April 11, 2014, Harvest Eatery won Tourism Saskatchewan's Rookie of The Year. Exactly five years later they won Tourism Saskatchewan's Service Excellence Award last week.

Harvest Eatery, which is based in Shaunavon won the award that they were previously nominated for back in 2015 at the 30th-annual Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence Gala.

Garrett Thienes, chef and owner of the Harvest Eatery, said that missing out the award made them work even harder then they were before.

"It's not about Kristy (Thienes' wife) and I," he said. "I think this type of award is truly a representation of our team and everyone here and how hard they've worked to kind of help see our vision and our culture of doing business and carry that through to the guests. It's really an award that goes to the team which means a little bit more. It's one thing to go up there and win things on your own, but I think we all know whether it's the Stanley Cup or a baseball title you can't win great championships without a team and we feel like we really have the strongest team we've ever had since we've opened the doors here."

Thienes said that they want you to feel at home when you are at their restaurant.

"It's not a business," he said. "This is where we spend a lot of our waking hours so it's like of our second home and when people come in here we try and treat them like that."

He adds that their big approach to service is to not get complacent about how few people may walk in the doors on a given day.

"I think our big approach to service is something that is often overlooked, especially I think in a lot of rural communities where people kind of grow complacent sometimes and take for granted the people walking through their doors. That's something we remind ourselves of every day. That we are lucky enough to have a business and employ these people, none of that is to be taken for granted and that's solely the response of our guests walking through the doors."

Thienes said to win the award was amazing but wants to continue to set the bar higher and higher.

"You are being recognized by your peers for the work that you've done and your being nominated by people who feel you deserve to be there, and I think that's really special," he said. "I know this raises the bar a little bit higher as far as expectations for people travelling to eat with us, so it's about how we rise to that challenge and actually best it and hopefully surpass those expectations."

Thienes said that going from 'Rookie of the Year' to winning the Service Excellence Award has been quite the quick climb.

"It doesn't feel like that some days," he said. "The first couple years my wife and I were here from open to close. I know there was a lot of days I got to work at 6 am and got home at midnight. I think for us the biggest reward after five years is to see the development of our staff. A lot of people will know if they've eaten here that in the last few years they don't see a lot of turnovers but a lot of familiar faces and we are really proud of that. Our staff has taken on so much here in the restaurant that it's given us time to find a better work/life balance and it's kind of reinvigorated us as far as the restaurant goes. At five years you wonder will I be burned out, will I be this and that, and at year three I was really concerned about that but its all paid off."

He added that next up for Harvest Eatery they want to continue to expand and grow their restaurant and continue to maintain their level of service.