Festival of Flavours - Vankleek Hill [General]
2008 Sep 24
Momomoto - LOL, to bad you didn`t stop in, we had a very nice afternoon in the country, a great way to spend a fall day. And as I said above, I thought the food was great considering this was small town Ontario.
But then again, the Beer at Beau`s is good too... Did you get to try / buy any Festivale Plus?
But then again, the Beer at Beau`s is good too... Did you get to try / buy any Festivale Plus?
2009 Sep 23
FESTIVAL OF FLAVOURS 2009
We attended the 11th Annual Festival of Flavours in Vankleek Hill on Sunday (September 20, 2009).
As per last year the town had blocked off Main Street and the layout was the same with the various merchants lining the street, with a long table down the centre portion of town. There was a good assortment of street musicians, and it certainly was a “party” atmosphere that waved over the town on a perfect weather day.
Merchants this year were more plentiful, but a different representation than last year. As was the case previously, we eyed and sniffed our way down the entire length of Main Street before making any choices (with so much good stuff to choose from you sort of have to plan your attack).
There were also a ton more attendees… the street was far more crowded this year than last. And based on the chit-chat that I overheard, seems they are drawing folks from a wider circle, sure a lot of Ottawa residents, but also a lot more people locally and from just across the River on the Quebec side.
“The Man’s” first stop was the Beau’s Beer counter… where he enjoyed a glass of Lug Tread for $ 5. We were lucky enough to catch Steve manning the taps and had a quick chat about the upcoming Oktoberfest Event. Rain or shine it’s a go at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, October 3rd… they are really excited about George Wendt (Norm from Cheers participating). Expect Bavarian Food from the Ottawa Vendors, and some fun music. Beau’s will be serving beer of course… Night Marzen the Fall Seasonal Brew will only be available at Oktoberfest (and perhaps a limited supply at the Brewery as well). Also Steve says in keeping with past Beau’s Family Oktoberfest parties there will be something for everyone, so kids are certainly welcome. Tickets are $ 12 in advance and $ 15 at the gate. They are hoping to attract about 2,000 people, and sales have been good so far.
Next up… eats. “The Man” was drawn to the English Pies over at Mary’s Country Kitchen, the featured flavour Beef & Beau’s seemingly too difficult to resist. For $ 5 he got a nice sized meat pie, which was in turn heated up (streetside microwave) and then flipped onto a paper plate and smothered in wonderful hot beef gravy. I was lucky enough to get one wee bite… delicious. It was about 12:30 PM, and they said that they were serving the last of the Meat Pies and quickly running out of Cornish Pasties. Mary’s Country Kitchen is a permanent fixture at 22 Main Street, and has a reputation for serving up tasty and filling fare.
I however was in search of something a tad more exotic, and found my way back to Suree’s Amazing Thai Foods, probably the busiest vendor’s kiosk. Owner, Suree Murphy told me she doesn’t have a local restaurant but rather specializes in Catering and can be found weekly at the local Farmers’ Market. On offer Sunday was an great assortment of dishes… I finally settled on some rice, spicy shrimp and chicken satay, a huge plate of food for just $ 6 ($ 2 per item). After getting my fill, I noticed that within a half-hour that they were “sold out” (say around 1 PM). So they had a successful day as well.
As with last year there was a large assortment of vendors selling various game meats and dishes. I overheard some folks mentioning that they were amazed that there were so many… having no idea that things like Elk, Caribou, Deer, Emu, Wild Boar etc had an audience in the Ottawa & Montreal Restaurant markets. If nothing else, Bearbrook Farm seemed to be doing a good business with their wide offering of deli meats.
We also got sidetracked by a couple of spots that were selling sweets… I found a vendor selling organic breads and had a delicious slice of an Apple & Cranberry Loaf. There was also a gal handing out samples of Apple Strudel, again excellent. “The Man” found a spot selling fresh tarts, he tasted the Pumpkin and said it was yummy.
