Feast Ontario Style

Tales of a Food Writer – Lynn Ogryzlo

As Ontario’s Local Food Ambassador I’ve travelled the province uncovering its hidden treasures from amazing resorts to charming country villages and mouthwatering food festivals. In between I have savoured toasted garlic fudge a the Perth Garlic Festival, enjoyed a romantic field dinner at Cross Wind Farms and chowed down on the sloppiest, juiciest ribs at the Ottawa Farmers’ Market – oh yum.

I discovered Ontario’s most delicious food in the most unlikely places. Travel through Hensall, the bean capital for amazing cassoulet, Perth County the pork capital and home of the Bacon and Ale Trail or the dairy capital, Oxford County and savour your way through the Cheese Trail. I also discovered many resorts that excel at making Ontario food a focus for what they do best.

In Oxford County, Elm Hurst Inn’s executive chef Michael Davies takes his cheese very seriously. I used this historic inn as a base to visit as many stops along the Cheese Trail as I could. At the inn, try Michael’s all-local cheese platter or enjoy one of his cheesy features such as the delicious cheddar soup.  What a great time you’ll have!

Blue Mountain Resort is the centre of Ontario’s apple production and also home to the Apple Pie Trail. The Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood is at the beginning of the Trail and is a great place to take advantage of everything apple pie from the different  stops along the way. Then when you’ve over indulged (as I did), have fun working it off with many of their 4-season outdoor activities, it’s great for the whole family. When you leave, don’t forget to buy a bushel of farm fresh apples to continue your apple love affair.

One of my favourite culinary destinations, the Millcroft Inn & Spa was once a knitting mill providing yarn and blanket. Executive Chef James Buder crafts delicious dishes from fresh, organic and natural foods that are available to him throughout the fertile and unspoiled Hills of Headwaters. Bring a good pair of hiking boots because the tranquility of this place along with Buder’s cuisine will captivate you.

The Hills of Headwaters, or Headwaters as the locals call it, is quintessential Ontario equestrian country with rambling ranches and graceful horses. It’s also a delicious rural landscape with farmers the likes of Amaranth Springs, Besley Farms and Hockley Valley Resort growing amazing food. At Hockley Valley they have a 4-acre vegetable garden providing over 80% of the vegetables for Restaurant 85 and Cabin. Some of it is preserved to enjoy year round. What a refreshing experience to bask in the authentic flavours of the summer when you’re dining in January or February.

You’ll find more gardens at Briars Resort and Spa. Executive Chef Trevor Ledlie plans his menus a year in advance. It’s a great culinary collaboration between Inn owners and a chef who knows it takes as much time to nurture a tiny seedling into a fully mature plant as it does to simmer the ingredients into a luscious meal for his guests in the Briars’ dining rooms. Foods this fresh are thrilling on the palate.

When I was at the Westwind Inn I remember sitting in a large Adirondack chair watching a herd of deer pass through the forest. The Inn is as peaceful and remote a place as any in the heart of Ontario. The owners forage the wilderness around them for wild fiddleheads, leeks, morel mushrooms, edible flowers and more. You can try asking for  their favourite picking  spots but it’s like asking a fisherman for his favourite fishing hole – they’ll never tell. I’m told it I sat in the chair long enough, I might catch a glimpse of a flock of wild turkey, or perhaps even a moose. At Westwind you are allowed to shoot them, but only with a camera!

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Award winning escapes

Resorts of Ontario is pleased to announce that 3 of our current resort members have been selected as readers choice winners through the Toronto Sun. Nottawasaga Resort in Alliston Ontario won the top honour with the Gold award for favourite Ontario resort. Silver went to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara falls and the bronze went to Blue Mountain Resort near Collingwood. Nottawasaga Resort also secured the gold award in the category of favourite recreational hockey arena and bronze for restaurant with a view.

It’s no surprise to us that some of our resorts took this honour but if you aren’t familiar with the terrific resorting experiences Ontario has to offer, we encourage you to come on up to our place for your next getaway. With activities like a year round indoor hockey rink at Nottawasaga, fantastic activities like skiing and the new Ridge Runner roller coaster at Blue Mountain and the ever fun water park at Great Wolf Lodge; you’ll leave with new memories as a reminder of the fun you can have when you visit an Ontario Resort.

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Resorts Rock at the 2010 Spring Conference

Resorts of Ontario’s Spring Conference, “It’s Showtime” trade show and Presidents dinner was held last week at Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood (Mar 23 and 24) and what an event it was. The day started with a presentation from Michael Kurts from the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, outlining how regional tourism organizations will play a role in Ontario starting July 2010. This was followed by the Annual General Meeting which featured the annual report and an outline of new initiatives planned for 2010.

The “It’s Showtime” trade show kicked off on Tuesday afternoon with a lunch featuring a classical french cheese station, a pasta station and a seafood station. Everyone raved about the meal and commented that we need a similar lunch every year going forward. The resort owners and operators made their way around the trade show floor which had representatives from different Resorts of Ontario preferred suppliers. Swissol, Planet Energy and Sam Group promoted their products through informational showcase sessions. (One of the highlights of the tradeshow was certainly the fashion show featuring different clothing items for the resort industry put on by the Sam Group and featuring volunteer models from some different resorts as well as a few staff members from our office.

The afternoon also had information sessions with the first being a presentation done by Sarah from Galigraph Design focusing on the “Keys to successful advertising.” Later in the day was a presentation from Gord Bell of Beauview Cottages on “Understanding Social Media.”

A wine reception started off the evening and dinner attendees where able to participate in a traditional wine tasting presented by the wine specialists of Inniskillen. Resorts of Ontario putting on a rockin’ good time with its Rock and Roll themed night. The dinner opened with a parade of current board members being led by Olympic Torch bearer Anne Marshall from Elmhirst’s Resort. This was followed by a tribute to past presidents. Dinner was concluded and the  live music from Jamie Williams began. Despite most people being on their feet the majority of the day the dance floor was full and Jamie even invited a few people on stage to help him perform.

The next morning began with many tired but happy people returning to their booths on the trade show floor or attending breakfast with a presentation by Kevan Ashworth (Ashworth Photography) and Barb Kienapple (Jack’s of Hearts design) on “How to tell your story!” which drew on real life experiences and how customers are motivated to buy. From there resort operators were given the opportunity to bid on donated items with benefits going to Camp Trillium.

Needless to say it was a great event and thanks go out to all who were involved.

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