The Valley can take in some really diverse and authentic barbecue cuisine this summer at a new food truck that has set up shop. Maggie’s BBQ not only makes food for the soul but is also about giving back to the community. The creation of Maggie’s BBQ - and its arrival in the Valley was all because of one very special woman.
“The whole intention of doing this was to bring something to Swan River that the community had never seen or experienced before,” said Maggie’s BQQ Owner and Operator Grant Bruce. “I lost my mom, Margaret Foster, late last fall and she was a pretty well-known figure in the community. I didn’t really know that until later in life.”
Grant and Margaret’s story of coming to the Valley is one of triumph, as they overcame some very personal struggles, only to find a community and place to call home with people who were there to accept and support them.
“I grew up in Bowsman and Birch River areas, but was born and lived my early years in Snow Lake,” said Bruce. “When my parents divorced, we moved to the Valley in 1992. From 1992 to 1997, life for my mom and I was difficult, as we were using the assistance of women’s shelters and food banks just to survive.
“When we moved here, the people in the Valley helped us immensely and it always overwhelmed my mom to the point where she felt she needed to do something to pay it back. Through that, she used her sewing skills and volunteering in the community to give back.
She volunteered a lot at the Legion and other community events. She would also sew for people and didn’t charge a lot for it, as it was her way of paying back. Her life was cut short as she died at only 68 years old.
“To bring this full circle I decided to come out here with the food truck that I owned and operated out British Columbia,” said Bruce.
The pandemic changed a lot of things; from the way people live to how businesses operate. These changes also led Bruce back to the Valley.
“The last few years of operating a food truck in B.C. have been very different,” said Bruce. “Pre-COVID-19, we were doing very well. Post-COVID-19, the demographics of the Okanagan Valley changed immensely to the point where there are fewer young families. We were also short-staffed and it was harder to access foods, which made it hard to operate a food truck there.
“Last fall I cut my season short to spend more time with my mom before her passing. During that time, we had a lot of back-and-forth chats about what I should do. Through one of those conversations, I asked her what she thought about me bringing the food truck to the Swan Valley and renaming it. In my mom’s typical fashion, she laughed and said ‘Oh Grant’.
“After she passed away, I felt there was a big hole left behind in the community from all the messages I was receiving from people here,” continued Bruce. “I received hundreds of personal messages about my mother’s passing and the impact she had on others and the community. I could feel the amount of emptiness left behind from her passing. I felt the need to do something in her memory.”
Bruce felt that creating Maggie’s BBQ out of respect and love for his mom and all that she did was something he just had to do.
“So I had a good friend from Minitonas design a logo for me,” said Bruce. “He took a picture of my mom’s likeness and designed a logo that I never in a million years could have dreamt up. It’s 100 percent to her likeness and when you look at it, it looks exactly like my mom did.
“A little comic relief was when I used to call her Maggie. She would hate when I would call her that and it would drive her to distraction. The only reason I would call her Maggie was because her dad did. As I got older, we would joke about it, but there’s not a more fitting name for my food truck than Maggie’s BBQ.
“I brought my food truck to Manitoba this spring, to just give my mom’s name a little more time on earth,” said Bruce. “This move has turned beyond my expectations and the response from the community is more than I could have asked for. At the end of the day, I’m trying to give my mom’s memory a little more time here and I’m also trying to rewrite my history in the Valley.
“As a youth, I was a pretty bad kid and had a lot of ups and downs in my life as a young adult. I was hoping that this would be my opportunity and the chance to give back to this community as well.
“It’s been nice to connect with people who knew my mom, but had never personally met me before too,” he continued. “I get to hear so many stories of how my mom made an impact in their lives.”
Bruce found his love of cooking from a few different sources and his biggest critic and fan, wound up being his mom.
“When my mom was a single parent, I took on the role of cooking for us and that started when I was eight,” said Bruce. “Mrs. Canada, from the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School, taught us food and I delved into watching the Urban Peasant show on TV. I was intrigued by it and wanted to try making what was made on the show.
