We spent the day at Art By The River

There are a lot of cool events that go down every year in Essex County. Things like Art in the Park, Eat Your City restaurant week and the Tecumseh Corn Fest. There are so many of these events every summer that I never manage to make it out to all of them. Heck I don't even make it to half of them. Art by the River is one that I do try to attend every year and one that I just got back from.

Art by the River is held each year in the town of Amherstburg Ontario. Amherstburg is a historical town that's living up the heritage thing while still trying to be modern and relevant. It's a War of 1812 heritage community and the site of Fort Malden is the location for Art by the River as well as a slew of other annual festivities. This art and craft show is very similar to the big Art in the Park festival held in Windsor, but slightly smaller. Due to this smaller size I've always found it to be more personal, plus the prices seem to be more reasonable.

We got up early this morning and packed up the kids and headed out to Romas Pizza for breakfast. Romas is in the town of LaSalle and it's about half way to Amherstburg. Not only was it directly along our route, they also serve a great breakfast but on weekends only. I'm a big fan of their meat-lovers omelet.  They also have an awesome Gyro Pizza I recommend anyone in the area to try at least once, though not for breakfast (they don't start serving Pizza until lunch).

After breakfast we finished the rest of the trip and spent some time driving around the small town of Amherstburg looking for a CIBC bank so we could get some cash. This ended up being fortuitous since the ATM at Art by the River was down when we got there. We drove around for quite a bit and were really surprised by the changes in the town. The old Sherwood mall was completely gone replaced by the typical Canadian big box lot. There was a Walmart, Sobey's, Mark's Work Warehouse and more. This is all stuff that is new to the area. Stuff that previously people would have to drive to LaSalle, Essex or Windsor to get. It seemed odd to me as up until just recently Amherstburg really hasn't changed much at all.

After our quick driving tour (there's only one CIBC in the entire town, it's in the old downtown, the last place we checked, of course) we spent a good 10 minute sharking for a parking spot. That's the one thing about all of these local events, there's never enough parking. We eventually found a good spot, headed in and paid our $10 at the door. It's $5 each for the adults and free for kids under 12.


I was really impressed with the show this year. It seemed like they added a few more booths than last year without making the place seem crowded. There was the usual mix of crafty stuff like painted ceramics, fine art, paintings, photography and everything in between. For some reason glasswork seemed very popular this year, with lots of beads and some really awesome glass creations. I really wanted to buy a particular glass snail for my girls but I know it probably wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes in their hands. I was also very tempted by a wooden dragon puzzle. My wife lusted after some sun hats and ended up picking up a nice one for my oldest daughter. In the end we did end up buying some of the glasswork but only a small, much less breakable acorn.

Along with lots of cool and impressive arts and crafts there were also a wide variety of live shows. There were no less than four performance areas at which there was always at least a musician playing. One larger stage hosted more in depth shows including some historical reenactment by the Essex County Historical Society I think I heard the cannons go off twice in the four or so hours we were at the event. Actually you could find reinactors walking around throughout the show looking far too hot in the 1800s garb. My kids especially love to sit and listen to the live music, which I was  thankful for as it gave a nice break from the crowds and the heat.

Art by the River also has a small kids section. There you have face painting, a clown on duty and a painting area where kids get to paint at an easel and take home their art. I swear I remember there being a lot more for kids to do last year including a local dance company giving free lessons and trying to sell parents on sending their kids to the school. I'm not sure why they weren't here this year. My kids were happy enough just to get to paint and didn't seem to miss anything from previous years though.

The other thing you can find at shows like this is food. Now these events always have a food tent where you can get stuff to eat. This particular one had the typical hot dogs and burgers and overpriced pop and water. That's not really what I'm talking about here. What I'm talking about are the booths that are selling cool food products. We picked up a liter of pure Canadian Maple Syrup from Uncle Richard's Maple, some gourmet nuts from C'est Bon and the best Kettle Corn I've ever had from Poppers in Harrow (I would link to their website but it seems to be broken and just plays a rather funky Popcorn song but nothing else). I don't think my kids would let me leave any of these local events without buying at least one large bag of Kettle Corn.

In addition to stuff I bought there were also booths selling a variety of dips and sauces. The Wicked Gourmet was there this year selling their great products (most of these are now available at Remark Farms so I usually don't buy from them at festivals). There was a guy that was very excitedly trying to get people to try his hummus and at least two booths selling spices. I was surprised we didn't see The Bean Ladies this year, they were always regulars at this event and Art by the Park. Most of the booths with food items also offered samples which had my kids yanking us this way and that so they could try everything.



