A visit to Dana Shortt Gourmet in Uptown Waterloo has always been good for getting the belly rumbling. Her shop on Erb Street has, for four years now, been a reliable place to pick up a pot pie for a Friday night dinner or some gourmet quesadillas for a quick appetizer. Or, if you’re lucky, to gather up the fixings for a beautifully catered meal.
The only problem with stopping in at Dana’s, though, was, until recently, trying to search out what you wanted or just poke around and ooh and ahh while shuffling around with your fellow shoppers in a tiny space. The shop itself was wee, and it was hard to have a browse.
No longer, though. Shortt recently bought out her next door neighbour, gift store Blessings, and expanded her shop to 1500 square feet. Her retail space is now 15 times its original size, which has allowed the contents of the store to grow, too. It’s a busy time for Shortt – she’s expecting her first baby any day.
Dana Shortt Gourmet’s business is basically three pronged. There’s the full-service catering, which, Shortt says, allows people to be “a guest at their own party,” whether it’s a wedding or a dinner. This involves chefs on site and a catering coordinator, who “does everything but the invitations.”
Then there is what Shortt refers to as pick-up catering – cheese trays, salads, crudité platters (not of the grocery store, shaved-down-mini-carrot variety, either – Dana’s include the likes of daikon and enoki mushroom) and so on. Many people, she says, choose this as a way of supplementing what they do themselves when entertaining.
Then there’s the take-home part of business, where customers can come in and pluck something from the shelves or freezer to take home and nosh.
The expanded store space has allowed Shortt to really develop that side of the business. There are the same fabulous scones, curries, pies, soups and quiches (much of which happens to be gluten-free) And, as there was in the old shop, there’s the opportunity to pick up hostess (or other) gifts – aprons, gourmet crackers, cookies and other treats.
Now there’s just a lot more to choose from, as when Shortt took over Blessings, she took on some of that store’s business, too. She’s now selling chocolates from Rheo Thomson and Reid’s and does gourmet gift baskets, as well.
Pop in on any given day, and you’ll find a spread of yummy samples (I nibbled on cheese straws, cheese torte with gourmet flatbreads and some sweet stuff, too, when I stopped by recently). You’ll also be able to indulge your cravings on-the-spot via a piece of pizza, a gourmet sandwich or a Saturday morning scone or croissant.
Shortt, naturally, is thrilled about the expansion.
“People have responded well,” she says. “I like to spend as much time with the customer as I can, give samples, show our different products. Now I feel like I can offer a little more of that.”
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Saturday, April 26, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Golden Hearth Bakery
Never in my life have I met a person who doesn’t love bread. You don’t know anyone either, I’m willing to venture. Yes, there are the carb-shunners, but they don’t count. That’s guilt, not a lack of desire. Everyone has a deep love for bread, especially the freshly baked kind.
Some people are partial to particular bakeries, swearing by their favourites. As for me, since moving to the area a few years ago, I’d dabbled around, mostly settling on various specialty food shop or grocery-store baguettes and such, as I’d never really found a go-to place I was really pleased with. I’m happy to say this changed when the Golden Hearth Baking Co. opened on King Street East in downtown Kitchener.
Golden Hearth was started by Tim Simpson and Aura Hertzog about a year ago. The couple met at cooking school, where Simpson specialized in baking and pastry, and always hoped to start their own business. Just as Hertzog was finishing up her maternity leave (their son is now two-years-old), they decided to take the plunge when they found the perfect spot in the form of an old pizzeria.
Business is now brisk. On a typical day, Simpson is behind the scenes baking all the gorgeous bread (some days start for him at 2 a.m.) while Hertzog greets customers at the cash (though she does bake many of the squares and cookies).
“I do the work and she does the talking,” Simpson jokes.
And ah, the bread. They bake about 11 varieties, from rich, buttery brioche to whole wheat multigrain to schiacciata con l’uva (similar to foccacia) with fennel and sweet grapes. There are cookies, croissants, granola, squares and all kinds of other treats to be had, as well. The shop also stocks other products, like honey, jam and coffee.
