Latest news with #OnlyinCanada
Toronto Star
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
Take a nostalgic tour of Montreal's iconic foods, from a famous plate of lobster spaghetti to the battle of the bagels
Canadian Travel Only in Canada is a new travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for the Only in Canada series every week. There's nothing precious about the presentation at Au Pied de Cochon, Montreal's legendary temple of Quebecois decadence, but there's a flair for the dramatic. The signature canard en conserve (duck in a can) arrives as described, a server cutting off the lid tableside and spilling out the goods: a half duck breast, hunk of foie gras, butter-braised cabbage and roasted garlic, in a puddle of balsamic demi-glace. Chances are you've heard about this place and this entrée, one of the city's signature dishes (as long-time Montreal restaurant critic Lesley Chesterman has proclaimed). Culinary tourists everywhere were tipped off by a 2006 episode of 'No Reservations,' wherein Anthony Bourdain declared chef Martin Picard 'a personal idol,' and Au Pied de Cochon one of his 'very favourites in the world.' This city has no shortage of dining destinations, and last week Michelin finally bestowed stars in Quebec for the first time. Montreal earned three one-star ratings (awarded to Europea, Mastard and Sabayon) — a frankly underwhelming tally that had the local press questioning if Michelin really gets Montreal at all. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Au Pied de Cochon's decadent canard en conserve. The ingredients are sealed in a can, then cooked in submerged water for 27 minutes. Au Pied de Cochon The better judges? Montrealers. You don't need a Michelin guide to know about Joe Beef, for example, which competes with Au Pied for irreverence and indulgence. (To be clear, both did make Michelin's list of 'recommended' places, akin to honourable mentions.) Joe Beef is widely recognized as one of the city's most influential restaurants, where diners clamour for the steaks and the cream-drenched lobster spaghetti, probably the most popular dish. If you want a taste of the places that reflect the city or helped define the food culture, look to the venerable institutions that are still going strong, decades on. And if you can, tour around with a passionate local. 'We have such a unique culture here that doesn't feel like the rest of Quebec and also doesn't feel like the rest of Canada. It has shared connections with Canada and Quebec, but there's a 'Montrealism' that's purely Montreal,' says Thom Seivewright, the guide also known as @montrealexpert on Instagram and founder of Tours Montréal. He shows travellers around town on themed or custom, private walking tours, highlighting places like Chez Tousignant (a decade-old 'tribute to Quebecois junk food,' specifically casse - croûte staples such as poutine and hot dogs) or the Jean-Talon Market, an impressive open-air cornucopia that dates back to 1933. 'It's a producers' market — you can't sell here unless you produce something,' says Seivewright. Like so many places in Canada, Montreal was transformed by waves of immigration. This was once home to the country's largest Jewish community, and you can credit this history for the Eastern European foods now synonymous with the city: smoked meat and the bagel. Schwartz's Deli is a Montreal institution that opened in 1928. Smoked-meat fans still line up for the brisket on rye. Eva Blue/Tourisme Montréal Particularly in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Jewish immigrants from countries like Romania arrived, importing their knowledge of preserving meat in this era before trusty fridges. Reuben Schwartz was one such newcomer, establishing Schwartz's Deli in 1928. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Reputedly it's now the oldest deli in Canada. The decor remains a blast from the past, the secret recipe has stayed true to the original, and the crowds keep coming for the piled-high brisket on rye. Céline Dion is a fan (and part owner). In nearby Mile-End, St-Viateur and Fairmount continue to vie for the title of Montreal's best bagel. There are duelling lineups, historical claims, celebrity endorsements. Fairmount boasts that it's Montreal's first bagel bakery, dating back to 1919. St-Viateur, opened in 1957 and once frequented by Leonard Cohen, brags it's 'the longest running bagel shop.' St-Viateur is one of the city's most famous bagel shops. It has a long-running rivalry with nearby Fairmount, another icon. Eva Blue/Tourisme Montréal Bagels at both are rolled by hand, boiled in honey water (unlike New York's girthy, more savoury style), and baked in wood-fired ovens the old-fashioned way. Fairmount's version tends to taste sweeter, at least sometimes, especially when eaten hot and fresh, depending on who's judging. 'It's so close, and I'm not just trying to be diplomatic,' says Seivewright, who runs a two-hour tour dedicated wholly to the Montreal bagel, complete with a blind taste test to decide the winner. Whichever way you lean, this may be the most essential Montreal food tradition of all: debating (and disputing) what's most delicious here. Wing Sze Tang travelled with some trip support from Tourisme Montréal, which did not review or approve this article.
