Flavourful Saskatoon, February 25, 2013

City Perks
The renovations at City Perks have transformed a nice coffee shop into an outstanding one. The raised ceiling, chandeliers and recycled furniture (stools from The Pat, doors from the Bessborough made into tables, old church pews) add so much class. In addition, the kitchen layout is bigger and more efficient for staff, and there’s more seating room.

The eco-conscious design and furnishings are thanks to Jacqueline Neusch of Sew Chic Décor and Christoph Neusch of Ribbitt Homes. (photo credit: J. Neusch)

City Perks is now serving 49th Parallel coffee out of Vancouver. And the baked goods are still awesome!

Cake Witch
 I finally made it to the Refinery Market last Wednesday and had a chance to sample Barbara Harder-Lutz’s cakes and biscotti. Barbara says that the Lemon Lavender Biscotti with Almonds are her signature piece, and they’re outstanding – crunchy with lots of lavender flavour. The cakes are made from scratch, with butter. The BC peaches in the Vanilla Bundt Cake with Peach Swirl made the cake a little soggy but very flavourful. Barbara sells her products at the Wednesday market at the Refinery and from the Cake Witch Café in Rosthern.

Food for Health, WDM
 Food for Health is a new temporary exhibit at Saskatoon’s Western Development Museum. There are eight interactive displays (pedal a bicycle to see how quickly you burn calories) and over 30 showcases and panels. There’s also an interactive website for the national travelling exhibit.

Granola: From Bulky Sweater to Little Black Dress
In the past, granola was a synonym for hippie living. Not any more. The New York Times shares some very creative granola options – from deconstructed yogurt and granola to savory granola with crushed black pepper served with goat cheese.

East Frisian Tea
I was fascinated by an account in The New York Times of the unique tea culture that developed in East Frisia, Germany. The carefully blended black tea is served in an espresso-sized cup with a piece of rock sugar in the bottom and heavy cream poured down the side of the cup. You don’t stir but let the cream form a mushroom cloud and the sugar slowly dissolve.

Dine Green Association
The Dine Green Association helps restaurants and producers (e.g. packaging) reduce their environmental impact and provides certification/endorsement. They also offer consumers a list of green restaurants in some of the larger US cities.

The association offers the world’s largest database of environmental solutions for the restaurant industry. It sounds like a great idea so that individual businesses don’t have to spend a disproportionate amount of time researching all the options for themselves.

Argentine Malbec
If you enjoy Malbec wines, I recommend reading The Vineyard at the End of the World by Ian Mount, which recounts the history of Argentine winemaking and the emergence of Malbec as the country’s premier wine.

Flavourful Saskatoon is a weekly Monday feature. I also post regular profiles of culinary entrepreneurs, new restaurants and new food products.

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