I met two local chefs… Tim McRae from Lavoie’s Restaurant in Vankleek Hill, and his buddy Rahul Chakraborty from Elephant Cuisine du Monde in Hawkesbury. These friends were having a nice afternoon together serving up Shrimp & Scallop Chowder out of a huge cauldron. It looked and smelled terrific. Unfortunately, I was totally full from noshing my way down the street. But, I have made a note to check out their establishments in the future.
By now we were running out of coupons (coupons are $ 2 each, and come in single denominations or $ 10). Besides the representation by Restaurants and other Food Vendors, there was also a group of local shop owners who had food related items. I spent my last coupons on a jar of Cranberry & Cracked Pepper preserves… a great accompaniment to cheese. They had a sampler set up, and it tasted great, so it was an easy sell.
All-in-all the weather was good, the drive was a nice outing for a Fall Afternoon, and the event was fun and friendly… we will be back next year.
We attended the 11th Annual Festival of Flavours in Vankleek Hill on Sunday (September 20, 2009).
As per last year the town had blocked off Main Street and the layout was the same with the various merchants lining the street, with a long table down the centre portion of town. There was a good assortment of street musicians, and it certainly was a “party” atmosphere that waved over the town on a perfect weather day.
Merchants this year were more plentiful, but a different representation than last year. As was the case previously, we eyed and sniffed our way down the entire length of Main Street before making any choices (with so much good stuff to choose from you sort of have to plan your attack).
There were also a ton more attendees… the street was far more crowded this year than last. And based on the chit-chat that I overheard, seems they are drawing folks from a wider circle, sure a lot of Ottawa residents, but also a lot more people locally and from just across the River on the Quebec side.
“The Man’s” first stop was the Beau’s Beer counter… where he enjoyed a glass of Lug Tread for $ 5. We were lucky enough to catch Steve manning the taps and had a quick chat about the upcoming Oktoberfest Event. Rain or shine it’s a go at the Fairgrounds on Saturday, October 3rd… they are really excited about George Wendt (Norm from Cheers participating). Expect Bavarian Food from the Ottawa Vendors, and some fun music. Beau’s will be serving beer of course… Night Marzen the Fall Seasonal Brew will only be available at Oktoberfest (and perhaps a limited supply at the Brewery as well). Also Steve says in keeping with past Beau’s Family Oktoberfest parties there will be something for everyone, so kids are certainly welcome. Tickets are $ 12 in advance and $ 15 at the gate. They are hoping to attract about 2,000 people, and sales have been good so far.
Next up… eats. “The Man” was drawn to the English Pies over at Mary’s Country Kitchen, the featured flavour Beef & Beau’s seemingly too difficult to resist. For $ 5 he got a nice sized meat pie, which was in turn heated up (streetside microwave) and then flipped onto a paper plate and smothered in wonderful hot beef gravy. I was lucky enough to get one wee bite… delicious. It was about 12:30 PM, and they said that they were serving the last of the Meat Pies and quickly running out of Cornish Pasties. Mary’s Country Kitchen is a permanent fixture at 22 Main Street, and has a reputation for serving up tasty and filling fare.
I however was in search of something a tad more exotic, and found my way back to Suree’s Amazing Thai Foods, probably the busiest vendor’s kiosk. Owner, Suree Murphy told me she doesn’t have a local restaurant but rather specializes in Catering and can be found weekly at the local Farmers’ Market. On offer Sunday was an great assortment of dishes… I finally settled on some rice, spicy shrimp and chicken satay, a huge plate of food for just $ 6 ($ 2 per item). After getting my fill, I noticed that within a half-hour that they were “sold out” (say around 1 PM). So they had a successful day as well.
As with last year there was a large assortment of vendors selling various game meats and dishes. I overheard some folks mentioning that they were amazed that there were so many… having no idea that things like Elk, Caribou, Deer, Emu, Wild Boar etc had an audience in the Ottawa & Montreal Restaurant markets. If nothing else, Bearbrook Farm seemed to be doing a good business with their wide offering of deli meats.
