ETHICAL GOURMET / Remind me to Tell You About the Time I Looked in the Heart of an Artichoke

Anita Stewart Food Day Canada (FDC) is an annual mid-summer celebration, always held on the Saturday of the August long weekend, when we share Canada’s rich culinary heritage and our delicious northern bounty. FDC will be held this year on Saturday, July 30th. “It is a chance for all Canadians to join hands in one massive celebration in praise of our farmers and fishers; our chefs and researchers…and, above all, our home cooks,” says, founder Anita Stewart. TOOK (The Only on King) celebrates its favourite area farmers and producers with a “Food Day Canada” menu. It runs Tuesday July 14th–Saturday August 1st and is $35.00 for a delicious three-course menu.  Abruzzi is partnering up with Growing Chefs! for Food Day Canada. Chef Dave Lamers is offering a three-course menu from July 18 to 30th, which will feature all the local suppliers and farmers’ he collaborates with every day. For each guest that orders the Food Day Canada menu, Abruzzi will donate $5.00 to Gro

BY BRYAN LAVERY Photos by Terry Manzo Used by Permission  The relaunched Mercer Hall has changed its name to Mercer Kitchen, Beer Hall, Hotel.  Mercer bills itself as a one-stop location to explore the world of craft beer and one of the best beer bars in Ontario. They  offer fifteen draft lines, Stratford’s only cask engine, and have crafted a rotating list of over 120 brands including international award-winners, and hard to find one-offs that rotate very quickly. Over half the bottles are Ontario brews.  A lex Kastner, Director of Food and Beverage, at both Mercer Hall and The Prune Restaurant,   started his career in 2005, as a runner at the former Church Restaurant. He has his finger firmly placed on the Stratford culinary pulse.  “There are so many Stratford restaurants that have excellent wine lists,” says Kastner, “Yet there was no one in Stratford who really tapped into the pulse of the craft beer movement in Ontario. There really is something for eve

BY BRYAN LAVERY Solo on Main is a family run business with chef Lauren Van Dixhoorn at the helm, twin brother Paul on the bar and working the floor, and their sister Lyndsay, handling the restaurant’s business affairs. Port Stanley's new culinary hot spot is located in the heritage home previously occupied by the former Mickey’s Boathouse.  In seasonable weather there is a beautifully appointed patio and front porch that offers alfresco seating and great harbour views. Inside, there is a smart walnut bar in the lounge which is topped with quartz and has comfortable seats. The tasteful white linen dining room with its original hardwood floors is decorated in warm gray tones. The cooking at Solo on Main is refined and the presentation modern and accessible. Van Dixhoorn and sous chef Brooke Cowitz are both alumnus of Niagara College's Canadian Food and Wine Institute in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The pair worked together later at Queen’s Landing. The