HAMILTON CITY Magazine - No. 8 - Spring 2024

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Be the future of Hamilton, one of Canada’s largest cities and most diversified economies. Home to an active and inclusive community; thriving arts, cultural and music scenes; and a mecca of food and culinary experiences. A waterfront city that embraces its natural environment and beauty with hundreds of kilometers of hiking trails, and so much more.

Join our diverse, talented and ambitious city team who embody our commitment to service quality, a passion for nurturing change and a dedication to steadfast integrity. Our engaged, empowered employees make a difference. So will you. Hamilton is happening. #BeTheReason

Consider joining the City to advance your career in public service.

Scan the QR code or visit hamilton.ca/careers

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Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch is the first major retrospective exhibition of the multi-media work of Mohawk artist Shelley Niro, based in Brantford, ON. Spanning four decades of her photography, film, painting, installation, sculpture and mixed media practice, the exhibition highlights themes she constantly returns to: Matriarchy, Past is Present, Actors, and Family Relations.

Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch is organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Hamilton with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and with curatorial support from the National Gallery of Canada. Major support for this project is provided by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Terra Foundation for American Art.

123 King Street West, Hamilton 905.527.6610

artgalleryofhamilton.com

Shelley Niro, 500 Year Itch, 1992. Gelatin silver print heightened with applied colour, mounted on Masonite. National Gallery of Canada,Ottawa. Gift of Victoria Henry, Ottawa, 2003.

MEREDITH M acLEOD EDITOR CO-FOUNDER / CO-PUBLISHER

WILL VIPOND TAIT CREATIVE DIRECTOR CO-FOUNDER / CO-PUBLISHER

SALES

JANE

HICKS

+ JASON ALLEN

PARTNERSHIPS + SPECIAL PROJECTS

JEFFREY MARTIN (FOUNDING

PUBLISHER)

FINANCE + SUBSCRIPTIONS GORDON MUISE

CIRCULATION JEREMY FREIBURGER

PROOFREADERS

SHERRI TELENKO + JESSICA ROSE

PRINTING DOLLCO PRINT SOLUTIONS GROUP

CHOW DOWN AND DRINK UP!

Welcome to the eighth edition of HAMILTON CITY Magazine – our food and drink issue!

Who doesn’t love food and drink? And there is so much to talk about on the exciting and diverse Hamilton and Burlington culinary scene.

HAMILTON CITY Magazine (HCM) is published by Hamilton City Publishing Inc. All rights reserved. Content may not be reprinted without written permission.

©2024 Hamilton City Publishing Inc.

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In this issue, Kris Osborne takes a deep dive into the local low- and no-alcohol scene. Plenty of people, for plenty of reasons, are cutting back on booze or leaving it behind entirely. But that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy a sophisticated, tasty craft drink while out on the town. Bartenders such as Kyle Ferreira at Bar Sazerac, have lots of tricks up their light-on-liquor sleeves.

As you peruse this magazine, you’ll learn about Hamilton’s most important food families, how Stoney Creek wineries are reinventing themselves, and about local chefs who are sharing their love and knowledge of food with those who want to be better cooks.

This edition also highlights the incredible work of McQuesten Urban Farm in growing

food for its community and De Mazenod Door in providing meals for the most vulnerable among us.

And we also feature brilliant bakeries, the great foodie district of King William Street and the local eateries where time stands still.

There is so much more to enjoy in this issue – so please dig in!

If you love Hamilton as much as we do and appreciate what we are doing to showcase our city, please consider subscribing. Share your love for HCM far and wide. You can also support us by buying a gift subscription or visiting hamiltoncitymagazine.ca regularly for our exclusive online content.

Finally, please show some love to our advertisers and tell them you saw their ad in HCM! And if you’ve got a favourite shop, regular restaurant or great service provider, please let them know they should be advertising in HCM – which celebrates all things Hamilton!

The small (but mighty) HCM team

KYLE FERREIRA, OWNER AT BAR SAZERAC, IS AMONG HAMILTON’S BARTENDERS COMING UP WITH EXCITING, SOPHISCATED LOW- AND NO-ALCOHOL DRINKS. PHOTO: MARTA HEWSON FOR HCM. SCAN THE QR CODE TO SEE A VIDEO OF OUR COVER SHOOT!

Whether you’re stopping in for lunch or planning a night out, there’s something for everyone to eat at Jackson Square!

Aichi Japan

Anchor Bar

Booster Juice

Burger King

Calabar Kitchen

Country Style Bistrodeli

Crack Me Up

Everest Tandoori

Fit For Life

Jan Bingo

Jimmy The Greek

Kajun Chicken & Seafood

Kentucky Fried Chicken

Mama Coco

New York Fries

Pita Lite

Pita Pit

Real Fruit Bubble Tea

Starbucks

Taco Bell

Tim Hortons (E-68)

Tim Hortons (W-02)

Toby’s Good Eats

Wok Express

ON THE COVER: KYLE FERREIRA

Photographed by Marta Hewson for HAMILTON CITY Magazine |

Hair/Make-up: Katelyn O’Neil

INSIDE

THE HEADLINERS

10/ THE FLIP SIDE OF URBAN SPRAWL

Preserving Hamilton’s rural character needs to be a high priority for economic and environmental reasons.

12/ TESTING THE EV OPEN ROAD

A sudden trip to California provided the circumstances to try driving an electric vehicle on a 8,400-km round trip through challenging conditions.

14/ FARM CITY

McQuesten Urban Farm grows healthy, affordable and culturally diverse food for its neighbours, while providing classes in cooking, canning and fermenting.

24/ REINVENTING NIAGARA WINE

Local wineries have come through some tough times but the mood of the industry is optimistic as it reimagines a more intimate connection to its customers and the farmland it calls home.