On the trip home we stopped at a couple of the fruit and vegetable stands along the highway. All through Essex county you can find these along any of the major county roads, each of them selling a selection of local produce and often some home made crafts or sweets. My wife grabbed some local onion and peppers as well as some fresh picked strawberries. Pretty much any trip we take out in the County includes a stop like this on the way home.

A good meal, a nice drive down by the lake, a tour of a historic town, great art, great performances and some great food. I can't ask for much more on a warm Summer Sunday.

My daughter has good taste in cheese

At Remark Farms, a locally owned grocer, they have a huge cheese section (and an amazing deli). As part of these cheese section they always have samples.

My kids of course love this. Not our last trip but the trip before, my oldest was with me and we tried some Muenster cheese as a sample. It was rather good so I bought a small brick. What I didn't know is that when we got home my daughter went on and on to Mom about how her and Dad picked out special cheese for us to share. Okay that wasn't the initial plan, but I'm cool with this. I love the fact she's willing to try new things. So we shared the cheese.

This week she asked if we could try the samples again. I had a feeling I knew what was coming. We tried a bunch of different cheeses and she really took a liking to Kerrygold Dubliner. So I checked with the master of the money and she okay'd a purchase of a small brick. I also got a pack of sliced Muenster to put on sandwiches for lunch this week.

Right now my daughter and I are sharing this as a small snack before I get neck deep in board game packing for The Great Canadian Board Game Blitz. Man this is a great cheese. It's very hard, almost like Parmesan but with a taste more like old cheddar. My daughter has good taste in cheese.

For lunch today I checked out the 13th annual Windsor Star Pasta & Pizza Fest

I've been hearing about this event for weeks, mainly over on Eyes on Windsor where I've done a couple of guest blog posts. I didn't think I was going to be able to check it out this year but then I had a sudden schedule change at work so my time was freed up and I was even able to bring my wife along with me.

This year marks the 13th annual Windsor Star Pasta & Pizza Fest. This event is put on to benefit The Kidney Foundation of Canada, Windsor & District Chapter. There's a long list of local sponsors including The Windsor Star, AM800, RBC, McDonalds, Riverview Steel, The Windsor Police, Champion and the aforementioned Eyes on Windsor.

Big crowd even half an hour before the end.

The event was hosted at the Giovani Coboto Club, always an impressive place to visit and the hall was packed. It cost us each $12 to get in which seems like a great price for all you can eat food and supporting a good cause. Due to my work schedule we got there a little later than I would have liked: in the closing half hour. Due to this I was sad to find that most of the food was rather cold, especially the pizzas. Almost none of the vendors brought ovens or anything and there were just boxes of king size pizzas sitting out and pasta in chafing dishes.

Volunteers were on hand to serve you and there was an insane amount of selection. I counted 35 different local restaurants, clubs and hotels in attendance. Most places were offering at least one type of pizza and a pasta dish. Most of the pasta offerings were some form of penne with meat sauce but I was glad to see some other variety including gnocchi and even a rice dish and some stir fry. Most of the pizza places were offering cheese and pepperoni or some type of deluxe pizza. There were some notable exceptions like the Napolitana from Antonino's.

Capri, Arcata and Antonino's 

Personally I stuck with mostly Pizza but did have to try The Hilton's Chorizo and Shrimp Penne as I just love Chorizo. Everything I had was good, though I still wasn't a big fan of the temperature. I tried pizza from about six different places and two different pastas. My wife grabbed more pasta than pizza and also tried a mix.

I fully expected to attend this and leave with some new places to order from and maybe somewhere new to take my parents out for dinner (My Dad loves pizza and my Mom is a huge penne fan). I didn't get that. While we were enjoying our styrofoam plates of food we would go back and check to see where our favourites came from. My wife found two pastas she really enjoyed. Looking into it they both came from Koolini's. Well we already knew the pasta there was fantastic. There were two cheese and pepperoni pizzas I enjoyed the most. I checked, Capri and Anoninio's. I already knew those were two of the best Windsor Style pizzas in town. So while everything was good there were no surprises except for one.

Armando's Revs and Hilton pasta

The biggest treat of this event for me was trying something totally new from Armando's. This was their new Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza. This stuff was great. Real authentic deep dish pizza mixed with that stuff that makes Windsor Pizza some of the best in the world. A really amazing combination. I actually spent some time talking to the man behind this new pizza (totally should have written his name down, sorry dude) and he noted that this would be something new that would be available in the next couple weeks from their Cabana location only. The good news for those of us not local to that location is that to start out they will be willing to deliver it city wide. From there they have plans to expand it outward to two or three more stores.