Hamilton Spectator
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Yes, the Calgary Stampede is the country's biggest rodeo. But it's also a 10-day citywide party
Only in Canada is a new travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for the Only in Canada series every week. 'Yahoo!' It's the greeting that rings through the streets of Calgary for 10 days in early July, when roughly 1.5 million attendees (about a third of them out-of-towners) turn this modern and diverse city into a festival of cowboy dress-up, with an influx of legitimate cowboys thrown in for good measure. Officially branded as 'the greatest outdoor show on Earth,' the Calgary Stampede is a celebration of what is usually described as 'Western culture,' in the form of an agricultural fair and rodeo competition. It is also a midway carnival filled with rides and various combinations of fried foods on a stick; one of Canada's largest music festivals; an occasion to swan around the city in chic Western regalia; a parade (marshalled this year by Shania Twain) that takes over downtown streets for an entire morning; plus a big ol' party where the distinction between weekdays and weekends all but disappears. Visitors will undoubtedly spot — and perhaps even take cues from — drunken revellers stumbling around in stiff cowboy boots and cheap straw hats. But beyond the partying, the non-profit organization behind the Stampede also brings a sense of family fun and community engagement. The sun sets over the 26 tipis at Elbow River Camp on Stampede Park. Initiatives include the Pop-up Neighbours campaign (to welcome new Canadians with a literal welcome wagon), respectful Indigenous programming (such as an on-site tipi camp), and daily, free pancake breakfasts at community centres throughout the city. It's a choose-your-own-adventure, and no two visitors' Stampedes will look exactly the same. Much of the Stampede's continuing allure is the combination of its reverence for history — the event dates back to 1912 — and a willingness to evolve. This involves both the official Calgary Stampede (the entertainment, rodeo, midway and exhibitions on Stampede Park) and the more generalized Stampede spirit permeating nearly every corner of the city. On Stampede Park, recent changes include the opening of the newly expanded BMO Centre, which will be home to a retail market, cultural performances and a 'relaxation zone,' as well as the relocation of the Coca-Cola Stage, a free-with-park-admission music venue that last year hosted artists from Orville Peck to G-Eazy. A performer in 'Starslingers' by Le Cirque de la Nuit, a theatrical production at the BMO Centre during the 2024 Calgary Stampede. Defying any lingering redneck stereotypes, for over a decade the on-park Nashville North concert venue has hosted a dedicated Pride Day, complete with superstar drag performances. And to add a different kind of agricultural product to the fair, the Stampede launched an international wine competition in 2024, with winning bottles served throughout the park. A growing number of Alberta businesses are also joining in the revelry. Eau Claire Distillery, for example, makes a Stampede-branded whisky with locally grown rye, now served within the Stampede grounds and at restaurants and bars around the city. 'Whisky sales soar during Stampede,' says Eau Claire's president David Farran. 'It's like another Christmas for us.' One of the biggest off-park developments over the past decade has been the proliferation of massive event tents sprinkled through the inner city. The Stampede has always had a strong musical element, with major artists playing free stages on Stampede Park and ticketed concerts at the Saddledome, but many off-park concerts were once the domain of invite-only corporate events. These days, there are publicly accessible, temporary venues such as Badlands, the Wildhorse Saloon and, the daddy of them all, the Cowboys Music Festival (expanding to a new location for 2025). They form the heart of what some have affectionately dubbed 'Cowchella,' with headliners representing rock, EDM, hip-hop and, of course, country music. These venues have the capacity to host thousands of people every night of the Stampede. 'Stampede wasn't always something that catered to everybody. But now it does,' says Jon Molyneux, vice-president of business development, sales and events at the Concorde Group. His hospitality company, which runs the Wildhorse and National Saloon tents, has booked bands like the Violent Femmes and the Strumbellas to play this summer. 'There's a lot for people not strictly into country music.' Metric performs in front of thousands of fans at the Coca-Cola Stage on Stampede Park during the 2024 Calgary Stampede. Think of the Stampede as Canada's Mardi Gras: Tradition is certainly part of the charm, but there's more to this cultural rodeo than, well, rodeo. Even if it just means traversing Calgary's other sights with the dull roar of a party in the background, there's no other citywide celebration quite like it. 'I don't think there's anywhere in the world that a whole city gets together to celebrate for this long,' Farran says. 'Calgary basically stands still, so everyone can enjoy themselves for those 10 days.' Elizabeth Chorney-Booth is a travel writer and lifelong Calgarian who long resisted the Stampede but finally fell in love with the festival.
