Brantford Bites

On Friday, April 12th, I had the absolute pleasure of attending the most anticipated food event Brantford has seen in years! The Brantford Business Builders Networking Group hosted an evening with a vast selection of some of the biggest and the best Brantford has to offer on the food scene. The fundraiser was held in support of Woodview Mental Health & Autism Services of Brantford and raised a whopping $15,000 with this first time, sold out event.

The “food show” was not typical in the style where you are left fumbling with tokens or tickets. The pay-one-price admission was your passport to all the food you could imagine. The 30 vendors offered sample portions (all of which were generous in size!) of noshables varying from house specialty dishes, desserts, alcoholic beverages or whatever they felt represented the finest their business has to offer.

Upon arriving I was greeted with a passport lanynard with logos of each participating restaurant with the goal of ticking off every one in order to win the big grand prize. Being the experienced eater that I am, I was happy to see the majority of the vendors were people and places I am familiar with. Donating the time and the food to this worthy cause just shows how generous this gathering of independent business owners are to supporting the Brantford community.

Some of the bigger and well established businesses in Brantford that need no introduction like Zanders, Sweet Bakery, Strodes, Marias Pizza & Pastry and The Sherwood, all deserve a shout out! Their willingness to participate in events such as these with no advertising needed for their already booming businesses shows how much they believe in supporting and participating in such worthy and fun events!

Now as my redeemed passport proved, my sister and I stopped at every single table. Every. Single. One. Truth be told I was feeling a bit defeated.

We started off on the right foot with a sampling from one of my favourite places to get a drink – Howell Rd Cider co- located in St George. It seemed to set the tone for the evening.

The atmosphere was bustling in excited foodies and a roaring hunger filled the air.

Wandering down the aisle we were greeted with smiling with those familiar faces from many vendors, Our Kitchen with Cathy and her team of chefs and bakers were showing off the stylings of the certified commercial kitchen created for chefs, small businesses and entrepreneurs to grow and develop their business. Across the way was Annette from Le Chocolat! Sampling one of my favourite treats from the shop, Sea salt toffee crunch bark and classic peanut butter cups! Rounding down the next aisle we came upon Noreen and Mark from The Olive Oil Co dishing out dark balsamics over brownie or a small sampling of the many types of the olive oils they have in their shop. Right next door was Mercasa highlighting pizza for their samples, kudos to them for dishing out on these fantastic little compostable wooden paddle boards! After a brief intermission to digest and recharge and a quick look up the last aisle brought us to Shelby from Sugar & Spice bakery in Paris with her adorable Easter cookies and cupcakes on display then up to Isabelle from Sweet Isa located in St George with a delectable bite of braised beef with cheddar and horseradish in phyllo cup.

As Brantford classics and then some of my favourite spots are summed up, how about the new to me ones you ask!?!?!

Believe it or not, there were a couple!

Something special is happening out Burford way! Kristi’s Market Kitchen caught my eye with Nanaimo bars and chatting with the ladies about the delicious fresh local foods and baked goods in this country market along with Hidden Root Farms serving up local free range chicken sausage it makes me want to go for a mini

road trip!

Now there are 3 more places I am well aware of but never had the chance to pop by.....

Drongkowski’s Farm Market & Deli in St George has been recommended to me on more than 1 occasion. Presenting me with a choice of Roast Beef, Italian or Ham & Cheese piled high sandwiches, I opted for a Roast Beef and a Ham & Cheese, both with mustard, and both were delicious. If you can get me to eat mustard and *somewhat* enjoy it, you are doing something right!

Mia Cucina is always posting fresh and healthy meal options and was serving pesto bow-tie pasta and tomato saucy covered meatballs. My sampling from this authentic Italian storefront will absolutely be a spot to stop by to bring home a quick and delicious meal for my family.

Last but not least on my radar was Little Paris Bread Co. I’m not much of a sweets kind of person so to me, there’s not much more comforting than a fresh warm loaf of homemade bread. Unfortunately by the time I hit this table, it was one of my last stops. I was, at this point, feeling that defeat. I chose one, and one only sample of the caramelized onion. I was confident in the choice and now I’m craving more!

So there you have it.

If you were counting, that wasn’t 30 places. This could seriously go on forever with the amazing generosity of these local proprietors. The joyous giggles of food stuffed faces, the chattering of food talk, the “did you try this” and “wasn’t that delicious” was clearly an indication to the success of the evening.