Category Restaurant

I have a favourite little spot I like to wander off to come summertime. I didn’t even know it existed until my friends brought me there one happy afternoon. Glen Williams is a peaceful little hamlet hidden amongst the trees of the meandering Credit River Valley, in the outskirts of Georgetown. The tree-lined street is dotted with just a handful of heritage buildings and homes. It is so quiet you can hear the crickets chirping.

Walk onto the porch of the Glen Oven Café and the regulars give you a nod as if to agree “yep, there is something so serene about this place”. Feel welcome in a modest but charming interior filled with vintage fine china tea cups, little British flags, a few tables, a couple of arm chairs, and a little wood stove.

Order at the counter. Choose from quiche, salad, soup, or sandwiches – all lovingly made from scratch (even the bread) with quality, wholesome ingredients. Everything I have tried has been delicious. My favourite is the Roasted Veggie sandwich: sweet potato, parsnip, red peppers, zucchini, eggplant, and red onion all roasted until tender and slightly caramelized then piled on billowing homemade bread spread with creamy chèvre.

Buy a loaf of bread to take home. This is the home of the Hearty Seed Bread, my son’s favourite flax seed bread; I have to hide it or he will polish off the whole loaf in one day. My friend loves the Whole Wheat Muesli Bread, a breakfast bread with raisins, cranberries, walnuts, and sunflower seeds. Don’t even try to resist the baking displayed in the counter – it is definitely worth giving into. I love the Lemon Squares the most: rich, buttery shortbread crust covered with a luscious layer of tart lemon filling.

Order tea: a pot and a delightful vintage tea cup will arrive at your table with the rest of your order.

Eat inside or better yet, relax in the shade of the big trees on the outdoor porch. Leaves dancing in the gentle breeze on a warm, sunny day – it just feels so summery, so carefree.

Allow enough time to poke in the antique book shop (Reeve & Clarke Antiquarian), marvel at the glassblowing (Glen Williams Glass), and shop for one-of-a-kind art by Canadian artists (Williams Mill Visual Art Centre), or get lost in booth after booth of vintage treasures at the Beaumont Mill Antiques & Collectibles Market. A stroll beside the tranquil Credit River is always good for the soul (Glen Williams Park).

The Glen Oven Café has a second location in historic downtown Georgetown, The Glen Oven Tea Room. It offers lunch and afternoon tea. Catering available.

Fabulous gourmet tacos from Orillia’s Fox Foods, at Gravenhurst Farmers’ Market. Be sure to arrive at the market before the lunch rush because these popular tacos, stuffed with a medley of mouthwatering flavours and wrapped in freshly made tortillas, sell out fast.

Vintage finds from Currie’s Music & Antiques in Gravenhurst. Don’t miss the back room which is an ultra cool, 1970’s vibe, recording studio filled with vintage finds.

Gourmet goodies from The Farmer’s Daughter in Huntsville, Ontario. Fresh produce, baked goods, fresh salads, gourmet pantry products, frozen goodies, ready-to-eat meals.

When in Huntsville, you must visit Belly Ice Cream’s little hut at the corner of Brunel and Main Street. Delicious, handcrafted, gourmet ice cream in creative and traditional flavours. The Blueberry Lavender ice cream is absolutely exquisite.

Hot breakfast and lunch, vintage treasures, and a few gourmet goodies (including some Farmer’s Daughter products) from Miss Nelle’s Antiques & Café in Baysville, Ontario.

Love, Olive xoxo

Have you been to Snug Harbour lately? Recently renovated, modern lux decor; spacious, open dining room and sweeping, waterside covered patio. Great new menu. Seafood and sailboats on a sparkling summer’s eve: the perfect spot for a celebration meal.

Deep-fried Calamari: golden and crunchy. Served with a gorgeous cayenne, lemon, and garlic-spiked mayonnaise.  Somebody’s fingers just couldn’t wait ‘til after the photo.

Raw Malpeque Oysters on the half shell in their own liquor: fresh, clean, pure. My first time slurping raw oysters – what took me so long? Served with traditional seafood sauce and horseradish.

Tuna Martini: stunningly presented, seared Ahi tuna, crusted in sesame pepper. Delicious dipped in soy-based sauce, hot sauce, and herb oil. Served on a bed of greens with hoisin, wasabi, pickled ginger, and seaweed salad.

Roasted Beet Salad: fresh baby arugula, tender roasted beets, crumbles of soft, creamy chèvre. Spot-on balanced, sweet honey vinaigrette. Enough to share as a starter; or add Blackened Shrimp and call it a meal. Consistently good – my favourite local beet salad!

Brown Butter Lobster Sandwich: East Coast lobster mixed with mayonnaise, red peppers, and celery. Stuffed into two toasted buns. Served with Caesar salad (or market salad or fries). Good and gobbled before I could plead for a bite.

Seafood Bouillabaisse: a steaming pot of fresh fish, shrimp, mussels, and clams poached in a flavourful and spicy roasted tomato fennel broth. Served with bread for mopping up every last drop. My husband had already dug in before I could take the photo. And who could blame him?

Sea Scallops: four East Coast sea scallops, bronzed and lightly crusted on the outside; perfectly cooked, tender sweetness on the inside. Sitting in a pool of sublime Meyer lemon lobster butter sauce: nutty richness balanced by the sweet tanginess of Meyer lemon. Served with nicely seasoned rice and flavourful julienned vegetables.

Snug Harbour doesn’t take reservations on the weekends. We arrived early (at about 5:30 p.m.) on a sunny Friday, asked for a table inside, and got one right away (outside was a different story). Though the place was bustling, the service was fast, friendly, and efficient.