Hamilton Spectator
08-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Looking for your next favourite vacation spot in Canada? Consider these ‘alts' to popular destinations
Only in Canada is a new travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for the Only in Canada series every week. With domestic travel expected to see a boom this spring and summer, some of Canada's most popular destinations will no doubt be even busier. But in this huge country of ours, options abound. Here are five alternatives to consider for your next great Canadian vacation, and what makes them truly special, according to people in the know. If you love Lake Louise, visit: Golden, B.C. In the Rocky Mountains, surrounded by six stunning national parks — Yoho, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Kootenay and Mount Revelstoke — the town of Golden has all the activities you'll find in Lake Louise, and then some. There's access to plenty of beautiful (and less crowded) lakes, including Emerald Lake with its dazzling turquoise waters. And because it isn't actually inside a national park, Golden also offers activities you couldn't do in one, such as ATVing, white-water rafting and skydiving. 'What makes this place truly special is that it offers a classic mountain town experience, where nobody feels like a tourist and everybody fits right in,' says local Kelly Cytko, executive director of the Golden Cycling Club. The small town is home to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort bike park (with trails for beginners to pros), as well as attractions like the Golden Skybridge. An outdoor playground that includes Canada's highest suspension bridge, the Skybridge also hosts a summer outdoor concert series. The historic Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, N.B. If you love Victoria, visit: St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, N.B. Visitors head to Victoria, B.C., for its postcard-pretty waterfront beauty, and this town on the opposite coast offers similar charms on a more intimate scale. Featuring fine Georgian homes, Cape Cod and saltbox houses, and the historic Algonquin Resort, St. Andrews (popularly known as St. Andrews-by-the-Sea) was once a summer retreat for American socialites in the late 1800s. It remains a perfect resort town, with golden sand beaches, a spectacular seaside golf course, and fabulous restaurants such as the Salt Bight , which serves lobster eight different ways. It's also an arts and culture hub: Every summer, the Broadway by the Sea concert series takes place in an amphitheatre in the beautiful 27-acre Kingsbrae Garden . 'You wouldn't expect it, but so many world-class talents come to St. Andrews,' says Tony LePage, a Broadway actor and co-founder of the festival. Whenever he brings other Broadway performers to town, he adds, they all fall in love with the place. Château Ste-Agnès is one of the wineries on La Route des Vins, in Quebec's Eastern Townships. If you love Niagara wine country, visit: La Route des Vins, Que. The Brome-Missisquoi wine route in Quebec's glorious Eastern Townships encompasses 22 wineries, and there's plenty to do even if you're not sipping. Several wineries offer yoga in the vineyards, including Le Vignoble de la Bauge and the historic Château Ste-Agnès , for example, and many have cabin accommodations and nature and hiking trails. All of this fits with the region's emphasis on slow travel and relaxation. When Denis Laframboise opened Balnea Spa 20 years ago, he was drawn to the feeling of calm among the mountains and valleys, and the sense of pride locals have in upholding traditional agricultural practices. 