests."
Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Aaron Kopnick, Paula's Bistro
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