Longing to take your taste buds on a culinary adventure? Oakville’s Machu Picchu serves delicious Peruvian and Latin fusion cuisine. Don’t let the industrial strip of Speers Road mislead you – discovering the food at Machu Picchu may be as delightful as discovering the cloud-shrouded, ancient Incan, mountaintop city it is named after. My Peruvian friend, Pilar, recently took us on an expedition there for a fun girls’ night out – and since then, we haven’t stopped talking about how good the food was.

Frothy and tangy Pisco Sours (Peruvian brandy, lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, and bitters) and other Latin cocktails are a great way to start off the evening. Toasted Peruvian corn, “cancha”, is a complimentary crunchy nibble served with drinks.

Peruvian cuisine has an Incan base, fused with Spanish, Basque, African, Japanese, Chinese, and Italian influences. Peru’s signature dish is ceviche. Machu Picchu offers several ceviches on their menu.

Machu Picchu’s Ceviche Mixto is utterly delectable: tender chunks of fresh shrimp, calamari, squid strips, and diced white fish cured in lime juice and Peruvian peppers and marinated in a sparkling dressing that is a delicious balance of tangy, spicy, and slightly sweet flavours with hits of fresh cilantro. Mouth-watering! Served with Peruvian corn (larger kernels), thinly sliced purple onion, luscious chunks of yam, and banana chips.

Photo thanks to Eleonora Roberts.

The aromas of the meat dishes passing by our table were so enticing that we shared Ceviche Mixto as a starter and ordered meat as an entrée. Seco de Carne is a slow-simmered stew with big chunks of fork-tender, full-flavoured beef in traditional Peruvian gravy laced with cilantro and beer. It’s served with nicely seasoned rice and delicious stewed beans.

Photo thanks to Eleonora Roberts

There is so much to choose from on Machu Picchu’s extensive menu. Perhaps the Lomito Saltado (marinated filet mignon sautéed with onions and peppers) that my friend said was really good? Or the beautiful Arroz con Mariscos (Peruvian-style seafood rice dish prepared with a mixture of Peruvian peppers) that Pilar enjoyed?

Photo thanks to Eleonora Roberts

Or Papa a la Huancaína (a traditional appetizer of sliced cold potatoes covered in a spicy cheese sauce)? Chupe de Camarones (shrimp chowder, only available Wednesdays through Sundays)? Or Chifa (Peruvian Chinese food served every Wednesday, starting July 16th)?

Go with an appetite for good food and fun: English and Latin karaoke on Friday nights, starting at 8:00 p.m. Live Latin music starts at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday nights.

There aren’t any Peruvian cookbooks on the shelves at my Indigo, which astonishes me because it is such a flavourful cuisine created by a culture that loves food and cooks from scratch. I have just started to follow a blog on Pinterest, Peru Delights; the recipes look so good. Can’t wait to try the Seco de Carne recipe. The authors (Morena Cuadra and Morena Escardo) have written a cookbook, The Everything Peruvian Cookbook, which is available on-line at Indigo and Amazon but I haven’t seen a hard copy yet. Check out my Grocery/Gourmet Store Directory under Grocery/Gourmet Markets/Ethnic/Latin American for a listing of Latin American markets in our region. Don’t be shy to ask questions; the owners would be more than happy to share their cooking tips. Of course, the best way to learn about Peruvian food is to make a Peruvian friend – they’ll enrich your life and your cooking!

Behold Streetsville’s newest legend: Burger Legend. I haven’t been this excited about a burger joint since Streetsville’s first take-out (the now long gone Terry’s Burger House) first moved to town.

What makes Burger Legend burgers, well…legendary? Start with a trip to the butcher every single morning to buy fresh, whole AAA Canadian beef chuck; additive-free, preservative free, ground fresh daily by Burger Legend. Yes fresh beef, never frozen (they don’t even own a freezer). Add real (not processed), aged Canadian cheddar cheese. Top with huge strips of thick-cut, smoky/sweet, maple smoked bacon so flavourful that you have to fight off sneaky fingers. Put it on a lightly grilled, freshly baked sesame seed bun. Finally, a burger we can feel good about sinking our teeth into.

Behold the Classic Burger: 100 grams of 100% pure beef (no fillers), juicy and flavourful, spiced just right, nestled on a bed of mixed baby greens, blanketed with melted cheddar, topped with thickly sliced tomato, and Bawss sauce (a delicious mayonnaise-based crossover somewhere between Thousand Island dressing and barbeque sauce).

And this beauty, the Veggie Burger: a huge panko-crusted portobello mushroom, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, stuffed with cheddar cheese, on mixed baby greens, topped with more aged Canadian cheddar cheese, thickly sliced tomato, and Bawss sauce. Oh yeah, come home to Mama.

How to decide between the Classic and the Veggie? Order the Fusion Burger to get both on the same bun. Man, that’s gotta be good!

There are ten burgers on the menu, including the Poutine Burger, the North Beach (with guacamole) and the All Day Burger (with fried egg and maple smoked bacon). But your first visit should be all about the Great One (named after another legend, Wayne Gretzky): with aged Canadian cheddar, maple smoked bacon, mixed greens, tomatoes, and Bawss sauce.

Fries are freshly cut (remember they don’t own a freezer) Canadian russet potatoes, double-fried in peanut oil; available with gravy or as poutine. It’s going to take all my strength to try to resist the Maple Bacon Poutine.

Burger Legend started out as a gourmet food truck and has now laid roots in our village (aren’t we the lucky ones). Kiss the drive-thru junk burgers good-bye and say hello to real, fresh flavour. Welcome to the village Burger Legend!

Take-out or casual, quick bite, eat-in. Last time I was there, they were still waiting for their interac to be hooked up so bring cash just in case.

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