Flavourful Saskatoon, August 22, 2011

Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon – bakeries, coffee shops, espresso, fine dining, farmers, and cider

Caffe Sola
Caffe Sola has new windows! The large windows and corner location have been a blessing and a curse for Caffe Sola. The new windows are treated to reduce the negative impact, and wooden benches along the window provide additional seating. Looks awesome. (And the baked goods are pretty awesome too.)

Il Secondo
Il Secondo, Christie’s Bakery’s location just off Broadway, is now open until 9 pm on Fridays and Saturdays. And they have a liquor license, so you can enjoy pizza straight out of the wood oven along with your choice of Italian beer or wine (at least 2 red and 2 white).

EarthBound Bakery
What would Saturdays be like without a stuffed croissant from EarthBound Bakery? The croissant this week was exceptional – the filling was roasted pattypan squash with arugula-walnut-garlic pesto. Trent Loewen, the baker, uses as many local, organic products as he possibly can. All summer long, the vegetables are from his brother Paul’s farm.

Commercial Kitchen - Saskatoon Farmers’ Market
The Saskatoon Farmers’ Market has received a substantial sponsorship cheque from Agrium for the construction of a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. The kitchen will host local cooking classes, workshops, catering events, and other food preparation. The Market hopes that the kitchen will be up and running by October.

Wild Serendipity Foods
The French macarons from Michelle at Wild Serendipity Foods (Saturdays at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market) are a delight – chewy and flavourful with a rich, creamy filling. She’s introducing two new flavours – praline and marzipan.

Macarons are really fussy, and Michelle has taken the time and effort to perfect them. (photo credit: Cindy La)

Living Sky Winery
Living Sky Winery is now making rhubarb cider. It should be available in a couple of weeks. And they’ve frozen a big batch of local raspberries – something to look forward to in the winter.

Weczeria
I had dinner at Weczeria last week. The focus on local, seasonal food is noteworthy. There was fresh mint in the cream sauce on the gnocchi, kale alongside the ratatouille and polenta, transparent onion slices marinated in maple balsamic vinegar and crispy roasted chickpeas in the salad.

The chocolate mousse with chai ganache and ginger ice cream for dessert was fabulous, and I loved the raw rhubarb slivers on top of the pannacotta (reminded me of when I was a little kid dipping rhubarb stalks in a bowl of sugar). The macarons – not so good – I’ll stick with the ones from Wild Serendipity.

Ag in the City
Ag in the City is a two-day event to show urbanites the role agriculture plays in all our lives. It is being held at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market on September 11 and 12.

Sunday, September 11 is open to the public and features a breakfast of locally-produced food, information about farm groups and products, a pie auction and a harvest picnic on the riverbank. Elementary and secondary school groups will tour the exhibit and cooking demonstration on Monday, September 12.

Duck Duck Goose
Too early in the day for wine and tapas? Duck Duck Goose has an espresso machine and uses organic milk in all their coffee beverages.

Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. Email me (penny@axonsoft.com) if you have products, events or places that you would like me to include.

See also:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 28, 2017

Image
The Next Great Food Business Public Tasting, Sept. 7 The Local Kitchen is hosting a public tasting with samples from each of the finalists in the Next Great Food Business competition. Finalists are: King’s Jerky, Kind Condiments , Smoke and Salt BBQ, Bannock Express , and Voodoo Van . Wine Tastings Guess the most expensive wine (Sept. 8), sample some Rhône wines (Sept. 22), or attend the 2017 Premier Showcase Wine Dinner (Sept. 28) sponsored by Saskatoon Co-op Wine Spirits Beer. Premier Showcase is also offering a Portugal with a Splash of California wine seminar (Sept. 29) and a Women & Whisky seminar (Sept. 30). Refresh and Renew I had a chat with Trent Loewen about his plans now that he has sold Earth Bound Bakery. He is heading east to visit chef friends in Ontario and then off to New Zealand to explore what's happening there. After 9 years with a single focus, it's time to explore new ideas. Interestingly enough, the bakery's new owner is a business
Read more

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 21, 2017

Image
Prairie Harvest Café I was sad to learn that Prairie Harvest Café has closed its doors. It’s been one of my favorite Saskatoon restaurants since day one, and I really appreciated the fact that the chefs focused on cooking with local ingredients, many supplied by the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. All the best of luck in your new adventures. We’ll miss you. Hug a Farmer This has been a tough summer for many farmers. Prairie Sun Orchard lost their entire cherry crop to insects. Drop by their stand at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, tell them you care, and have an ice cream. My favorite is the chocolate cherry fudge, but Clare Pearson, the principal ice cream maker, says her new favorite is the salted caramel. Peppers If you’re like me, you assume that all small, skinny peppers are super hot and avoid them like the plague. But that’s a big mistake. Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens is offering two long, skinny peppers – one can be hot, but the other isn’t. Padron chile pepper
Read more

The Golden Towns of Beaujolais

Image
Heading north out of Lyon, you pass through a long tunnel and exit into a lush green countryside leaving the city far behind. You then turn and head up the hill onto winding roads between a patchwork of vineyards. Many of the vines are really old with short, thick, twisted trunks and a thin stem of green leaves and buds. These are the Gamay vines of Beaujolais, interspersed with a few fields of greener, leafier Chardonnay vines. South Beaujolais, just 45 minutes northwest of Lyon, encompasses 25 medieval villages of orangey-gold stone (limestone and iron) that is surprisingly vibrant (I had been expecting something lighter, similar to the Cotswolds in England). Some of the villages still have the remains of 14th century castles. Oingt is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it really is lovely. You can take a walk around the town on the former ramparts and the church is austere and beautiful. I was on a half-day tour , which combined stopping to
Read more

Petra Market: A Mediterranean Grocery

Image
Tucked away in a strip mall on Primrose Drive (north of Lawson Heights Mall) is Petra Market, a treasure trove of food products from the Arabic countries in the Mediterranean. I’m fascinated by grocery stores full of unknown-to-me products but also a little nervous about trying things, so I was really happy when Nour Dabbour, the owner of Petra Market, showed me around and told me about the different items. Nour is trying to stock products from as many Middle Eastern countries as possible. He even stocks the same product from a number of different countries because he says that each country’s product tastes slightly different. Za’atar , a spice mix, is a prime example with packages from Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and each one is a slightly different colour with a slightly different taste. The most popular areas of the store are the nut and treats bars with an amazing assortment of Middle Eastern candies and mildly spiced nuts. Nour gave me a variety to try and I’m real
Read more

Spelt and Millet: Ancient Grains for Today's Healthy Diet

Image
When I was growing up, whole wheat flour and rice were exotic options. Now we have a whole range of intriguing choices – buckwheat, spelt, millet, kamut – the list goes on and on. My problem is that I don’t know very much about some of these grains, so I arranged a phone call with Nicole Davis, the Owner/Manager of Daybreak Mill near Estevan. Daybreak Mill grows and processes approximately 18 different kinds of flour, whole and de-hulled grains, flakes, cereals, and legumes. They are 100% organic. “We want people to have access to healthy, wholesome food,” Nicole explains. Two of Daybreak’s products – spelt and millet – have been nourishing people around the world for over 9,000 years. Spelt Spelt was cultivated by ancient civilizations in Europe and the Middle East for thousands of years. It grows well in poor soil and doesn’t require fertilizer. It’s resistant to frost and the thick husk protects the grain from insects. However, spelt requires more processing than wheat as
Read more