'Because of this, we have all these specialized producers of honey and cheese, and beer made with the barley they grew in their own fields. There's so much more to this region than wine — though the wines are excellent,' says Laframboise. All along the route are exquisite restaurants highlighting local cuisine. Laframboise loves Les Cocagnes ' table champêtre (country table), where the five-course, family-style dining experience showcases visiting young chefs. Kayakers at Mallorytown, an access point for Thousand Islands National Park, Ont. If you love Bruce Peninsula National Park, visit: Thousand Islands National Park, Ont. Last year, Bruce Peninsula National Park was so popular, it drew 493,866 visitors. Meanwhile, Thousand Islands National Park , which encompasses around 20 main islands and many more smaller islets on the St. Lawrence River between Kingston and Brockville, welcomed less than a quarter of that number — although it also offers a wealth of activities on the water and is uniquely stunning. The park is located on the Frontenac Arch, a ridge of ancient rock that helped form the islands (there are actually more than 1,000 altogether, in the wider region). 'The exposed granite that made all those islands creates such a strange mix of landscapes that the park is a true visual feast,' says Kim Robinson, Thousand Island National Park's visitor experience manager. 'The islands themselves offer such variety and biodiversity. You could be on one side of Georgina Island and feel like you're in Northern Ontario, then walk to the other side and you're in a Southern (Ontario) forest.' Besides the natural attractions of this way-less-crowded park, there are shipwrecks you can view beneath the clear water, organized nature and science experiences with Parks Canada interpreters, and waterfront glamping and camping sites. The best way to see the islands is from a kayak or boat tour, but a large part of the park is on the mainland. 'You'll see such diversity on the hiking trails at Landons Bay and be rewarded with spectacular views out over the islands,' Robinson says. A view of Charlottetown, P.E.I., the birthplace of Confederation. If you love Quebec City, visit: Charlottetown, P.E.I. Quebec City famously boasts a UNESCO-listed old town, but travellers can also find a rich sense of history in P.E.I.'s comparatively less-crowded capital — it's the birthplace of Canada — alongside that classic East Coast friendliness. When strolling among the historic brick architecture along Victoria Row and Great George Street in the summer, you can imagine the city at its very start, especially when costumed tour guides waltz by in crinolines and frock coats. But Charlottetown isn't stuck in the past; it's a fun and vibrant city with a lot going on from spring right through to the fall. 'It's electric here in the summer, with tons of festivals and art events,' says Kim McKeown, Top Chef Canada alumnus and chef at Leonhard's Café & Restaurant . The culinary scene in Charlottetown is also impressive — P.E.I. claims the title of 'Canada's food island,' after all — and McKeown credits this, in part, to the many mom-and-pop spots serving the best food. Her favourites include Aldo Reny's , the Italian sandwich shop where focaccia is baked fresh daily. 'I can't get enough of the prosciutto, brie and balsamic with extra pickles,' says McKeown. Come in the late fall and you can also visit Province House National Historic Site , where the discussions that led to Confederation began — it's been under renovations and closed to visitors for the past decade.
