The Winnipeg Leisure Guide hit stands August 12.
Available direct to Winnipeg Free Press subscribers, and through arenas, civic pools, libraries, leisure centres, and 200 local retailers, it lines up hundreds of activities to keep Peggers busy through the fall.
Given that two of my favourite leisure activities are cooking and eating, I’m always thrilled to see what’s available in the cooking section which has been expanding year after year. It’s buried in the adult leisure segment, but I’ve extracted the food pages and posted the image below.
At the the very back of the guide there’s also a special foodie interest lineup (although they’ve titled it “foody”) at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory. According to the guide: “The foody series incorporates delectable food samplings prepared by local chefs sprinkled with historical and horticultural tidbits, topped off with expert pairings from the Manitoba Liquor Marts.”
I’ve posted the excerpt for this section too, but PDFs of all the Leisure Guide sections are available at http://www.winnipeg.ca/cms/recreation/leisureguide.stm
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Cook, Eat, Learn
cooking lessons, winnipeg leisure guide
When I was completing my university degree I had a hard enough time working three shifts a week at Angus Reid and still finding time for study and family.
I couldn’t believe that Vinay Iyer wanted to open and run his own restaurant while pursuing a computer science degree (his second) at the University of Winnipeg. But that’s when Sarpino’s Pizza vacated some prime real estate directly across from the U of W.
The 23 year-old student wasted no time approaching building owner Hart Mallin about opening a taqueria in the space. Mallin couldn’t believe it either. And neither did the banks that Iyer approached, refusing to finance him and business partner and friend Samuel Engelking.
And it’s not suprising. The pair knew practically nothing about restaurants beyond the dozens of websites (largely food and hospitality) they’d developed while living in Toronto.
But it was from that background, and a hog-town tex-mex hangout called Burrito Boyz, that they’d become inspired and convinced that a taqueria would fly in Winnipeg. Their commitment and vision was their only asset.
It was enough to win the support (both moral and financial) of Iyer’s family back in India. Unbelievably, it also won Mallin who turned down a sound offer from a Pizza Pizza franchisee in favour of the boys.
That was May 2008. Casa Burrito opened that October and has since developed a small, but fiercely loyal clientele.
There’s about ten customers who come in here every day, says Iyer. And one or two from the neighbourhood eat lunch and dinner here daily.
When you taste these burritos, you’ll see why.
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Eat
mexican, winnipeg burrito restaurant
The St. Norbert Farmers’ Market officially opened on June 6.
I’d almost laugh if it wasn’t so worth it, but thousands of Winnipeggers eagerly await this moment and every weekend, pile into our vehicles, stomping out a massive carbon footprint as we flock to the southern-most tip of the city to scoop up pounds of fresh, organic produce (hey, guilty as charged).
And while there’s also the Osborne Village Farmers Market for the more urban inclined (opening July 2), St. Norbert’s scope and scale makes it one of the must-stop destinations in Winnipeg’s all too seasonal culinary calendar.
If you’re heading down there this weekend, you might be interested in bypassing the hot-dog carts and swinging round the corner to the St. Norbert Arts Centre for lunch.
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Eat, Food, Shop
organic produce, organic restaurant, winnipeg farmers market
Dingo’s Wild & Crazy Dogs just opened up on Winnipeg’s Corydon Avenue. Occupying the former Sugar Mountain digs, the latest WOW! Hospitality concept serves up stylin dogs with clever toppings that’ll have you begging for seconds.
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Eat
corydon, gourmet hot dogs, winnipeg, wow
The response to my sneak peak of Burrito del Rio tells me one thing…Winnipeggers love Mexican food, or any spin on it they can get their gums on.
So it was a stroke of genius for Duncan Grant, owner of Bonfire Bistro and the Latin influenced Cafe Carlo, to bring the taqueria concept to a tiny strip mall in Winnipeg’s Osborne Village.
(He does give props to Casa Burrito, which barely beat him to the punch, opening across from the University of Winnipeg last October).