“Watching this cooking show gave me the flair to cook. At first, my mom would choke down whatever I made and say it was good. I used to make taco salad all the time and it was my favourite thing to make. Just a few months ago, before she passed, I found out she hated it. She never admitted that until just before she passed away. She told me for years that she loved it and it was so good, meanwhile, the entire time she didn’t like it.
“Through the years of me cooking for us, I got a pretty good hand at cooking. I did other work as a logger and running equipment in different provinces, but what led me to do the food truck thing, was a result of the forest fires.
“In 2015, the forest fire issues started to have an impact on my summer jobs, so I had to transition to another line of work,” said Bruce. “So I had to figure out what other skillset I had, so I could look at making a career change, and that was cooking. I started looking into food trucks and it went from there. I would work in the winters and then operate the food truck in the summer, so I wasn’t stranded unemployed or left to claim Employment Insurance; now it’s my full-time gig.”
Maggie’s BBQ has a unique and flavorful menu, unlike anything you will find in the Valley and even around Manitoba. Through Bruce’s travels and life experience, he was able to learn how to make some very authentic ethnic dishes, which rotate through the menu at Maggie’s BBQ.
“In the beginning, I went down to Mexico and travelled around,” said Bruce. “I stopped in a town where this little old lady had a street cart where she made and sold tacos. I ate 30 of those tacos; they were so good. I offered to pay her to show me how to make them and she flat out brushed me off.
“I kept going back to her street cart to eat and three days later, I offered her $100 USD to show me how to make them, because they were so good. She put me to work at her street cart for the next three nights, and I learned how to make authentic Mexican tacos, guacamole and more.
She showed me how to make everything.
“The bacon cheeseburger is really my staple and it comes from being a farm kid,” he continued. “I love beef and steaks, so I never use a frozen patty when it comes to making burgers. I don’t make your regular hamburger; I just use ground beef and spice and it translates into something really flavourful.
“When it comes to the A5 Kobe Waygu, I worked with a Japanese Teppanyaki Chef and he now supplies restaurants with A5 Kobe from Japan. A5 Kobe Waygu can only come from one place in the world and that’s Kobe, Japan. They create a zen when raising the animal and feed it accordingly to create a marble within the meat that is unparalleled to anything in the world. The first time you eat that meat, it changes your life.”
He’s got a few other selections that are sure to make your mouth water as well.
“A Po’ Boy is an amazingly flavorful double-smoked garlic sausage grilled on a toasted bun, garnished with sauerkraut, onions, mustard and banana peppers,” said Bruce, describing more of his offerings. “Banh Mi is a Vietnamese-style sandwich that has a lightly toasted bun with garlic aioli, shaved smoked ham, a layer of sliced cucumber, a layer of pickled carrots and a layer of cilantro. Pollo Al Carbon, which is charcoal chicken tacos made authentically Mexican style.
“A donair is a Turkish food consisting of seasoned meat, which I use beef, on a pita with tomatoes, onion and sauce. We also have pork tacos, pulled pork, the McRib sandwich, Wagyu Bites, and wings.”
Maggie’s BBQ is definitely in demand, as the food truck is being booked for events and festivals all over.
“We are booked in for Countryfest this year and a few other events as well in the coming weeks,” said Bruce. “We’re going to run Monday to Friday in the Swan River and the weekends will be events.”
Bruce will be splitting his time between here and B.C. The response he has received since opening up Maggie’s BBQ will bring him back every summer to keep it going and to give back to the community that gave so much to him and his mother.
“I have two children, family and a life out in B.C., but I also have a life here and own property in Durban and Birch River,” said Bruce. “My intentions going forward are to spend the summers in the Valley and winters in the Okanagan.
“I thank my mom for my sense of adventure, exploring and community. The reviews from town about the food are amazing and I’m overwhelmed by it. I thank everyone for sharing their stories about my mom, expressing their condolences in her passing and for the tremendous support with this venture.”