Overall I was glad we managed to find some time to stop in. Next year though I will make sure to get there early while everything is hot and the desserts haven't run out.

Bubi's - the Food Network is right: you gotta eat here!

I've been waiting patiently for the weather to warm up so that I could go have one of my favourite dinning experiences in the city. Sitting on the patio at Bubi's Awesome Eats with my family, a pitcher of Barking Squirrel Lager and a Bill's Big Boy sandwich.

Bubi's is a well known for great food here in Windsor. They've been around for 26 years and have always had a reputation for their huge portions and garlicky food. Actually the garlicky part is pretty much their staple. Everything is made with garlic or garlic butter and pretty much every dish comes with this amazing stuff called Bubi's sauce. A mayo based garlic sauce.

This place is good enough it was featured on the Food Network Series: You Gotta Eat Here! They actually show the head cook making a huge vat of Bubi's sauce. Check it out:

Physically Bubi's is one of the most inviting places in the city. It's a converted house that still feels like a home. The entire place screams casual. Come in, relax and let us cook something up for you. There's a bar section and two different levels of dining area. Outside is one of the best patios in the city. The place is well spaced out and manages to pack 'em in without feeling crowded.

Chicken Club Salad

The menu at Bubi's has a huge mix of items but mainly features large portion sandwiches and burgers. There's a bunch of appetizers with portions so big that even our family of 6 has seconds. Every time we go we get a large order of Mozza Cheez Sticks to dip in that amazing Bubi's sauce. The menu also features Tex-Mex, salads, sammies (sandwiches), 1/3 pound burgers, wraps and folds, stir fries and even a selection of international picks like some of the best Cevapi in the city.. Bubi's is also known for their frozen yogurt. Most menu items are in the $9-$15 range.

I can't talk about Bubi's without mentioning the Bunda's Big V8. One of the most unique items on the menu is an 8lbs, that's right EIGHT POUND burger! If you buy this you get a T-Shirt to go with it. If you finish it you win $1000. I have to admit I don't know anyone that has even tried.

My personal favourite thing to get at Bubi's is a "Sammie" called Bill's Big Boy. It's got chicken, bacon, black forest ham & gyros meat, stacked on gar-licked rye, with Bubi's sauce, lettuce & tomato, topped with cheddar cheese. It comes with wedge fries, soup or salad and is only $14.99!

Bill's Big Boy

In addition to great food Bubi's also has one of the better beer selections in the city that often feature lesser known Ontario Craft Brewers. I'm personally hooked on Hop City Barking Squirrel Lager and there's nothing better than sitting back with my Dad and enjoying a pitcher on the patio.

Speaking of the patio, Bubi's has one of the nicest patios in the city. It runs the length of the building, had tons of room, a tree growing up through the middle of it and some really nice wrought iron rails. Metal mesh tables and chairs with lots of umbrellas for the sun finish it off. I don't know exactly what it is but I just love that patio.

Like the Food Network says: You Gotta Eat Here! Seriously, it's some of the best comfort food in the city.

On location at Un-Wine-D: Grown Right Here

About a week after my first guest post, over at Eyes on Windsor, Eric Bonnici asked me if I wanted to do another post for him. Very cool. This time he offered to send my wife and I to the Un-Wind-D! tapas dinner at Mettawas Station restaurant in Kingsville.

The Un-Wine-D Menu

Despite some trepidation leading up to the event, my wife and I had a fantastic evening. We got to meet Chef Anthony DelBrocco and his wife Janet along with Sou Checf Bridgette Perciballi. The meal featured four courses paired with wines and was put together by Bridgette. The theme was Grown Right Here and to that end everything was Ontario Local.

We had some amazing food: a Spring Salad, Pork Belly, Beef Wellington and Ricotta Rosettes. Wines included a Pinot Grigio, Cabernet Franc and a Cabernet Merlot. All of them pared up amazingly. Overall it was a great relaxing night, truly a chance to unwind in the middle of the week and we've already signed up for next month's event featuring Pizza and Napa wines.