Everything they make is either organic or natural, with locally-sourced ingredients (flour comes from a miller in Tavistock) and contains no preservatives or additives. “That’s how we eat at home,” says Simpson, who favours simple, basic recipes. “We’ve always been a scratch bakery and always will.”
Apart from their in-store sales, Simpson and Hertzog found, to their surprise, that wholesaling has turned out to be a large part of their business. “It’s something we didn’t even think about,” says Hertzog. But thanks to networking and word of mouth, their breads and sweets can now be found at restaurants and food shops around the region.
As for the bakery itself, Simpson and Hertzog say they love being downtown. They live nearby, can walk to work, and enjoy the fact that their neighbours are also their customers. They draw traffic from the Kitchener Market across the street and have confidence that the downtown will continue to grow and rejuvenate.
That said, they knew that building a reputation for great bread was all they needed to do, no matter where they set themselves up.
“If people find a place they like,” says Simpson, “they’ll come, no matter where it is.”
-30-
Some people are partial to particular bakeries, swearing by their favourites. As for me, since moving to the area a few years ago, I’d dabbled around, mostly settling on various specialty food shop or grocery-store baguettes and such, as I’d never really found a go-to place I was really pleased with. I’m happy to say this changed when the Golden Hearth Baking Co. opened on King Street East in downtown Kitchener.
Golden Hearth was started by Tim Simpson and Aura Hertzog about a year ago. The couple met at cooking school, where Simpson specialized in baking and pastry, and always hoped to start their own business. Just as Hertzog was finishing up her maternity leave (their son is now two-years-old), they decided to take the plunge when they found the perfect spot in the form of an old pizzeria.
Business is now brisk. On a typical day, Simpson is behind the scenes baking all the gorgeous bread (some days start for him at 2 a.m.) while Hertzog greets customers at the cash (though she does bake many of the squares and cookies).
“I do the work and she does the talking,” Simpson jokes.
And ah, the bread. They bake about 11 varieties, from rich, buttery brioche to whole wheat multigrain to schiacciata con l’uva (similar to foccacia) with fennel and sweet grapes. There are cookies, croissants, granola, squares and all kinds of other treats to be had, as well. The shop also stocks other products, like honey, jam and coffee.
Everything they make is either organic or natural, with locally-sourced ingredients (flour comes from a miller in Tavistock) and contains no preservatives or additives. “That’s how we eat at home,” says Simpson, who favours simple, basic recipes. “We’ve always been a scratch bakery and always will.”
Apart from their in-store sales, Simpson and Hertzog found, to their surprise, that wholesaling has turned out to be a large part of their business. “It’s something we didn’t even think about,” says Hertzog. But thanks to networking and word of mouth, their breads and sweets can now be found at restaurants and food shops around the region.
As for the bakery itself, Simpson and Hertzog say they love being downtown. They live nearby, can walk to work, and enjoy the fact that their neighbours are also their customers. They draw traffic from the Kitchener Market across the street and have confidence that the downtown will continue to grow and rejuvenate.
That said, they knew that building a reputation for great bread was all they needed to do, no matter where they set themselves up.
“If people find a place they like,” says Simpson, “they’ll come, no matter where it is.”
-30-
Saturday, April 12, 2008
A Local Feast
When most of us think of eating locally, we think of doing so in summer, when gardens are burgeoning with fresh produce, or during those bountiful harvest months of early fall.
But food, of course, is about more than just produce. And, yes, we can consume a largely local diet year round. It just requires a little effort.
If I said you could dine on smoked arctic char on microgreens with oven dried tomatoes, pheasant galantine or wild boar prosciutto-wrapped beef tenderloin all made with local ingredients, you might not believe me. Lucky for us, I speak the truth. Should you make plans to swing by the Walper Terrace Hotel on April 24, you can check that out for yourself.
The President’s Gala Dinner is a joint effort between the Waterloo chapter of the Canadian Culinary Federation and Foodlink, a local organization dedicated to raising awareness of, as executive director Peter Katona puts it, “food localism.” The evening, open to one and all, will act as a fundraiser for both organizations, which are not-for-profit, and, they both hope, help raise awareness of the year-round food bounty that can be found in Waterloo and Wellington regions (and slightly beyond).
