Food for Thought with Alex Bielak - Sips and Bites – the January 2014 Value edition

Sips and Bites – the January 2014 Value edition 

Certainty is elusive. The vortex is polar and the loonie is falling. But there can be value upsides.

The cold winter has been great for ice wine producers who have had plenty of time and optimal conditions to harvest what looks like a bumper crop. And the weather is appropriately brisk for the Ice Wine Festival that concludes this Sunday, January 26th. This means there is still time to nip down and partake of some of the excellent-value “Discovery Pass” events at a variety of locations, from Beamsville to Niagara on the Lake.

I’m pleased to have been invited to the sold-out preview event for a Taste of Burlington at the Burlington
Performing Arts Centre in a couple of weeks. The ever-popular program runs February 16 to March 9, and includes over 30 restaurants offering three-course prix fixe lunches and dinners. Each time you go you can complete a ballot to win gift certificates from participating restaurants.

My past experiences with “Taste of” have been excellent, and I encourage readers to get out and benefit from the promotion. It truly is a great opportunity to try out a new spot (including some of Burlington’s highest end eateries) for far less than they might normally pay for an excellent meal. Many of the restaurants have Vegetarian, Vegan, Gluten Free and Children’s options available too.

While you have your calendars open, there are several other events in the offing for Hamilton. The first Dishcrawl of 2014 is on Ottawa St. Tuesday 28th January. Sign up via the website: good times are guaranteed, tho’ with the vortex and all, warming beverages might be de rigeur. Then there’s a four-course St. Valentines Day popup dining event, Friday February 14th. It will feature locally-sourced provender prepared Mediterranean-style by Chef Jonny Blonde of Food Truck fame matched with wines from Creekside Estate, a winery that has been winning a lot of kudos recently, and not just for its bold label re-design. As usual it will be in a yet-to-announced secret location, but the menu should be posted shortly on the Popup website. Also, with a bit more lead time, the Food and Drink Fest is on again at the Careport Centre March 21-23 and you can already get tickets online via their website.

Speaking of value offerings, check out the Grand Oak Culinary Market on Victoria Avenue, Vineland. The bakery and restaurant is owned and operated by Chef Jan Willem Stulp who was previously Executive Chef at Vineland Estates. They also provide catering (which is how I met Chef: he prepared some excellent matches for a recent wine tasting I was at) and organizes theme dinners.

They have a delicious-sounding wine-themed dinner ($36 plus tax and tip) Thursday, January 30th. To whet your appetite you can select either of the following as a main. “Seared Halibut Filet, Riesling icewine and apple chutney, citrus-scented jasmine rice and heirloom carrots” OR “Slow Braised Pork Shoulder on savoury lentils with Quince Relish and ice wine jus.” Tough choice.

One of the nice things Grand Oak provides is a 4-course gourmet “meal to go” for only 20$. And yes, that includes your choice of one of their tasty desserts! While they prefer you pre-order online, you can also just swing by at the last minute and take your chances. Perfect for commuters and busy families, the meals are available Wednesdays and Fridays for pickup after 5. You can sign up for notification about upcoming menus and other information via the website.

Further afield, Niagara College’s Benchmark restaurant has new (again locally-sourced) lunch and dinner menus as of this week. Prepared by culinary students they are good value. Benchmark has another tempting offer too. The Chef Signature Series is on again and there are four events left on the slate, each at $79 (including wine – or, for the last event, beer pairings – and tax). Some of the top talent in the country is rumoured to be involved in setting these up, and I provide some names below, but no guarantees that they are accurate!

The next one (February 8th) features notable wine country chefs lined up I gather by the amiable Anthony Greco, Chef de Cuisine at Zest, Fonthill. March 8th has Top Chef Canada winner (and really nice guy), Richmond Station’s Carl Heinrich assembling Toronto talent. March 29th sees four of the best Ottawa chefs coming to visit, and the April 12th event has several North America’s BBQ gurus gathered by celeb-chef Ted Reader, who is now a part time instructor at the College.

And to circle back, what will that falling loonie do to prices of value (under $20) wines from Europe and the US. Increase them? One of my favourite sources, the estimable and eminently-qualified (he was past Chair of the LCBO) Phil Olsson concluded in a well-reasoned, experience-based missive to select wine amateurs “Probably not, at least in the near future”.

I’ll raise a glass to that.

For more pictures, click here. 
Alex (Alex can be reached at fft@thehamiltonian.info ) or on twitter @AlexBielak

Food for Thought logo, designed and kindly donated by Ninka Bielak. Ninka can be reached at ninka.bielak@gmail.com.