CANADA: Winnipeg's Hottest Restaurant Opens On Frozen River

Winnipeg's river restaurant and its three-week run is already sold out.

RAW:almond, the temporary tarp-and-metal-framed restaurant — where you can walk or skate to your seat — is back for its third year at the frozen forks of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.

There's a new design, some new chefs but the same popular demand that marked the first two years of the restaurant, which celebrates food, architecture and winter in Winnipeg.

"I think this year we put a lot more emphasis on the design of the space we sent it out as a competition, an international competition," said co-creator Joe Kalturnyk, the founding director of RAW:Gallery of architecture and design.

OS31, a design firm from Sheffield, England, won the competition with an X-shaped tent for 2015.

The event offers multi-course meals from both national and local chefs, including Mandel Hitzer, the chef/owner of Winnipeg's deer + almond restaurant and one of RAW:almond.

There is also a cocktail-tasting bar each evening and brunch each weekend. The brunch, which doesn't require reservations, is a first-come, first-served event that is often lined up.

Although the forecast calls for extremely mild weather in the next few days, even climbing above the freezing mark, Kalturnyk isn't concerned the frozen allure will be lost.

In fact, it's a welcome change from 2014, when the city was in such a prolonged deep freeze that the Manitoba Museum reported one day that Winnipeg's temperatures were actually as cold as the surface of Mars with the wind chill.

"Last year we built in -50 so this has been a real treat. I mean it’s been wonderful," Kalturnyk said, adding the ice is thick and in good condition.