Three key takeaways from our Terroir Talk with Chef Matt Basile and egg farmer Anneke Stickney

Partner blog by
Egg Farmers of Canada

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As part of this year’s Terroir speaking sessions, Chef Matt Basile, an Egg Farmers of Canada ambassador, and Anneke Stickney, a second-generation Canadian egg farmer, met to discuss the power of partnerships between chefs and farmers. In case you missed it, here are some of the key takeaways from their talk:

1

Canada’s system of supply management has helped support farmers, chefs and Canadians through a difficult year

While both Chef Matt and Anneke agreed that the COVID-19 health crisis has been challenging so far, they also discussed how it has put a spotlight on our food system and the important role that farmers, chefs, food processors and others take on. In the early stages of the pandemic, Canadians began to show an increased interest in what it takes to bring their food from farm to plate, and that interest has only continued to grow.

As egg farmers, we feel particularly thankful for the system of supply management that allowed our sector to remain strong throughout the pandemic. Despite the additional pressures COVID-19 has placed on the overall food system, egg farmers persevered and ensured that Canadians continued to have access to a secure supply of fresh food by balancing temporary market shifts and redirecting eggs to where they are most needed—like local food banks. This was an incredible accomplishment, made possible by supply management.

2

Farmers and chefs share a common commitment to maintaining high standards and delivering fresh, locally sourced products for Canadians

Chefs follow rigorous standards when it comes to the food they cook, and similarly, Anneke and all other Canadian egg farmers across the country follow strict food safety and animal welfare standards in their work.

In fact, every registered Canadian egg farmer follows a program called Egg Quality Assurance™ (or EQA™ for short), which adds a certification mark to the eggs you know and love, a symbol of the remarkable quality and world-leading standards of made-in-Canada eggs.

That means whether you’re enjoying Canadian eggs in your own kitchen or from a restaurant, you can be assured that your eggs are fresh, local and high-quality, thanks to the efforts of Canadian egg farmers.

3

Farmers work for today, tomorrow and for the future

For Chef Matt, Anneke and all Canadian egg farmers, their work isn’t just about feeding Canadians for today, it’s also about feeding Canadians for years to come. Thanks to this shared priority, chefs like Matt can use Canadian eggs as a perfect low-carbon protein to create sustainable dishes.

Canadian egg farmers have actually reduced the environmental impact of the egg industry by 50 percent over 50 years, all while production increased by 50 percent— and they continue to find innovative ways to improve their processes. As these improvements are made, Canadian egg farmers are also investing in the next generation, ensuring that egg farming can remain a strong, stable Canadian trade for years to come.

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Canadian egg farmers also love to meet with chefs about the thing they mutually love—fresh, local and high-quality food! If you’re a chef or you’re in the Canadian culinary industry and you’re interested in finding out more about egg farming in Canada, please reach out to us at eggfarmers.ca or join us for a virtual farm tour.

Local Food Collaborations in the New Normal

Partner blog by
Courtney Murdock, Marketing and Events Coordinator
100km Foods

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The journey that our food takes to get from the farmers who grow it to our plates generally relies on large, complex supply chains that, if disrupted, can have a catastrophic effect on food supplies and result in a crisis.

We saw this happen in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Labour shortages, operational disruptions, supply and demand inconsistencies, all of these things drastically impacted our entire food system resulting in the many empty supermarket shelves, excessive food waste and intensified the already dire issue of food insecurity in our country.

It’s in moments like these that we really see how fundamental it is to build a robust and strong local food economy, something that has been the driving force behind 100km Foods since the very beginning.

Prior to COVID-19, 100km Foods was exclusively a wholesale local food distributor, serving over 500 of southern Ontario’s top restaurants, hotels, retailers, and professional sports teams since 2008. We help Ontario farmers gain access to large, urban markets, and chefs gain access to delicious, farm-fresh food. In turn, consumers get to enjoy this amazing food at local restaurants, hotels, and retail stores.

