The South Forty

The next stop on my tour of southern Manitoba was Rachel's hometown of Altona. Rachel chose The South Forty for our breakfast. The South Forty is a very old-school diner with vinyl booths and worn carpeting. I could easily imagine Robert Irvine from Restaurant Impossible walking in and criticizing the 1970s paneling and the pressed wood tabletops. But the restaurant was run by a friendly Indian couple, and Rachel told me that once a month they do a killer buffet that brings in the masses, Mennonites hungry for chicken masala. 

I ordered something called "The Southern," partly because I was intrigued by the name. In the U.S. "The Southern" would probably mean grits, but here it meant pierogis. This still has me mystified. What "south" is indicated by potato and cheese pierogis? Is it the south of Poland--Krakow--where I first tasted pierogis? Or the south, and Polish, part of Chicago? I have no idea, but I'd welcome thoughts.

My disorientation continued as Rachel and I listened to a couple of old farmers in the next booth talking rapidly in a language I didn't recognize.

"What is that?" I asked her.

"Plattdeutsch," she said, grinning.

A "southern" breakfast in a northern town, in a restaurant run by East Asians, in a place where at least four languages are spoken readily. Fun.

If you want to eat off the beaten path, go to southern Manitoba.