The partnership between the two groups originally started with their Taste Local! Taste Fresh! event. Held outdoors in September, the annual afternoon sees local chefs and farmers paired up to create all kinds of culinary delights. Katona said it was Chef Dean Michielsen of the federation (and Fergus’s Breadalbane Inn) who first approached him with the idea of a spring dinner.
“It’s a bit more of a challenge,” says Katona, comparing this event to the September one. “We’re out of fresh produce season, so it will be a real awakening. People will be saying, ‘Oh wait a minute, I can eat locally in April?’ ”
Indeed, we can. And by way of a five-course, sit down meal (unlike the Taste Local! Taste Fresh! event, where nibblers wander from stand to stand, grazing). Local chefs (from Liason and Conestoga College, Charbries, the Walper and, of course Michielsen himself) have given the event an Earth Day theme, and will prepare courses based around the elements.
Fish comes from Lyndon Hatcheries in New Dundee, beef and prosciutto are sourced by Ayr’s Oakridge Acres/Well Fed Meat Store, and greens come from Slegers Greenhouses, an organic producer in nearby Strathroy. There will also be a dessert featuring Wellesley apple butter and double cream brie ice cream (!) made from Listowel’s Harmony Organics’ cheese.
“We really want to build that awareness of where food comes from and get people to enjoy it, show them that it’s easy to do,” says Michielsen. “It doesn’t have to be from an exotic place to taste good.”
If I’ve tempted you enough (it’s the brie ice cream that gets me), you can procure your tickets for the Presidents’ Gala event ($85 each or two for $150) online at http://www.foodlink.ca/ or by calling the Foodlink office at 519-513-8998.
-30-
But food, of course, is about more than just produce. And, yes, we can consume a largely local diet year round. It just requires a little effort.
If I said you could dine on smoked arctic char on microgreens with oven dried tomatoes, pheasant galantine or wild boar prosciutto-wrapped beef tenderloin all made with local ingredients, you might not believe me. Lucky for us, I speak the truth. Should you make plans to swing by the Walper Terrace Hotel on April 24, you can check that out for yourself.
The President’s Gala Dinner is a joint effort between the Waterloo chapter of the Canadian Culinary Federation and Foodlink, a local organization dedicated to raising awareness of, as executive director Peter Katona puts it, “food localism.” The evening, open to one and all, will act as a fundraiser for both organizations, which are not-for-profit, and, they both hope, help raise awareness of the year-round food bounty that can be found in Waterloo and Wellington regions (and slightly beyond).
The partnership between the two groups originally started with their Taste Local! Taste Fresh! event. Held outdoors in September, the annual afternoon sees local chefs and farmers paired up to create all kinds of culinary delights. Katona said it was Chef Dean Michielsen of the federation (and Fergus’s Breadalbane Inn) who first approached him with the idea of a spring dinner.
“It’s a bit more of a challenge,” says Katona, comparing this event to the September one. “We’re out of fresh produce season, so it will be a real awakening. People will be saying, ‘Oh wait a minute, I can eat locally in April?’ ”
Indeed, we can. And by way of a five-course, sit down meal (unlike the Taste Local! Taste Fresh! event, where nibblers wander from stand to stand, grazing). Local chefs (from Liason and Conestoga College, Charbries, the Walper and, of course Michielsen himself) have given the event an Earth Day theme, and will prepare courses based around the elements.
Fish comes from Lyndon Hatcheries in New Dundee, beef and prosciutto are sourced by Ayr’s Oakridge Acres/Well Fed Meat Store, and greens come from Slegers Greenhouses, an organic producer in nearby Strathroy. There will also be a dessert featuring Wellesley apple butter and double cream brie ice cream (!) made from Listowel’s Harmony Organics’ cheese.
“We really want to build that awareness of where food comes from and get people to enjoy it, show them that it’s easy to do,” says Michielsen. “It doesn’t have to be from an exotic place to taste good.”
If I’ve tempted you enough (it’s the brie ice cream that gets me), you can procure your tickets for the Presidents’ Gala event ($85 each or two for $150) online at http://www.foodlink.ca/ or by calling the Foodlink office at 519-513-8998.