Like many businesses in the food and hospitality industry, we at 100km Foods felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic instantly. With sudden mass restaurant closures that resulted in 95% of our sales vanishing overnight, we had to quickly adapt and figure out how we were going to pay our farmer partners, move the product already in our warehouse, and stay afloat financially during the unpredictable months and potentially years to come.

Expanding the business to provide retail customers access to high-quality, source identified, local food while also supporting local farmers and producers was always in the plan for Grace Mandarano and Paul Sawtell, the founders of 100km Foods.

One positive thing that has emerged from this pandemic is that more people are now becoming more conscious and cognizant about knowing where their food is coming from. Food transparency and traceability has become top of mind for consumers.

With the slogan “know where your food comes from”, 100km Foods has always specialized in food transparency, source identifying every product we sell so that consumers know exactly who and where their food is coming from.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, The Market at 100km Foods has become a reality very quickly.

The Market at 100km Foods delivers delicious, farm-fresh food from a network of 100+ local farmers and producers to residents across Toronto and the GTA.

We have carried the same values of social responsibility and community from our wholesale branch of the business to retail. Since we launched The Market at 100km Foods, we’ve worked together with multiple different organizations in the community to support those facing food insecurity amidst the pandemic.

We ​partnered with Meal Exchange​ to provide weekly good food boxes to students facing food insecurity to help carry them through the pandemic.

We are also partnering with the ​Feed Scarborough Project​ and ​FoodShare Toronto​ to help support the work with these incredible organizations fighting food insecurity.

We’ve also recently partnered with ​Uber Eats​ to provide local restaurants with a credit to spend on local food from our network of farmers and producers who have both been hit especially hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The importance of community and collaboration, this year’s theme for Terroir, could not be more evident given how vital cooperation, partnership, and community support has been during the pandemic in ensuring that we continue to be resilient and come out of this stronger than before.

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A Reminder to Pause

Partner Blog by Tiffany Luong of Seedlip North America.

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When was the last time you took a moment for yourself? A few minutes of solitude and stillness can restore motivation, increase creativity and refocus thoughts.

Seedlip’s collaboration with Sweat & Tonic is a gentle reminder to the hospitality industry to take pause, stretch it out and intentionally rest. Carve space in your day for you. Allow yourself to reflect and realign.

Below are some tips on how to slow down your momentum:

1. Form a ritual: Whether it’s taking a yoga class or making yourself a non-alcoholic cocktail (recipes below), a physical task will cue your brain to shift into relaxation mode. 

2. Focus on the moment: Self-scan and ask yourself how you’re feeling while engaging in your activity. Take a breath or sip and fully enjoy the process.

3. Find a setting: Look for a location where you feel calm and inspired like a forest backdrop or your kitchen table.

4. Reward yourself: Reflect on your goals and how far you’ve come. Acknowledge your wins. Treat yourself with a NA cocktail and a nutritious snack. 

Seedlip is the original distilled non-alcoholic spirit, crafted without alcohol, calories or sugar. 

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GROVE & TONIC

INGREDIENTS
Seedlip Grove 42: 2 oz
Fever-Tree Tonic
Ice: Cubed

GLASS & GARNISH
Highball
Orange Twist

METHOD
Pour Grove 42 in a glass full of ice.
Top with tonic & stir.
Garnish with an orange twist.

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GROVE MARGARITA

INGREDIENTS
Seedlip Grove 42: 2 oz
Agave Syrup: 1 tbsp
Fresh Lime Juice ½ oz
Ice: Cubed

GLASS & GARNISH
Tumbler
Salt Rim, Lime Wheel

METHOD
Run a lime wedge around the outside of the rim of the glass then roll the rim in salt. Add all the ingredients with ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake & strain over fresh cubes of ice into a tumbler. Garnish with a lime wheel.

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Follow @seedip_na for more recipes.

