Local Flavour

Saturday, October 24, 2020 6 LOCAL FLAVOUR A MANITOBA FOODIE'S GUIDE TO DELICIOUS DISHES C anadians may be cooking at home more since the pandemic shutdown started, but everyone needs a night off from meal preparation now and then. In Winnipeg, many companies are vying for top places in the home-delivered food marketplace. We now have ready-to-eat and heat-and-eat meals, as well as kits of measured ingredients you can cook at home with precise instructions for preparation. And it's all as easy as picking up your phone and ordering them. Louise Nowak bought Supper Central (suppercentral. ca) almost three years ago, and her daughter Palmer works alongside her in the business. The fridges and shelves at their recently renovated space in Kenaston Common are full to the brim with meat/veggie combos, yummy pastas, side dishes, vegetarian options, creamy soups, finger-licking good sauces and much more. "The ready-to-cook meals have all the ingredients chopped, measured, so all you are doing is following the instructions," Palmer says. "It makes cooking at home so much more approachable and easier. When you don't know what to make, it's always good to have one or two of these in your freezer." Supper Central's ready-to-cook meals come in two sizes: small (serving two or three people) or large (up to six). Everything is packed, portioned and ready to go in 35 minutes. For another option, heat-and-eat meals provide a single serving of a fully cooked meal, and 30 choices of those meals are available at all times. Thanks to Supper Central, non-cooks can be the star of their own dinner parties. "People are inundated with food shaming," Louise says. "'Oh, you don't cook?' It's not a bad thing. The hundred different reasons that people say they don't are music to my ears. You use your oven to keep your sweaters in? Bless you." Ready-to-cook meals also make great gifts, ideal for anyone who is in a busy phase of their lives, such as with a newborn baby or recently bereaved. Their top sellers are, not surprisingly, comfort food — things like shepherd's pie, chicken pot pie and lasagna. "Ranch crusted chicken is our biggest seller," Louise says. "They're familiar, comforting and they're good. That appeals to families." Before the pandemic, Supper Central held frequent cooking classes in their space. With that no longer possible, their classes have gone online. "We are still passionate about educating people about cooking and making home cooking more approachable. That's what we're about," Palmer says. Offering another option, Alana Fiks started Black Market Provisions (blackmarketwpg.com) in 2018 along with Angela Farkas, her partner in business and life. "We travel a lot and we would go to all these great stores," she says. "And why can't there be a shop in Winnipeg that has these things?" The duo transformed their Pop Cart business into a storefront shop that sells delicious soups, salads and sauces, along with quirky products like candles, puzzles and novelties from TV shows like e Golden Girls and Schitt's Creek. "We're all real food nerds around here. We make things that we want to eat," Fiks says. "Our criteria is if we wouldn't bring it home or buy it as a gift, we won't carry it. We are pretty sticky about quality." Black Market Provisions also leans heavily toward supporting local and Canadian products. "We won't bring anything in from the States or another country," she says, "unless it's so good you can't get it from somewhere in Canada." At the same time, they are responsive to their customers. People kept asking for Heartbeat Hot Sauce GOODIES to go BY GREG KLASSEN C harleswood residents are in for a real treat, or at least a delicious meal. A new ownership group has moved into the former Osteria del Piolo restaurant space, located on Roblin Boulevard, and are bringing fresh, easy food to the area. A new concept for sure, but the people backing the project are industry icons. WOW Hospitality's president Doug Stephen along with chefs Kelly Cattani and Michael Dacquisto are Bluestone Cottage by day and Alena Rustic Italian by night. One is a breakfast and lunch spot whose focus is on fresh vibrant, seasonally influenced food. From the moment you walk in, you feel as though you've escaped the grind and have been transported to the lake. Alena, on the other hand, is open concept Mediterranean meets simple ingredients, a comprehensive wine list and, of course, a wood-fired pizza oven. Either way, morning or night, you win. Both Dacquisto and Cattani have roots in Charleswood. "I love the neighbourhood with so much green space and wildlife. It's the next best thing to be being at the lake," says Cattani, who has long dreamed of opening a place where people could catch a breath, kick back, and enjoy some really good food. They've achieved that. The space has plenty of natural light, with local art hung on the walls, the staff are cheerful, and the menu is nourishing. "Food should nourish your soul," says Cattani, "not just because it is pretty and tasty, but because it's nutrient dense and leaves you feeling awesome." Dacquisto concurs. "Growing up I experienced really fantastic food in my household. My mother wasn't a chef by any means, but she had a fantastic simple repertoire. As an Italian family, we lived around the dining room table — mounds of delicious, fresh and simple dishes. If you use the best quality, in season ingredients, and let those flavours speak for themselves, the outcome will be outstanding." "My hope for Alena is that it becomes that friendly little neighbourhood place like one you might find in Italy, with an open kitchen in the middle of the restaurant. I would love this place to start to feel familiar, where you can come and grab your usual table and have a glass of wine and a pizza, a beer after work or a full meal and an evening of great conversation." With a small retail section at the Cottage, take- out options available, and all pandemic precautions in place, there is no way you won't be WOWed. Two incredibly talented chefs, two concepts and one main thing in common — AMAZING fare. BY BRANDI JOHNSON TWO GOLD MEDAL CHEFS, TWO CONCEPTS, ONE KITCHEN "Food should nourish your soul, not just because it is pretty and tasty, but because it's nutrient dense and leaves you feeling awesome." Put life on pause for a li le while. Both restaurants are located at 3670 Roblin Blvd. For more information call Alena at 204.944.8748 or Bluestone Co age – 204.944.8751.

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