You can read a lot more about our experience at Un-Wine-D including a break down of all four courses over at Eyes on Windsor:
http://eyesonwindsor.com/restaurant-guide/dining-news/restaurant-reviews/un-wine-d-tapas-dinner-review-at-mettawas-station-mediterranean-restaurant/

The Twisted Apron, amazing even by Walkerville standards

One of the coolest areas of Windsor is a neighborhood called Walkerville. Walkerville was founded in 1890 by Hiram Walker, yes the booze guy, Hiram Walker. The distillery is still going strong producing Canadian Club and other popular Canadian brands. Walker built the town as a model town and a lot of that old school look and feel is still there. A lot of the original buildings still stand and the newer shops and houses were built with that old town look. Walkerville along with Sandwhich and Ford City all became part of the larger City of Windsor in 1935.

The Twisted Apron main entrance

Walkerville is now a one of many "historic neigbourhoods" of Windsor and features a unified neighborhood look and feel, higher end boutique shopping, good food and great drink. In this area you will find Windsor's only brewery; Walkerville Brewery, one of the cities only euro style pubs; O'magios Kildare House, one of the finest pizza places in the city; Vito's Pizzeria, a great Tapas restaurant; The Gourmet Emporium, the headquarters for the Arts Council of Windsor; The Artcite Gallery and a lot more. All of these places are amazing, but there's one we keep going back to again and again and that's The Twisted Apron. Heck, during my wife's birthday vacation in Windsor we ate there twice.

The Twisted Apron is a fairly small place located right in the heart of Walkerville at 1833 Wyandotte East. It looks a bit tiny on the outside until you realize that they actually take up two store fronts. It's also a lot deeper than it looks from the outside. Though it's larger than it looks, don't expect them to have room for you even though they have all this space. Reservations are recommended and without them you can expect a bit of a wait.

Breakfast Poutine

One of the things that keeps drawing us aback is the fact that everything is prepared fresh with a home cooked style. Their motto is It's like eating at Mom's...if Mom were a kickin' gourmet chef. The food is never frozen, always prepared with local ingredients and using home made recipes. What this ends up giving the diner is a great homey welcoming feel while being served some of the best food they've ever had. There's none of the pretentiousness you sometimes come to expect from places that serve food so good.

Breakfast Flatbread

Menus at The Twisted Apron are seasonal and there is always a Breakfast/Lunch menu and a Dinner Menu. There's also a Carry out Menu for those in a hurry or not willing to wait in line for a table. Personally we've only actually been for breakfast and lunch so that's the food I will be talking about here. Menu items range from $9-$15, though if you aren't that hungry you can grab just a house salad for $6 or a cup of soup for just $3. It's worth noting that the dinner menu also has a large selection of drinks including Wines, Spirits and an amazing Canadian Craft Beer Selection. Dinners range from $10-$21 and still feature home cooked favourites.

Fried Perch

If you are there for breakfast I can't recommend the Breakfast Poutine enough. It's $10 and comes with hashbrowns, bacon, cheddar, chicken gravy and scrambled eggs, all tossed together poutine style. It also comes with your choice of toast and a side of fresh preserves. I absolutely love this meal. It's the main thing that has me personally coming back time and time again. My wife usually mixes it up a bit more than me trying something new each time. Our last trip she tried the Breakfast Flastbread. This was also $10 and had naan bread, bacon, cheddar, scrambled egg, spinach, sweet onion relish and hasbrowns. She loved it.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Now I noted that during that weekend in Windsor we ate at The Apron twice. Well one of those times was for lunch and it was our first time going there later in the day. We weren't disappointed by the food at all. For lunch I had a great Pulled Pork Sandwich for $10. This had local pork, cheddar, crispy onion and coleslaw all on a pretzel bun. My wife tried the Fried Perch for $12 which was planko-crusted Lake Erie perch, fries coleslaw and fresh made tartar. Neither of us walked away hungry or disappointed.

Actually that's worth noting, I have to admit every time we go the portions look too small to my eyes. I always sit there and think that I'm going to end up wanting desert or leave hungry. I think I'm just soured by so many big chain places overloading you with sub-par food. The food is just okay and you end up justifying it by the huge amount of food you get for the price. The portion size here at the Twisted Apron is pretty much perfect. I've never left hungry.

I love the Walkerville area. It's one of my favourite parts of town to visit, either for an afternoon of shopping, a pint of beer after work or a meal on the weekend. Breakfast at the Twisted Apron has become one of our families weekend delights and I don't expect that to change any time soon. Sometime though, I've got to make it there for dinner.

So when you are in the Windsor area or if you live here, do you head out to the Walkerville area? If so, what's your favourite part of one of the oldest areas of town?