Covid19 + Terroir Symposium

We hope you are healthy and finding ways to keep busy during this unprecedented and challenging time.

On behalf of both Terroir Hospitality and The Culinary Tourism Alliance, we wanted to let you know, that given the circumstances, and how quickly our global situation continues to change, we have made the decision to postponed the 2020 Terroir Symposium to the fall. It goes without saying that we are disappointed, to have made this decision, but we must consider the healthy and safety of our food tourism and hospitality community.

All tickets holders will have their tickets honoured at the fall Symposium. We’ll be adjusting our programming to focus on Canadian content and provide tangible tools for the industry to recover and rebuild from the impact of Covid-19. We are open to ideas of how we might use the Terroir Symposium to provide support in this time of crisis.

Our new date will be September 14th, 2020,
please mark your calendars.

We look forward to having you join us, where we will be able to continue to build on the hallmark of Terroir, which is about supporting our community.

If you have any questions, please email us at events@culinarytourismalliance.com and we will answer you as soon as possible.

Stay healthy friends.

Plant-based dining is on the rise – here’s how to do it right

Partner Blog by OpenTable

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More diners want plant-based choices on menus, and they’re speaking up.

In 2019, reviews that mentioned plant-based dining increased by 136% compared to 2017. In contrast, less than 100 reviews before 2016 even mentioned the term “vegan.” 

Our 50 Best Restaurants for Vegetarians in America, based on an analysis of more than 12 million verified diner reviews of 30,000+ restaurants across the country, brought to light plenty of plant-friendly sentiment. One review described the vegetarian Chaatable as “some of the very best food in Nashville.” Of NYC’s Dirt Candy, a diner wrote, “The variety, complexity, and harmony of the dishes was quite surprising.” Equinox, in Washington, D.C., was praised as a “fantastic vegan buffet brunch.” 

In addition to California, Pennsylvania, and New York – where plant-based dining is the norm – both Washington, D.C. and Washington state received high marks, as did Florida, Illinois, Texas, and Arizona. Here, we talk to chefs who have mastered plant-based to learn their tips. 

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Make it profitable

Plant-based dishes are among the bestselling items at The Golf Club at Newcastle, a city known for its views of Seattle, Lake Washington, and the Cascade mountains. Golfers love the restaurant’s power salad, which features lacinato kale, butternut squash, broccoli, and quinoa, doused in a pickled-ginger vinaigrette. 

“Ever since the implementation of plant-based items in our restaurant menus, we have seen an incredible amount of sales and the reception has been very positive,” says Charlie Solis, Newcastle’s director of food and beverage. “Not only vegans, but also meat eaters have been drawn to items like the forager’s mushroom risotto, which uses coconut cream instead of dairy. Others are adding plant-based patties to salads.”

Newcastle tops its Beyond Burger with cashew spread and avocado for extra fat and flavor. Salads of grilled romaine and a fennel-arugula mix offer healthful greens. The menu’s plant-based dishes have been so successful, Solis says, that he’s planning to expand that section. 

Adding vegetarian and vegan options to fine-dining menus gives diners an excuse to visit restaurants more often. Additionally, plant-based dishes can boost check averages and win over diners. 

For example, Jaryd Hearn, chef of Washington, D.C.’s Brasserie Liberté, serves a mushroom bourguignon designed to mimic the texture and flavors of traditional beef bourguignon. “I wanted vegetarians to crave this dish and come back more than one time a week,” he says. “As a neighborhood restaurant, it is important to have options for our guests.”

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Stay one step ahead on flavor

To have the right dishes on the menu, you need the right talent in place. When Solis interviews young chefs, he makes sure to ask relevant questions. “I’m always asking about the trends they see in the industry nowadays,” he says. “More often than not, I hear them talk about plant-based items, so they are very present in our restaurants.” 

At The Bandit in Chicago, Chef Daniel Pineda honors guests’ desires to know where their food comes from and gives them new ways to enjoy it. 