We also got sidetracked by a couple of spots that were selling sweets… I found a vendor selling organic breads and had a delicious slice of an Apple & Cranberry Loaf. There was also a gal handing out samples of Apple Strudel, again excellent. “The Man” found a spot selling fresh tarts, he tasted the Pumpkin and said it was yummy.
I met two local chefs… Tim McRae from Lavoie’s Restaurant in Vankleek Hill, and his buddy Rahul Chakraborty from Elephant Cuisine du Monde in Hawkesbury. These friends were having a nice afternoon together serving up Shrimp & Scallop Chowder out of a huge cauldron. It looked and smelled terrific. Unfortunately, I was totally full from noshing my way down the street. But, I have made a note to check out their establishments in the future.
By now we were running out of coupons (coupons are $ 2 each, and come in single denominations or $ 10). Besides the representation by Restaurants and other Food Vendors, there was also a group of local shop owners who had food related items. I spent my last coupons on a jar of Cranberry & Cracked Pepper preserves… a great accompaniment to cheese. They had a sampler set up, and it tasted great, so it was an easy sell.
All-in-all the weather was good, the drive was a nice outing for a Fall Afternoon, and the event was fun and friendly… we will be back next year.
Food&Think
The town had blocked off Main Street for about 5 blocks, and all the local merchants were lined up along side, there also was a 320 foot long table down the centre of street where people could sit and enjoy all the food on offer. It was sort of a party atmosphere with several musicians scattered throughout the area as well.
There were several local merchants, growers, restaurants and chefs etc. present. We began our venture down Main Street with a stop at the Beer-Wine & Cheese Tent. For $ 2 one could have a sample of either local fruit wines, or beers from Beau's. For $ 4 one could have a glass of wine, or for $ 5 a pint of beer. The tent also had a table set up with samplings of St Albert Cheese. The primary one on offer was a mild cheddar.
"The Man" opted for a glass of Beau's new limited release Festivale Plus. This hearty red ale has an extra kick, and "The Man" enjoyed it. The beer is available ONLY at the Brewery for a limited time. I chose a glass of an Apple-Cranberry fruit wine, it was very good (reminded me of the Cranberry Wine I've previously bought at Hernder Estates in Niagara).
There were a lot of local merchants (home based businesses) offering preserves, jams, jellies, pickles, honey, dips, oils etc. There were also some baked goods (pies, tarts, cakes, breads, etc). Evidently the local newspaper The Review had held a Pie Auction with over a 100 homemade pies at 10:00 AM. Unfortunately, we missed that :-(
We saw representation from a lot of farms we are familiar with in Ottawa. Mariposa was there, and in addition to their booth, they had a Chef serving Cooked Beans with Veal Sausage (it looked really good). Bearbrook Farms was present and in addition to their booth, they were serving up Buffalo Goulash.
There were also an assortment of local Farmers & Growers that I was not familiar with, but their offerings looked yummy. The Pickle Patch's booth featured pork, and they were serving up Jerk Sandwiches. Others there were: La Gantoise, La Ferme de Ruisseau, Glenview Farm in Dalkeith, and McAlpine Farm. I think that every type of farmed Canadian Meat was present... beef, chicken, pork, lamb, as well as various wild meats.
Additionally there were some local Chefs who also had booths set up. David Neil from Sweetgrass in Ottawa. Chantal Gionet from Le Petit Merlot in Casselman, Erich Eugster from Hawkesbury, Ali Hassan from the St Lawrence Valley (between Montreal & Alexandria) and Jason Desjardins from Le Bourgetel in Bourget.
"The Man" and I were most impressed by a couple of booths... but for some the line-up was longer than I was willing to wait in. In the end we decided to go with Erich Eugster and his Swiss inspired dishes. For $ 4 (2 Tickets) we got a small plate (albeit overflowing) with a good slice of Roast Pork and a wonderful sauce, Pork Stew with Paprika, Mixed Veggies, and Spatzle. It was delicious... and I couldn't believe that we literally got a whole meal for just $ 4
We decided to pass on any sweets for dessert, and we never did make it to the coffee bar.
All-in-all the weather was good, the people we met were great, and the food was tasty. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon in the country, and we would like to attend again next year.