A Fête For All The Senses
Feast On: A Superior Thunder Bay Banquet
Review by Jeannie Dubois, Photos by Sidney Ulakovic
Organized by the lovely Melissa Gagné of the Culinary Tourism Alliance in partnership with Destination Northern Ontario and Tourism Thunder Bay and hosted by the delightful Kayla Wallace of Goods & Co. Market, Feast On: A Taste of Thunder Bay was a one-of-a-kind moveable feast showcasing the incredible talent of our local chefs and the amazing dishes that bring to life with our local produce.
(L-R) Kayla Wallace, events manager at Goods & Co. Market, and Melissa Gagné of the Culinary Tourism Alliance
Encompassing the entire venue with walk about table-to-table self-service, this unique event highlighted thoughtful, small serving dishes with the chefs on hand, busily prepping and kindly dispensing not only their innovations, but their thoughts on them.
It all began with the talented mixologists of Woodside, who created a signature cocktail for the event, which was a delicious interpretation of a spicy spring carrot cake made in-house.
As one moved into the heart of the event, the savoury waft of appetizers served as a guide to the wonderful women at Donato’s Bakery, who lovingly served up sliced squares of their well-known pizza. Next up was the sublime John Murray, at Red Lion Smokehouse, with the most charming mini crepes stuffed with your choice of savoury duck confit or veg-friendly smoked carrots. After that one can travel to Nomad, where the wonderful Nikos Mantis had delightfully crispy croquettes of the veal short rib variety or creamy spiced squash if you wish.
Duck confit crêpes by chef John Murray of Red Lion Smokehouse
Spiced squash croquette by chef Nikos Mantis of NOMAD
And that’s only the beginning. Next up were the small dinner plates, starting with Awa Diakhate from AfroGourmets, featuring a sumptuous lamb tajine, replete with tasty onion sauce and tangy caramelized carrots. On to the darling Aakash Rathod of Woodside Catering, who presented a beautifully textured tarte de bosquet, a miraculously creamy and earthy mushroom tart made for the season. Continuing on, Mercy Aby Adjei of the African Lounge generously offered up a glorious helping of lemony jollof rice, topped with chicken wings or beef skewers. Ending with the superlative Hayden Johnston of Toronto restaurant Richmond Station, the Thunder Bay native and Top Chef Canada winner who came especially for the event, and didn’t disappoint with his pumpkin agnolotti, which were essentially little pasta pillows filled with goodness.
Belluz Farms pumpkin agnolotti by chef Hayden Johnston of Richmond Station
But that is not all! Desserts abound, so another round was necessary. Donato’s lovely ladies brought out the tiramisu and persian cheesecake, Mantis pulled out all the stops with a maple and crab apple butter tart, and Murray tickled all the sweet senses with a maple and haskap berry marshmallow.
Maple and haskap berry marshmallow by chef John Murray of Red Lion Smokehouse
All of this was paired with a cultivated list of Ontario VQA wines to try alongside your favourite small plate, all orchestrated by the very astute sommelier Cale Graydon.
A truly sumptuous affair, with a wonderful opportunity to wander and mingle, featuring such an abundance of local talent and produce, one can only hope that Thunder Bay will be able to continue to Feast On again.