Toronto Star
01-05-2025
- Toronto Star
Want to slurp Canada's best oysters? Food critic Amy Rosen recommends a summer vacation in this province
Canadian Travel Only in Canada is a new travel series that acts as a love letter to the bucket-list destinations and experiences in our beautiful country. Look for the Only in Canada series every week. In Malpeque Bay, the water freezes over from December to late spring. During this time, the oysters hibernate, gathered together in mesh bags, snapping their shells shut for winter, much like the island itself. (While P.E.I. welcomes visitors year-round, some businesses operate seasonally.) Come May, however, it's time to travel to Prince Edward Island — home to the country's best oysters owing to the crisp, clean, nutrient-rich water surrounding the province — and get slurping once again. The island's history of oyster fishing dates back to the traditional harvesting practices of the Mi'kmaq but gained global fame only in 1900. That's when P.E.I. oysters travelled to the Exposition Universelle, a world's fair in Paris, where they were declared the tastiest in the land. Queen Victoria was apparently a huge fan. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW There was much celebrating in Charlottetown that year, but just over a decade later the majority of the island's oysters were killed off by disease. Those that survived were from Malpeque Bay and were used to seed the rest of the island. That's why, although they may boast names like Pickle Points and Avonlea Petites, all P.E.I. oysters — sweet, pure, briny — are considered Malpeques. Oysters at the Inn at Bay Fortune. People travel to the island just to eat at the inn's restaurant, FireWorks. Al Douglas Media Tyne Valley, a tiny rural community on Malpeque Bay, with a population of around 225 and its own oyster festival every summer, is an especially delicious place to start your shellfish-themed P.E.I. tour. At Valley Pearl Oysters, you can pull up a chair at Jeff Noye's oyster bar and restaurant, which he built by hand above the oyster processing plant overlooking the sparkling bay. Here, the champion shucker will assemble trays of the freshest oysters you'll ever have, just pulled from the shallows within view. You'll want to slurp them back as fast as he can shuck them, which is very fast indeed. Elsewhere on the island, culinary tourists can follow easy-to-spot signs dotting the coastal routes — it's almost impossible to get lost. The North Cape Coastal Drive, for example, is known as the Canadian Oyster Coast, and during a leisurely drive you'll spot oysters on the roadside markers, directing you toward a shucking great road trip. Chef Michael Smith, left, shucking during Oyster Hour at the Inn at Bay Fortune. Al Douglas Media For the finest-dining take on P.E.I. oysters, you'll have to plan ahead to snag a seat. People travel to the island just to eat at FireWorks, the extremely popular restaurant at the Inn at Bay Fortune. The FireWorks Feast, a singular farm-to-table experience held nightly in the summer and fall, includes a welcome toast by chef/proprietor Michael Smith that's like a prayer to the bounty and the night. Then the Oyster Hour begins, with fresh shucked oysters, incredible ember-roasted oysters with lovage butter, hors d'oeuvres and cocktails in the garden. Your one task is leaving room for the multi-course, live-fire-cooked dinner that follows, served family-style inside. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW For a more casual (but no less delightful) setting, Brackley Bay Oyster Co. is also well worth a stop. At the small market/fishery, you can learn the history of local oysters while tasting the island's best bivalves on a plate, then visit postcard-perfect sites nearby, like Brackley Beach and Covehead Harbour Lighthouse in Prince Edward Island National Park. The patio at Brackley Bay Oyster Co. Brackley Bay Oyster Co. Back in Charlottetown, more oysters await at the city's mollusk-forward restaurants, including Claddagh Oyster House and the iconic Water Prince Corner Shop and Lobster Pound. You can enjoy even more oysters at the Gahan House, along with the craft brewery's blueberry ale. Through it all, you may squeeze countless lemon wedges, use a few shakes of hot sauce and perhaps even spoon on some mignonette sauce. But arguably the best way to eat fresh oysters on Prince Edward Island is to leave them raw, naked and unadulterated. Because when something is this pure and perfect, it needs nothing but an open mind and a big old slurp. Come for the Food Fests Taking place this summer from July 29 to Aug. 3, the Tyne Valley Oyster Festival includes the Canadian Oyster Shucking Championship, where the country's best shuckers vie to represent the country at a world competition. Happening in Charlottetown from Sept. 18 to 21, the P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival is a massive celebration under a big tent. Expect shucking championships, an international chefs' challenge, live music, drinking and dancing till late and, yes, lots of oysters. Amy Rosen is a Toronto-based food and travel writer and author of the upcoming novel ' Off Menu.' She travelled as a guest of Tourism PEI, which did not review or approve this article. Clarification – May 1, 2025 This article was updated to clarify that P.E.I. is open to tourism year-round, and not closed for winter as the previous version implied.
