Manitoba

RAW:almond setting a table for premier, First Nations leaders at The Forks

Organizers of RAW:almond, the outdoor winter pop-up restaurant at The Forks, are setting a special table tonight for Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, several First Nations leaders and other guests.

Dishes to be served will include bison carpaccio, pickled mussels

Winnipeggers bundled up for five-course tasting menus during the 2013 edition of RAW:almond, the outdoor pop-up restaurant that usually takes place on the frozen Assiniboine River at The Forks. (Robin Summerfield/CBC)

Organizers of RAW:almond, the outdoor winter pop-up restaurant at The Forks, are setting a special table tonight for Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger, several First Nations leaders and other guests.

The leaders are in Winnipeg for a national roundtable on missing and murdered indigenous women.

"It's pretty exciting. It's kind of a coup to be asked to host all these people … I thought it was pretty cool," RAW:almond co-owner Joe Kalturnyk told CBC News.

"It was a request from Federal and Provincial Affairs — like, a liaison department — and they wished to host a dinner for all the premiers and grand chiefs at RAW:almond; give them sort of a kind of a true Winnipeg experience."

Kalturnyk said about 40 guests will be served on Thursday evening, and he expects security in the area to be tight.

While he was tight-lipped about what exactly will be on the menu, he said the dishes will include bison carpaccio with puffed brown rice and pickled mussels.