On your next visit to the scenic Niagara on the Lake, the family-owned Fritters on the Lake is a great stopover to satisfy your sweet tooth.
Zoran and Dusanka Alimpic, along with their daughter Zorana, her husband Yusuf and son Nolè, run a highly sought-after apple fritter shop that has garnered lots of attention over social media. Apparently having mastered the perfect recipe for apple fritters, the family felt it needed to be shared with everyone.
"It is one of my mom's magical creations, a family favourite that blend's their Serbian and Canadian heritage," says Zorana.
For years, Zorana wanted her mom, Duksanka, to start a food-based business due to her phenomenal ability to spread joy through food. However, after trying to make ends meet with Zorana's university fees and Dusanka's battle with cancer, the family had to hold off. A decade ago, Zorana left Canada to pursue a degree at the University of Oxford and ended up migrating to South Africa, where she married her husband and had her son. Last year, the three of them came back to Canada to bring Fritters on the Lake to life.
However with the pandemic, their dreams to open Fritters on the Lake were delayed. Eventually, when Zorana and her family were able to come back from South Africa again in June 2021, they were able to open up and receive heartwarming support from their Niagara on the Lake community.
Their menu consists of original fritters, topped with maple, caramel or chocolate syrup, and a lake special with vanilla ice cream. The Alimpic family shared that residents and business owners alike have been coming by to offer words of wisdom, feedback and general kindness. They say it’s a first for all of them to run a business and even in the learning moments when they feel like they’re not at their best, their customers have been incredibly kind and supportive.
"My mom does not have formal culinary training and my dad has no entrepreneurial experience but they both love two things––food and people," says Zorana. "At the tender age of 64, my dad became a first time entrepreneur and made their dreams come true by sharing their beloved fritters, our family’s comfort food".
Due to health restrictions, Zorana's mom isn’t able to be a part of the day to day operations of FoTL, but she is the main inspiration and the most important quality control personnel.
They are located in the old village of Niagara on the Lake on 217 King Street.
