"We live in paradise" Food in Stratford

Succulent Stratford
Wed, June 6, 2007
Eat, drink and be merry is more than a theatrical line for Stratford's fine cuisine emporiums.
By KATHY RUMLESKI
London Free Press

STRATFORD -- This city is a festival for the senses.

Long renowned for its theatre, this Perth County community also attracts international attention for its cuisine.

Hoping to promote it even more, the Stratford Tourism Alliance has recently launched its Sensuous Stratford website.

The site highlights all that Stratford has to offer in the way of palate pleasures.

"People know Stratford for the Stratford Festival . . . But in addition to that, there's a whole sensuality about a visit to Stratford that includes the food scene," says alliance marketing coordinator Cathy Rehberg.

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Restauranteur Eleanor Kane says Stratford "is becoming somewhat of a culinary capital in Canada."

Its chocolate is world-renowned, with orders coming from across North America, Europe and Australia. There are more gourmet chocolate shops, per capita, in Stratford than anywhere else in Ontario.

Great tea, great coffee, to-die-for desserts, these also are highlights of a trip to Stratford.

There are more than 100 restaurants in town and at this time of year, they're pretty much all hopping.

Last Monday was opening night of the Stratford Festival's 55th season, a time when some dining establishments prime for the theatre season.

The Old Prune on Albert St., Kane's restaurant, is one of them. Celebrating its 30th year, it works in tandem with the festival to make its patrons' trips to Stratford memorable.

"We consider our job as setting the stage . . . (for) people that want to combine a lovely meal with a great experience on the stages," Kane says.

That cuisine is prepared by seven chefs, some of whom have gone through the Stratford Chefs School, founded by Kane 25 years ago.

It is the only chef school in Canada operated by working restaurant professionals.

Guest instructors who have enhanced the experience for students include international chefs Riccardo Camanini, Paul Bertolli and Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

The Old Prune's chef de cuisine, Bryan Steele, spent time with Vongerichten at JoJo in New York.

Some of Kane's guests have told her they're not sure what is the biggest draw -- the restaurants or the theatre.

The Old Prune dining area includes a courtyard where patrons can eat their dessert -- Tasting of Rhubarb is particularly noted -- or mingle near the bubbling pond. The centrepiece is a century-old Manitoba maple tree that is magnificently stately.

The architecturally exquisite Church Restaurant, which was a church until 1975, remains the place to go if you have time for only one dining experience in Stratford.

Its reputation has drawn such stars as Christopher Plummer, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward and Bill Hutt.

Plummer prefers a seat in the upstairs Belfry, which has a stunning view of the main section of the restaurant with its stained glass windows, hues of brown, orange and yellow and old-time organ pipes.

Plummer is known to sit at a table with his back against the wall so nobody can approach him from behind.

Owner Mark Craft started his career at the restaurant as bus boy and purchased it in 1988.

He says he hires the best people to work at The Church.

That includes executive chef Amede Lamarche, one reason the crowds worship the food at The Church, which has been reviewed in newspapers around the globe.

Lamarche puts a lot of effort into his menus, which change every five to six weeks.

"You can't really fall out of favour (or flavour) when you're always changing."

Karen Hartwick believes that your senses awaken when you visit her Tea Leaves Tea Tasting Bar, set in an 1888 home, which also includes a B&B.

With more than 100 high-end teas to choose from, Tea Leaves is a spot to taste and learn and Hartwick is only too happy to share her knowledge as Canada's top tea sommelier.

Trained by some of China's tea masters, Hartwick says tea is as complex as wine.

Hartwick, who grew up in London, offers tasting before purchasing. Some of her teas include Jasmine Dragon Tears, High Mountain Dark Roast and Golden Monkey, which was around 5,000 years ago.

"The tea tasting includes smelling different teas and studying the scent and leaves," she says.

This year in honour of Richard Monette's final season as the festival's artistic director, Hartwick is offering Monette Supreme, a high-quality Earl Gray.

Hartwick is versed in tea's health benefits.

All teas have antioxidants. While green teas have cancer-fighting properties, Hartwick says blacks are beneficial because they fight infections.

Hartwick says her interest in tea started when she was young and would hold "tea parties" with her grandmother after going to the downtown London market and getting scones from a bakery.

"We had such good, nurturing talks, just Grandma and myself. With tea, we can create a ritual for ourselves. That's another thing in our North American society that we're lacking."

Great experiences from her childhood also prompted Kristine Steed to purchase Rheo Thompson Candies five years ago.

In its 38th year, it's the oldest candy company in the city, and known particularly for its fabulous mint smoothies chocolate.

"What I remember (as a child) is the aroma and the mint smoothie. We used to walk to school and go and pick up a smoothie bar and inhale it," Steed recalls.

Mint is still the predominant scent as you walk into the 144 square-metre store.

Rheo Thompson products -- more than 100, including a new bark made with ground Kenyan coffee beans and Heart Smart Bark with cranberries and almonds -- are hand-made on site by 18 staff, 25 in the peak season.

At this time of year, eating outdoors should be encouraged. So grab some chocolate and a double-fisted sandwich from York Street Kitchen -- which will provide you with a perfect picnic lunch and has a takeout window -- find a spot along the Avon river or near the gardens and relax.

Don't forget to smell the flowers in the gardens -- some 80,000 annuals. Stratford was a 2006 Communities in Bloom winner.

"We live in paradise," Susie Palach, owner of the York Street Kitchen, says of Stratford. "We do have it all."

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STRATFORD INFO

- www.welcometostratford.com

- www.sensuousstratford.com

- www.city.stratford.on.ca

- 1-800-561-7926

ON THE MENU

- The Othello, local goat cheese, roasted sweet red peppers, black olives, lettuce and pesto on sourdough at York Street Kitchen, $6.25

- Grilled squab with a black bean tamale on roasted poblano sauce, includes choice of appetizer, dessert, coffee and petits fours at The Old Prune, $70.50

- Taste of rhubarb: sparkling rhubarb bellini, creamy rhubarb gelato, warm rhubarb crostato at The Old Prune, $12

- Scallop, orange, saffron, licorice off post-modern menu at The Church, $110

- Milk and dark mint smoothies at Rheo Thompson Candies, $14.75

- Flowering tea in wine glass at Tea Leaves Tea Tasting Bar, $9.50