Stake Restaurant, a casual dining establishment located at the mini-mall on Range Lake Road, will have a new operator as of January, according to the owner.

Restaurant co-owner Jen Vornbrock, who also owns the Monkey Tree Pub next door, confirmed in an interview this week that the menu for both the pub and restaurant will be operated by Ed But, owner of Coyote鈥檚 Bistro on Franklin starting 鈥渟ometime in January.鈥�

The pub and restaurant have a shared kitchen.

鈥淥ur landlord has chosen to take back the kitchen and Stake Restaurant (and) Ed But, from Coyote鈥檚 will be taking that over,鈥� Vornbrock said in a written statement on Oct. 11. 鈥淲e will be working with him to continue to provide food to our customers at the pub.

鈥淎t the end of the day, we will work with Ed and hopefully it will work out. It鈥檚 just so sad.鈥�

Vornbrock said Jimmy Kong, landlord of the building, informed her and co-owner Steve Dinham within the last month that they were no longer welcome to operate Stake Restaurant and were given no other options, but were granted the opportunity to carry on operating the pub.

Vornbrock and Dinham have been operating Stake since 2018 when they rebranded and renovated the former Diamante Restaurant.

鈥淲e really feel Stake worked for the community and I think Yellowknifers will be sad to see it go and will miss it,鈥� she said, owing the restaurant鈥檚 success to its 鈥渨ide鈥� and 鈥渧ersatile鈥� appeal beyond fine dining.

But was reached by email on Oct. 10 with questions regarding the new arrangement, whether he will be operating Stake under the Coyote鈥檚 name and what clientele can expect in both the pub and restaurant in the new year.

He neither confirmed nor denied the information in an email exchange.

鈥淲here (d)id you hear this?鈥� he wrote in an email. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where you are getting this info?鈥�

Coyote鈥檚 Bistro on Franklin has been in its current location at 4511 Franklin Avenue since April 2016, according to But鈥檚 LinkedIn page.

Before that, But鈥檚 Coyote鈥檚 Steakhouse and Lounge was located at 484 Range Lake Road, where Copperhouse Eatery and Lounge is now situated.

A February 2016 fire reportedly caused more than $100,000 in damages to Coyote鈥檚 before But moved his operation to the downtown building owned by Don Asher of Adonis Planning Ltd.

But was provided with a list of questions on Sept. 27 regarding his restaurant鈥檚 tenancy at 4511 Franklin Avenue. He also did not answer those questions but instead referred 快盈v3 to Asher.

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch Vincent Massey 164, which also is located in the same 4511 Franklin Avenue building as Coyote鈥檚, will see its lease expire at the end of January.

Tammy Roberts, acting president of the Legion, has stated in recent weeks that she will not be commenting on lease discussions with her landlord as the result of direction from her lawyer.