Canoe in the County

Curated events kick off Countylicious

Ateam of County chefs paired up with chefs from Canoe Restaurant & Bar to provide an exquisite one-of-akind dining experience at Parsons Brewing last Sunday afternoon. Eighty guests sampled canapés from Alexandra Feswick of the Drake Devonshire, Samantha Valdivia of La Condesa, Hidde Zomer of Flame + Smith, Eliot Reynolds of Bloomfield Public House, and fries from Jamie Kennedy. Also included was a selection of Fifth Town cheeses and a decidedly upscale version of mushrooms on toast from Canoe Restaurant & Bar. The actual dinner teamed up County chefs with one from the city— Zach Littlejohn and John Horne created the opening course with grain-fed chickens from Littlejohn Farm; The Royal Hotel’s Albert Ponzo teamed with Anthony Walsh for the main course featuring foraged wild grapes and pastured mutton; Enid Grace and Rob McKinlay provided a dessert of birch ice cream and PEC honeycrisp apple and hazelnut torta. There was a wide selection of County wine, beer and spirits, as well as lavender iced tea. One of the unique things about this dining experience was that the chefs had the opportunity to explain to the diners how and why they created the dishes, and where the ingredients came from.

This was the opening salvo for ten events as a lead-up to Countylicious. The events are curated by Natalie Goldenberg- Fife, through her company Gold & Fife, and was made possible by a grant from the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund offered through the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. Karen Palmer, Destination Development and Marketing Coordinator for the County helped to facilitate the process. “We’ve been looking for things that impact more than one area of tourism—more than accommodators, more than just wineries— a combination of multiple players, and also things that have the potential to continue after the funding is done. So this presented an opportunity for Countylicious to really go beyond the bricks and mortar promotion that’s done in November,” she said. “This would be the one last kick at the can before the weather went bad, and we could actually get people down here, benefit the local accommodators, show off local produce, involve local wineries, and of course, spotlight the chefs.” She admits that tickets for these events are quite expensive, as a result of how many guests can be accommodated in light of COVID-19 protocols. The final event— a cooking class with Cynthia Peters—is limited to just six people. Much of the funding actually goes to creating the event. “None of the chefs coming in will actually be paid,” said Palmer. “They jumped at the chance to work with their [County] peers. For us, it was a chance to do something different, to take it outside the restaurants and give visitors and residents a chance to get a taste of things that are completely different.”

Natalie Goldenberg-Fife has been curating culinary events for the past nine years, mostly with the Visa Dining series. She has been living in the County for the past four years and she decided to launch her own company (Gold & Fife) in March. The impact of COVID-19 meant this was her first event. “I could not think of a more dreamy way to have my first big contract with the launch of my company. The universe aligned to bring this all together,” she said. She had actually planned to do this event in Toronto as part of the Visa Dining Series, and was going to call it County in the City. “That event sold out right away, but it wasn’t able to be executed because of COVID,” she said. When the County approached her to do a series of curated events, she leapt at the chance and relocated County in the City to its natural home, bringing the city chefs to work here with their County peers. She did not have a great deal of time to create an event of this scope, and she is grateful for the support of the community, in particular Chris and Samantha Parsons, who offered the use of their site. “They were fabulous. They put in so much time and effort. They donated much of their space. For them to trust in this event was an incredible honour, and I can’t be more grateful.”

She said the first event was hugely successful, and she’s received a lot of positive feedback. “This is about celebrating this region, and the talent that’s here. It’s also drawing in the culinary talent that loves the region. Everybody wants to be a part of this.”

There are nine other events scheduled, and more information can be found at visitpec.ca/countylicious. The events are geared towards those people who really appreciate fine food and want an elevated dining experience that is experiential and chef-driven. These events are a leadup to Countylicious, and not a replacement for it. Karen Palmer said the County has been in discussions with local restaurants about whether they were in a position to do Countylicious. “The feedback was overwhelmingly yes, they really wanted to welcome back local customers,” she said. “November is typically a tough month for restaurants, and this year will be doubly so. At this stage Countylicious will likely be a $40- menu for dinner and a $20-menu for lunch. We’ve said to the restaurants to do what you can to demonstrate value to the consumer, so maybe a 20 per cent reduction in the price they’d normally get. We’re hoping this involves enough flexibility for them, and that it’s also enough so that customers want to participate.”

(L-R): Chef Alexandra Feswick and Kasia Dziemidok show their canapés made using roasted County squash and County apples.