-30-
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Maple Syrup
As Buddy in the movie Elf, I think maybe Will Ferrell was onto something when he opted for maple syrup over milk on his morning bowl of cereal. Maple syrup, he explained to his non-elf family, was one of an elf’s four main food groups. As many in this region make their annual pilgrimage to the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival today, we can be reminded that there’s a little bit of Buddy in all of us.
Maple syrup gets me all excited. It’s like eating vegetables straight from the garden. It’s eating close to home. Geographically, we’re blessed that way. Not everyone is. Several years ago, I was vacationing with friends in a wee village on the northeastern coast of Ireland when, one morning, we decided to do up a pancake feast. Without thought, one of us ran down to the grocer to fetch some maple syrup and was laughed right out of the shop. The news soon found its way around town to great hilarity that the Canadians wanted to buy maple syrup – and thought they could get it.
Indeed, Canada produces 83 per cent of the world’s supply of maple syrup, Ontario produces about four per cent of that and Waterloo-Wellington is one of the province’s highest producing areas. So when I buy my syrup, I get a thrill from the idea that someone who lives not too far from me is going out in their yard, extracting all that sap from their trees, turning it into a gooey elixir, and pouring it in a jug to sell to me directly. We all have far too little idea where most of our food comes from. So when the opportunity arises to get it right from the farmer’s hands, I’ll take it every time.
Which is why I have recently, and rather greedily, been giving thought to buying a four litre jug of maple syrup – straight from the source that tapped the trees and at a great price. People I’ve mentioned this to are of one of two minds – they think I’m nuts, or they think this is completely reasonable. A couple of my colleagues claim to go through three or four of these jugs every year. Granted, they have houses full of children and a big feed of pancakes every Saturday morning. I don’t. But then another girlfriend, whose syrup supply is merely for herself and her husband, thought four litres was perfectly reasonable for the two of them – her husband uses it to make his famous granola.
Perhaps I needed a reminder, then, to think more like Buddy. Syrup is not just for pancakes. It’s for baked beans. Oatmeal with toasted walnuts. Maple-chipotle vinaigrette. Homemade breakfast sausage.
I think I’ve just sold myself on the four litre jug. And hopefully you, too. If you’re not heading up to the festival today, do drive up those country roads and pay a farmer a visit sometime soon, while the syrup is still blissfully fresh.
-30-
Maple syrup gets me all excited. It’s like eating vegetables straight from the garden. It’s eating close to home. Geographically, we’re blessed that way. Not everyone is. Several years ago, I was vacationing with friends in a wee village on the northeastern coast of Ireland when, one morning, we decided to do up a pancake feast. Without thought, one of us ran down to the grocer to fetch some maple syrup and was laughed right out of the shop. The news soon found its way around town to great hilarity that the Canadians wanted to buy maple syrup – and thought they could get it.
Indeed, Canada produces 83 per cent of the world’s supply of maple syrup, Ontario produces about four per cent of that and Waterloo-Wellington is one of the province’s highest producing areas. So when I buy my syrup, I get a thrill from the idea that someone who lives not too far from me is going out in their yard, extracting all that sap from their trees, turning it into a gooey elixir, and pouring it in a jug to sell to me directly. We all have far too little idea where most of our food comes from. So when the opportunity arises to get it right from the farmer’s hands, I’ll take it every time.
Which is why I have recently, and rather greedily, been giving thought to buying a four litre jug of maple syrup – straight from the source that tapped the trees and at a great price. People I’ve mentioned this to are of one of two minds – they think I’m nuts, or they think this is completely reasonable. A couple of my colleagues claim to go through three or four of these jugs every year. Granted, they have houses full of children and a big feed of pancakes every Saturday morning. I don’t. But then another girlfriend, whose syrup supply is merely for herself and her husband, thought four litres was perfectly reasonable for the two of them – her husband uses it to make his famous granola.
Perhaps I needed a reminder, then, to think more like Buddy. Syrup is not just for pancakes. It’s for baked beans. Oatmeal with toasted walnuts. Maple-chipotle vinaigrette. Homemade breakfast sausage.
I think I’ve just sold myself on the four litre jug. And hopefully you, too. If you’re not heading up to the festival today, do drive up those country roads and pay a farmer a visit sometime soon, while the syrup is still blissfully fresh.
-30-
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