Chinatown will soon see its first-ever döner shop. However, it’s no coincidence that Wolf Down landed on Las Vegas for its second location. Before the travel restrictions began, owner and founder Joelle Parenteau used to frequently travel between Ottawa and Vegas to play high-stakes poker.
“We’re part-time poker players, part-time entrepreneurs,” Parenteau told What Now Las Vegas. “And now, we’re restauranteurs. I’ve always been an entrepreneur but never thought I’d end up being a restauranteur.”
The change of heart came when she first tried a Berlin street food called döner kebab. Döner is ubiquitous in Germany, but you would be hard-pressed to find it in most North American cities.
So, Parenteau decided to take matters into her own hands.
“It wasn’t until I discovered döner and saw this opportunity that I decided to open a restaurant,” she said. “One, it wasn’t here, and two, I wanted it to be here, so I wanted to solve that problem.”
Along with her business partner and German fiancee, Parenteau developed a döner recipe that took the best elements from various interpretations. Fresh bread, marinated meat, crisp veggies, and an herbaceous creamy white sauce to top it all off.
While doner is meat-based, Wolf Down has also formulated a vegan recipe that’s as close to the original as they could get. Roasted on vertical spits just like shawarma, Wolf Down’s marinated tofu has captured many hearts within Ottowa’s vegan community.
“We can pretty confidently say that we’re the first to do this,” Parenteau said. “We found a way to get massive tofu slabs that we can actually stick on the spit, then we came up with a custom marinade for it. That’s been a massive hit. We’ve had vegans bring the doner back because they thought we accidentally put meat in it.”
In 2018, they opened the first Wolf Down in Ottawa. The Las Vegas location is set to open within the next month in Chinatown at 3853 Spring Mountain Rd. Marc Marrone and Todd Lunger of Graffiti Hospitality Group make up the local team behind the opening. Their other projects include SkinnyFats, Graffiti Bao, and Locale Italian Kitchen. What Now Las Vegas reported on Locale’s chef Andy Hooper last week.
