Food + Drink Winter 2024

Spotlight: Creemore restaurant snags a Michelin Star

With flavours that hint at the street snacks of Wuxi, China, Hong Kong night markets, and Shanghai cafés of long ago, The Pine’s prix fixe tasting menu of 14 to 18 artfully named dishes weaves a rich tale.

The Creemore restaurant’s offerings include their signature plate, the French Concession, named after colonial Shanghai’s French settlement. It features sourdough roasted in brown butter and a kabayaki glaze (based on a Japanese soy sauce glaze), with foie gras ice cream, sour prune jam and foraged meadow wood sorrel.

Using the Italian acqua pazza method of poaching seafood in something acidic (in this case an aged rhubarb vinegar), Scallops in Crazy Water is garnished with goat-butter Béarnaise, sea buckthorn emulsion, black garlic, and fermented apple jam and elderberry capers. Pumpkin Cake is a crispy pumpkin wafer filled with caramelized onion, pumpkin and St. Albert aged cheddar crema, glazed in birch syrup and corn spice – a riff on a popular Chinese treat, Nan Gua Bing. The menu is constantly evolving — expect novelty with each visit. 

Owner and head chef Jeremy Austin took a gastronomic gamble when he opened The Pine, his first restaurant, drawing on his time working as a chef in China. It’s paid off, first by landing on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, Bars and Chefs list three years in a row, and then again this September when it became the first restaurant in this region to be awarded a Michelin Star. 

“One of the beautiful things about getting the star is that we were never that confident to talk about the food we make, but now we’re sharing details about the Chinese influence and the story of each dish because that’s what got us the star and that’s what customers find intriguing,” explains Jeremy, whose culinary training at George Brown College took him to Italy and later to jobs in the Far East. “We lean heavily on Chinese ideas inspired by French cuisine, but work with the Canadian seasons so we can use what’s fresh from the farm and the kitchen.” 

Consider booking the Chef’s Counter, a communal table facing the kitchen where you can observe Jeremy and sous chef Owen Pearson in action.

MARK YOUR CULINARY CALENDAR: BLEND LIKE A PRO

Unleash your inner winemaker at the Blend Like a Pro workshop at Adamo Estate Winery in Mono on January 15. “This is perfect for any wine lover who wants to learn by doing in a fun and informative session,” explains winemaker Vanessa McKean. “We’ll taste wines aged in different barrels, and then add your own winemaker flair by blending a bottle to take home.”

GET ON BOARD

Learn how to twist the perfect salami rose and artfully arrange cheese, crackers and more at the Cheers to Charcuterie workshop at the Grand Valley Public Library on December 21, led by Grand Valley-based Veronica Vijay of On the Board.

THE SWEETEST GIFTS

Whether as a gift or an edible table setting, the work of local chocolatiers wows both the eyes and the tastebuds. Nestled among chocolate poinsettias and white chocolate angels, one item stands head and shoulders above the rest at The Chocolate Shop in Orangeville: a one-foot-tall Santa, available in milk or dark chocolate.

An intricate milk chocolate holiday fireplace complete with ornaments and stockings from Creemore’s YF Patissier-Chocolatier hides a surprise. Lift the fireplace to reveal eight different handmade ganache-filled bonbons hidden inside.

And while Ginger Molasses, Candy Cane and Toblerone cookies are seasonal specialties at Wicked Shortbread in Orangeville, for a bolder bite sink your teeth into their stuffed Baileys Buttercream Sammies.

LOCAL GIFT-GIVING MADE DELICIOUS

Jars of homemade strawberry jam, sweet summer relish and fresh pickles are some of the goodies you’ll find in carefully curated Holiday Collection boxes from Grand Valley food star Rebecca Landman’s new venture Rebecca’s Kitchen. They include a booklet filled with Rebecca’s writings and favourite recipes. Order online for delivery or pickup. 

Look for Orangeville-made Albert’s Leap soft ripened cheeses, including double cream Brie and goat Brie, available at More Than Just Baskets on Broadway in Orangeville. They also sell Brie-baking dishes and topping kits. Topped with pecans, rosemary or honey, velvety baked brie is a crowd pleaser. 

Using what they call “weird apples, conventional apples and boring apples,” donated by friends and neighbours, Heartwood Farm & Cidery in Erin makes just a few hundred bottles of their Community Harvest cider every year, proving that when it comes to apples, beauty isn’t skin deep. 

Ditch the salt and pepper and embrace flavours like Piri Piri, Smoke Eater and Veggie Blaze at Fire in the Kitchen’s new Orangeville retail shop, which makes an innovative line of dry rubs, sauces and marinades.

TURKEY TO GO

The Rosemont General Store and Kitchen is ready to take away the stress of Christmas dinner with a choice of sliced cooked turkey and ham or cook-at-home beef Wellington, paired with rustic mashed potatoes, sautéed buttered cabbage and brown butter carrots – plus stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. Fresh turkeys are also available for home cooking.

BANH MI ME

At Creemore Roastery Café, owner Louise Priest is having fun building a menu of street food from around the world that reflects the many coffee-growing nations she sources her beans from. Take her popular Banh Mi, a crunchy Vietnamese sandwich filled with chicken marinated in char siu (a barbecue blend), cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon radish, greens, cilantro and a touch of spice. “Every once in a while, you put something together and you know it’s gonna be good,” she says.