A food filled vacation right here in Windsor

For about 10 years in a row we had a tradition of heading up to London Ontario for my Wife's birthday. It started with a random trip to the bus depot over breakfast that ended up with us having probably the best weekend we've ever had. Well this year we broke that tradition and had a vacation right here in Windsor.

One of the best parts about our kid free weekend was the food. We took the chance to hit a bunch of our local favorites as well as try a couple new places. So what we have here is a synopsis of some of the great food we had during our stay in Windsor vacation for my Wife's Birthday. Over the next week or so I hope to do a full review of each of these great places, well except for Jack's as I already did that one back in January. For now though I'll just leave you with these small bites.

Pulled Pork from The Twisted Apron

The Twisted Apron - this amazing place is somewhere we only discovered late last year but became an instant favorite. It's one of the best places in Windsor for breakfast. What we found out during the birthday weekend was that it's also amazing for lunch. Located in the heart of old Walkerville on Wyandotte it's also pretty close to home for us. Great food at great prices with focus on local produce and meats. Check out this Pulled Pork Sandwich  $10 for local pork, cheddar, crispy onion and coleslaw on a pretzel bun. Add some fresh made local tomato soup and I was very happy. 

Rosemary Lamb Meat Loaf from Jack's

Jack's Gastropub - when we first started talking about this stay in Windsor vacation one of the places we knew we had to try again was Jack's Gastropub. We first went there during Winter Bites and it was amazing. The return trip was just as good. I had the most fantastic meat loaf I've ever had. The Rosemary Lamb Meat Loaf was served with a Three Cheese Potato Strata and finished with Beef Gravy and Onion Tanglers. It runs $20 which may seem high but is worth it as soon as you try the first bite. I've been recommending it to pretty much everyone.

Pizza with Corn Beef Hash and
Eggs Benedict, hell yeah!

Casino Windsor Buffet - I've been hearing from friends and co-workers that I have to try the Casino breakfast buffet sometime. Well what better time than a weekend checking out local sites. What is more Touristy than the Casino. I was totally blown away by this buffet. I've never seen so much variety. It ranged from fresh made omelets to a Pizza bar. There was a chocolate fountain and a Mongolian grill. You could grab Chinese or make yourself tacos. There was fresh carved prime rib even at 10am. Okay it's not cheap but come on. Everything was fresh and hot and attended by a chef. Where else can you get this good a food in this amount of variety for $25 a head (cheaper if you have a Casino points card).

Three of the 5 rolls we ordered at
The Sushi California

The Sushi California - Okay we went downtown to hit a new favourite, Terra Cotta. Sadly they closed earlier than I expected for a Saturday night so we tried somewhere down the road and found some of the best Sushi we've had in the city. Awesome looking place that's Tardis like in it's size inside vs it's unassuming  front. Really great authentic Japanese feel with actual J-Pop playing. The biggest sushi rolls I've ever seen in my life. Not just width but 8-10 piece rolls. Just look at this plate! We ended up with literally twice as much food as my Wife and I could eat and ended up spending about $70, which is about the same price we would spend at our usual Sushi choices.

Corn Beef and Cheese Omelet from Paul's

Paul's Kitchen - this is another one of those hidden gems that is right up there for best breakfast in Windsor. This place is tiny and very popular which usually means it's hard to actually get in without a wait. So I'm not telling you where it is ;) Paul's is an old school home cooking breakfast diner. Amazingly good fast and cheap breakfast. My personal favorite is a Corn Beef and Cheese Omelet which comes with a horde of hashbrowns, toast and a slice of melon. I don't think I've ever completely cleared my plate.  My wife and I hit this place regularly, both with and without the kids.

Breakfast Poutine at The Twisted Apron

The Twisted Apron - didn't I already mention this place? Yep, but it's so good we went twice. This time around we went back so I could get one of the most amazing breakfast items I've ever eaten. That picture right there is the Breakfast Poutine. Hashbrowns, bacon, cheddar, chicken gravy, scrambled eggs and a side of toast. At only $10 this is the breakfast item I find I crave the most often. Seriously you owe it to yourself to try this sometime. Sure it looks odd and I know you are thinking: Chicken Gravy!?! Trust me here, I thought the same thing. It works and it works well.

So there you have a highlight of some of the amazing local food I got to enjoy during our stay in Windsor vacation. Check back here over the next few weeks as I find the time to do a full write up of each of these amazing restaurants. 

EDIT: check out my full post on The Twisted Apron and my first ever guest post over at Eyes on Windsor where I talk about The Sushi California