SIX NATIONS – Is it that distinctive smell of cider vinegar, salt and fried potatoes that has kept generations of customers coming back, or is it a deeply imbedded cultural thing only significant to those who have frequented Brantford’s downtown core or grew up in Brantford since 1950.
That is when Albert Wawzonek opened his first Chip Wagon on the site of the old Market Square. It was passed to his son Stan and now to daughter Barbara who now owns and operates the business.
Since 1950, Brantford and Stan’s Fries have become synonymous with each other. Anyone who grew up in Brantford or frequented downtown Brantford a lot, after they have moved away and come back to visit family immediately go and get a box of fries from Stan’s before all else.
‘We hear that story a lot,” laughs Wawzonek.
Now, Stan’s has brought that wonderful smell and great tasting fries to Six Nations at the Kanata Gas Bar on Highway 54.
The legend began in the ‘50s when Wawzonek and Peter Ivonovic were each granted permission by City Hall to set up semi-permanent (but easily removable) chip trucks at the corners of Market and Dalhousie and Market and Colborne as well as George and Dalhousie Streets, despite complaints by area restaurateurs who felt the chip wagons had an unfair advantage.
“Come to think about it, I think we were the first fast food take out in Brantford,” says Barbara. “There was no McDonalds or anything like that then.”
There was more than enough walk-up business to go around every day, but especially on market day, and there was great co-operation between the chippies. At one point there were three similar wagons at the Market Square, the third run by George Seitz in the 1970s.
“I remember we would borrow supplies from each other if we ran out,” she recalls. “We would even rotate locations from time to time.”
They would co-ordinate days off to ensure there was always a wagon operating at the Market Square and so each operator could have a day off at some point.
By the time the city sold the Market Square and closed Market Street to make room for a mall, Ivonovic had retired. Stan’s moved across from the Sanderson Centre, which is now Harmony Square, when it was a parking lot. George’s moved to a spot just off of Queen Street and Stan began to grow his business. At one point he had four locations around town. When Harmony Square was built, Stan’s had to move again, securing a spot at the Bus Terminal on Darling Street near the Court House.
In the early 1980s Stan put up a wagon at the former Towers Plaza, now Toys “R” Us/Zehrs plaza in the north end which has remained a busy stop for north end shoppers ever since.
One might ask, when chip wagons are everywhere, what makes Stan’s Fries so unique?
“It’s a formula that hasn’t changed since my grandfather started out,” Barbara quickly answers. “Fresh cut potatoes, grown locally, fried in pure lard, and doused with lots of salt and cider vinegar. That’s it, that’s all.”
To the calorie conscious, that might not seem a great combination, but as Barbara points out, there are no trans-fats in pure lard, only fats that your body is used to processing. Cider vinegar is also a known fat cutter, so it isn’t as bad as it might seem but you cannot deny the taste that simple formula produces.
Barbara religiously keeps that tradition alive for a new generation.
“You will never see ketchup at a Stan’s Fries wagon,” Barbara proudly declares. “We have even lost customers who insist there be ketchup. I have seen some people bring their own ketchup.”
But like a great chef cringes when someone asks for steak sauce with their New York sirloin steak, so Barbara does when people want to mess with the “Best Tasting Fries in Canada,” as once voted in a national survey.
Over the years, there have been several requests by customers to put a Stan’s Fries wagon in their town, but Barbara and her forefathers have steadfastly refused. That is, until Barbara got a message from Six Nations businessman, and Stan’s fan, Steve Montour who was building the Kanata Gas Bar, Car Wash, Variety/Grocery store on Highway 54 at the time.
Montour, contacted Barbara to suggest she bring Stan’s Fries to the reserve. Through negotiations, it was decided that the Six Nations Wagon would be called Kanata Foods “featuring” Stan’s Famous Fries, since this wagon also serves other fast food items besides fries only.
“That was a bit of a compromise for me,” she admits. “But we were able to work all that out so the fries and the name stayed unaltered, like I promised my dad.”
Montour’s invitation made sense to her because of the relationship that has already developed between Stan’s Fries and generations of Six Nations customers over the years and generations.
“We have always had a strong Six Nations clientele,” says Barbara, who grew up working with her father as a young girl since 1970s learning the Stan’s way of presenting the humble French fry, as taught by his father before him. “It just made sense to me.”
Wawzonek believes that Brantford and Stan’s Fries are inseparable after being such a memorable part of growing up in the telephone, Wayne Gretzky, and Stan’s Fries city, and now also available at Six Nations.
Just as a side note: Barbara’s father Stan Wawzonek was instrumental in starting the “Thank-a-Vet” program, which has since spread across Canada. Twice he bicycled across Canada with the Thank-a-Vet message. He has since passed away.
