Wanderlust and Words

Pizza is one of my very favorite foods and, when it’s being prepared by the folks who run Riversdale Deli, I know it’s going to be good. Capanna Pizzeria is located around the corner from Riversdale Deli . Big windows facing east mean that the restaurant is full of sunshine, a welcome sight on one of our cold, wintery days. Passing by on the street, you can watch the chefs rolling out the pizza dough. Step through the door, and you’ll feel right at home. This isn’t a big, intimidating restaurant. There’s bench seating under the window and a scattering of wooden tables and chairs. Behind the marble-topped bar is a brick wall lined with bottles of wine and there’s a mural of Italy on the wall in the kitchen area. The kitchen is open so you can chat with Chef Darby Kells and have a look at the pizza oven. The pizza oven is hi-tech fancy. It has three different heating sources, all of which can be individually controlled. The rotating stone disc heats the pizza crust from b...

Solar Gardens products available at The Prairie Pantry Urban Ag Films, Feb. 27 The Saskatoon Found Council will be showing the 10 finalist films in this year’s Real Food Media Project at 7 pm , Feb. 27, at Station 20 West. The films showcase individuals who are building a sustainable food system. Fermentation for Gut Health Workshop, Feb. 27   Esther Beazer will be offering a Fermentation for Gut Health workshop at The Refinery from 6-9 pm , February 27. There will be another workshop on March 14 . Museo @ Mendel Closing  The Mendel Art Gallery branch of Museo Coffee will be closing at the end of February. I’ll miss going there. Saskatchewan-grown quinoa at The Prairie Pantry Dine in the Dark, Mar. 5   The CNIB is hosting a Dine in the Dark fundraising dinner at the Parktown Hotel on March 5. You’ll be blindfolded, so the focus will be on the smells, sounds, tastes and textures. SaskOrganic  Saskatchewan Organic has a new name and a new Fac...

I’ve been visiting family friends in Salisbury for over 40 years, and there are certain places that I try to visit each time I’m there. A first stop is surely the Cathedral Close. The 404-foot stone spire of Salisbury Cathedral is the tallest in England, and there is a large open-air cloister. Parks span one side of the Cathedral and you can walk across the water meadows to the old mill in Harnham. Now a hotel, Harnham Mill is a 15th century building with features dating back to 1250. Salisbury received a royal charter to hold an outdoor market in 1227 , and it has been held continuously ever since. There are also some lovely old pubs in Salisbury where you can sit and drink tea or cider or have a meal.

  Unlike the small villages I visited elsewhere in the Cotswolds, Tewkesbury is a busy town and there were throngs of shoppers on the high street during my Saturday visit. Tewkesbury is renowned for its medieval black and white buildings, as will quickly become obvious from my photographs. It’s an ancient settlement founded at the meeting of the Severn and Avon rivers . The location must have made it ideal for shipping goods by water, as indicated by the large warehouses beside the river. The canal boats point to the rivers’ popularity for recreational cruising nowadays. My primary reason for going to Tewkesbury was to visit Tewkesbury Abbey . Tewkesbury Abbey was founded in 1087 and building commenced in 1102. The ribs of the roof are decorated with an outstanding array of ornately carved stone bosses . I can see why one person told me I should lie on the floor to admire it as there is so much detail. The ceiling is also brightly colour...

Citizen Cafe & Bakery Capanna Pizzeria  Riversdale Deli hopes to open Capanna Pizzeria on Wednesday, Feb. 18. Winemaking: Farming and Art, Feb. 22  Doug Reichel , Fine Wines Sask, will be talking about the connection between quality food and quality wine at the Slow Food Salon , 1:30-3 pm , Sunday, February 22, at The Local Coffee Bar. Doug says, "In many ways, Saskatchewan people have much in common with the vintners and winemakers of the world because we live close to the world of agriculture. We share the same interest in the soil, weather patterns, and yield. The world's better winemaking is a juxtaposition of farming and art." Doug Reichel, Fine Wines Sask Grants for Urban Agriculture, Environment, Recreation  The Co-op will contribute up to $1 million annually to support urban agriculture, environmental conservation, and recreation spaces in western Canada . Applications must be submitted online between April 1 and May 15 . Saskatoon F...

  Primal Pasta   Primal Pasta restaurant, serving handmade pasta made with local grains, will be opening soon at 423 – 20th Street West. Their Facebook page says, “We are influenced by traditions throughout Italy, with inspiration from our gardens, farmers and the variety of heritage grain growing in Saskatchewan.” Uptown City Perks Uptown City Perks in the Ens Toyota dealership is now open on Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm . Prairie Pie Company  Prairie Pie Company at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market is now serving 49th Parallel Small Lots Coffee . Seabuckthorn Tea I picked up a large bag of seabuckthorn berries from Northern Vigor Berries on Saturday and sampled their tea made from seabuckthorn leaves. Betty Forbes says it’s full of goodness and the perfect thing to drink if you’re coming down with a cold. The Indian army serves seabuckthorn products to its soldiers to keep them healthy. BC Tree Fruits  February is Apple Month and I was lucky e...

Travelling south from Cheltenham, the bus left the suburbs behind and started climbing. The road twisted and turned through forested slopes. It was a completely different landscape from the gentle rolling hills near Winchcombe. After half an hour, we arrived in Painswick , a small village with narrow hilly streets that were almost deserted. There were various craft shops, but all of them were closed in January. The bus stop was right across the street from the church, which is famous for its churchyard with 99 manicured yew trees. Legend has it that the 100th won’t grow. I was here to visit the Rococo Garden , just a short half-mile walk from the village centre. Rococo Garden is not a flower garden. Originally designed in the 1730s, it was intended to be a backdrop for decadent garden parties with expansive vistas over the garden and the surrounding countryside and a variety of fanciful buildings scattered around the grounds. By the 1970s, it had become an ...

Drift Sidewalk Café , next door to Escape Sports on the corner of 19th Street and Avenue A, is warm and filled with sunshine and green plants. Amy Holowach says she used to be a massage therapist, but the opportunity came up to open a café and she and her family grabbed the idea and ran with it. Décor “Our family loves travelling and the west coast. We love the river and we wanted to create an atmosphere that would complement Escape Sports,” explains Amy as I admire the wood panelling on the roof, the mosaic decorations and the large tropical plants. The family did a lot of the work themselves with help from Worldsson Construction. Amy created the mosaics, and she and her friends plastered the walls with Saskatchewan kaolin clay and sand from Gabriel Dumont Park. The tables are made of bamboo, and there are pictures in the washrooms of paddleboarders on the river. Menu  Crèpes, paninis and sandwiches are the main items on the menu, but there are also munchies a...