Grant had seen similar concepts in other cities, he says, and there was a gap in the Winnipeg market that he thought he could fill. And fill the market he does, with beautifully toasted burritos bursting at the seams with top notch fillings.
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Eat
burrito, mexican, winnipeg mexican restaurant
Bringing us more flavours of our southern neighbours, Winnipeg’s first taqueria, Burrito del Rio, is poised to open in Osborne Village.
Oil barely cool in the fryers since the departure of former occupant the Village Fish, the space has undergone a rapid transformation. The only vestiges of the chippy shop the indoor eaves working to greater effect now to suggest an outdoor dining experience.
The tiling at the counter (note the geckos) is a striking feature, no matter how 1970s kitchen it feels. Fake shuttered windows line the walls, painted in vibrant orange and blue reminiscent of a mid-80s Chi Chi’s.
If I were dining in a courtyard, however, and the windows faced inside as the roof line feature suggests, why would I be seeing one of the Three Amigos riding by on a horse?
All in all it’s a very casual atmosphere and if I were to hazard a guess, it’ll cater largely to a lunch clientele.
No firm opening date indicated, but wouldn’t it be cool if it was Cinco de Mayo (May 5th). Taking bets.
Eat
With great trepidation I watched brown paper mask the windows of Winnipeg’s gourmet fish n chippie, The Village Fish.
I held out hopes that it was merely a long overdue reno. But there’s no denying a new sign, proclaiming Burrito del Rio’s imminent opening. The Fish has floated on, down the drain, belly up (insert another suitable nautical cliche here).
There being no detectable currents on the tides of this change, the surreal and sudden departure of this Osborne Village jewel has me reciting lines of the Fishy segment from Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK0cUv3ba-o]
All I can say is so long, and thanks for all the fish. I will miss your Manitoba caught pickerel coated in a ridiculously light and crispy panko breadcrumb crust. Served with fresh baked bannock and a heaping helping of chips with malt vinegar, it was a decidedly Canadian spin on a great English tradition (with a tip of the ol bowler hat to Japan vis a vis the Panko bread crumbs).
Spoiled for traditional batter, I was forced to find a way to replicate the VF experience. I humbly submit Savour Winnipeg’s tribute to it here.
Eat
fish n chips, winnipeg restaurant closure
$1 brings clean water to 40 kids for a day through UNICEF TAP Project
Water. As Winnipeggers, we have a love/hate relationship with the stuff. It’s a basic necessity for life, one of our most abundant natural resources and a source of power, revenue, and recreation. And, with the arrival of spring, if you’re like me, you’re up to your baseboards in it right about now.
But 890 million people still use unsafe drinking water sources, and 2.5 billion lack basic sanitation facilities.
Enter UNICEF’s TAP Project, a simple idea with a global impact.
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Eat
unicef tap project, winnipeg, world water week
Tuesday, March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day. Although rooted in the spiritual mythology of Ireland, it has since become a world-wide phenomenon where thousands of cities simultaneously celebrate their Irish culture by holding parades, festivals and dying rivers, beer and food green.
Winnipeg is no exception and St. Paddy’s has become a milestone moment in our pub culture calendar. In advance of our tippling Tuesday, Savour Winnipeg presents 14 Peg Pubs Perfect for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day.
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Drink, Eat
st. patrick's day, winnipeg pubs
Sometimes I’m too busy (read: lazy) to make something at home, and even hauling myself out to a place that lets you pick-up is more effort than I can bear. That pretty much relegates me to either not eating (perish the thought) or the tired old standbys–Pizza and Chinese food. Well how about sushi, roti, butter chicken or ribs?
For a couple of extra dollars over the regular menu price you can, in fact, tap into the kind of cravings that only a dine in experience can offer.
Enter Winnipeg’s Mobile Maitre’d.
Simply place your order at one of the participating restaurants, then call MM’s operator at 777-DINE (3463). They’ll dispatch a driver to pick it up and deliver it right to your doorstep within the hour.
The service operates Monday through Sunday, 4:30-9:00pm, and even offers lunch delivery from a select few restaurants.
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Eat, Food, Shop
delivery, winnipeg menus