“It’s so important to really be aware of what consumers are looking for, and being able to explain that the food on the table is from a local farm provides a huge advantage,” says Pineda. “2019 has come with such a demand for more plant-based options, but in order to deliver a dish that people crave, it needs to maintain an equally strong flavor profile as its meat-centric counterparts.” 

The Bandit may be known for its cheesy “Diplomat” burger, but diners can also find photo-worthy beet hummus with farm vegetables, Brussels sprout and quinoa salad, and spiced carrots with creamy feta. 

The Bandit’s Charred Spiced Carrots

“The best plant-based options have various stand-out aspects like perfectly paired textures with diverse flavors,” says Pineda. He points to The Bandit’s Kung Pao cauliflower, flavored with soy sauce, roasted almonds, and Fresno chilies – that’s a perfect example of how to elevate a plant-based dish with a nutritious vegetable and intense flavor profile.

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Reimagine the classics

Speaking of cauliflower, the crucifer is a go-to for chefs adapting dishes to include more vegetables. (Case in point: cauliflower crust mentions have increased by 487% since 2017.) 

At Mohawk Bend in Los Angeles, Chef Carolina Concha applies a holistic approach to plant-based cooking in dishes that will appeal to all diners. Her menu spotlights vegan dishes, including the Buffalo cauliflower, which reminds diners of a vegan Big Mac. 

At Virginia’s Vim & Victor, Top Chef alum Spike Mendelsohn starts with seasonality for plant-based dishes, just like he would for any item. “Don’t just rely on soy products because there’s so much variety – I encourage taking some risk,” he says. 

In Nashville, too, chefs have embraced the plant-based phenom. Brian Riggenbach, former Chopped champion and chef of The Mockingbird, puts plants front and center on his global comfort food menu. One of his most popular dishes is a vegetarian Reuben, featuring seitan boiled with mirepoix, then sliced and marinated in beet juice and “corned beef” spices, heavy on coriander and black peppercorns. To serve, they grill the seitan with sauerkraut, caramelized peppers and onions, then top it with melted Swiss cheese between grilled rye bread. 

The Mockingbird’s Meatless Reuben

“This sandwich looks and tastes so familiar and hearty that guests often are dumbfounded that it is not meat, so it’s a win for vegetarians and carnivores alike,” says Riggenback. “This ideology is carried along in a lot of the grains and other items that we prepare.” His quinoa crunchies, featured in salads and crudo dishes, are mixed with nuts and spiced with furikake for added flavor.

D.C. diners drive demand for Chef Ethan McKee’s vegetable antipasti board at Urbana. Cheese makes an appearance, but vegetables (and a touch of edible flowers) are the stars. “We added this antipasto board to give vegetarians the experience of our cheese and salumi boards without the meat, and it has been well-received by our guests – by both vegetarian diners and those who enjoy meat,” he says.

Urbana’s Antipasto Board

Especially in plant-based dishes, presentation is everything. (Just ask Instagram.) McKee changes his board with the seasons, but his current dish features fresh eggplant, roasted pepper and almond dip, plus Tuscan hummus and house-made giardiniera. Tomato relish, roasted red peppers, and Mediterranean olives add more savory punch. 

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Have fun (and get creative)

Plant-based options “provide endless room for creativity, and they can be transformed and retrofitted into almost any cuisine,” says Riggenbach. 

Luis Cuadra, chef of District in Los Angeles, marinates a cauliflower steak in a curry spice blend, then grills it until charred and crispy. The dish can be entirely plant-based or not, depending on a guest’s choice of side dish. He also offers Impossible® patties with lettuce wraps instead of buns, and yucca fries instead of potatoes.

“Get your creative caps on and think of special ways to improve what is out there,” advises Solis. “The vegan audience is vast and educated. It is the future.”

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Follow OpenTable for more insight and analysis