36/ CHEERS TO BOOZE-FREE

Low- and no-alcohol cocktails are shaking up drink menus across the city – just try not to call them mocktails.

45/ AN OPEN DOOR

De Mazenod Door at St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Hamilton is helping those in deep need each and every day with homemade meals, kind words and even a home to call their own.

62/ CITY VIEW: HAVING IT ALL

Patricia Gagic is a Hamilton-based international contemporary artist and author, with multiple awards for her painting, photography and writing.

THE FOOD + DRINK ISSUE

CHECK OUT ALL OF OUR FOOD + DRINK RELATED CONTENT BELOW!

8/ FOR THE LOVE OF HAMILTON: CHEF ANTHONY ZOLKIEWICZ

14/ CITY LIFE: M c QUESTEN URBAN FARM

22/ MADE IN HAMILTON: GENERATIONS OF FABULOUS FOOD

24/ MADE IN HAMILTON: REINVENTING NIAGARA WINE

29/ FOOD: COMMA CAFÉ

30/ FOOD: LEARNING TO COOK

32/ FOOD: HAMILTON’S CULINARY TIME MACHINE

36/ FOOD: CHEERS TO BOOZE-FREE

40/ FOOD: FAMISHED FOR THE FOOD TRUCK

43/ FOOD: BEAUTY IN THE BAKE

45/ FOOD: DE MAZENOD DOOR AT ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH

49/ FOOD: KING WILLIAM STREET – THE KING OF RESTAURANT ROW

The Music h all projec T aT T he New Visio N church has a $1.3 - M illio N pla N To bri N g a M oder N 1,000-seaT li V e M usic V e N ue To T he his Toric dow NTow N place of worship.

MAIN ATTRA c TIONS

7/ CITY LIFE

21/ MADE IN HAMILTON

29/ FOOD + DRINK

53/ ARTS + CULTURE

REGULAR STOPS

8/ FOR THE LOVE OF HAMILTON

19/ LIFE IN THE CITY

60/ HAMILTON READS

62/ CITY VIEW

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The City of Hamilton is situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississaugas. This land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, which was an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. We further acknowledge that this land is covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.

Today, the City of Hamilton is home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island (North America) and we recognize that we must do more to learn about the rich history of this land so that we can better understand our roles as residents, neighbours, partners and caretakers.

Both the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day take place on Sept. 30 and recognize that at least 150,000 Indigenous children from across the country were forcibly separated from their families and their communities.

FEATURING:

APRIL 17-21

5 DAYS

28 EVENTS

7 WORKSHOPS

AINARA ALLEYNE

GARY BARWIN

ALICIA ELLIOTT CANISIA LUBRIN

SHANI MOOTOO

PAIGE MAYLOTT PETER MANSBRIDGE

CASEY PLETT

KAI CHENG THOM ANUJA VARGHESE

JESSICA WESTHEAD

TOM WILSON

Opening doors

DOORS OPEN HAMILTON – MAY 4 AND 5 – WILL FEATURE A MUSIC THEME AND 50 SITES ACROSS THE CITY.

Fifty sites will throw open their doors for a weekend in May to celebrate Hamilton’s architectural and musical past and present.

Doors Open Hamilton celebrated food in 2023 and will highlight music this year. The event will feature music venues, schools, churches and live music walking tours in Stoney Creek, Westdale and on Locke Street, with many sites offering concerts, talks and other events.

Highlights include: tours of the LIVElab at McMaster University that uses a 106-seat research theatre to study the effects of music on the human psyche; the Gursikh Sangat Hamilton, a Sikh temple that will be having chanted prayers throughout the day; and the 188-year-old Stewart Memorial Church where an all-Black choir will be performing on May 4 at 12:30 p.m. They will sing spirituals that travelled with the original congregation up the Underground Railway to freedom in Hamilton.

Theatre Aquarius will feature a tour of its building, including costume and set shops. Other featured sites include the Music Hall at New Vision United Church, the Rock on Locke, the storied Grant Avenue Studio, Memorial Arts Centre in Ancaster, and legendary local venues such as

the Coach and Lantern and the Corktown.

The Hamilton region event is among 25 in-person Doors Open events across Ontario held from April to October. Doors Open in an initiative of The Ontario Heritage Trust.

Doors Open Hamilton is among the largest in the province. More than 12,000 people attended 35 sites last year and organizers are expecting 20,000 this year.

“Doors Open connects people with their built environment,” says Shannon Kyles, a longtime professor of architectural history, who is leading the Hamilton event.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to break down unconscious barriers to buildings. The whole point is to open doors to places people might not have seen before. It’s about placebuilding and being part of communities.”

Kyles says other benefits of Doors Open is that it is a free, family-oriented event and it introduces newcomers to their community.

“It’s our built community, no matter how long you’ve lived in the city.”

Doors Open Hamilton will be held May 4 and 5 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. n doorsopenontario.on.ca

PELLER HALL AT THE ANCASTER MEMORIAL ARTS CENTRE WILL BE AMONG 50 SITES OPEN FOR THIS YEAR’S DOORS OPEN HAMILTON WEEKEND ON MAY 4 AND 5. THIS YEAR’S THEME IS MUSIC. PHOTO: SUBMITTED

FOR THE LOVE OF HAMILTON

ANTHONY ZOLKIEWICZ

who he is: Chef and owner of Gastro Market, 193 King St. E, Hamilton

interviewed by: Meredith MacLeod

photo by: Lucas Claxton/Giant Shoe Creative Agency

THIS REGULAR FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE WHO HAVE EMBRACED HAMILTON AS THEIR NEW HOME. r

Don’t

A veteran chef with over 25 years of experience working in various food establishments, including banquet halls, hotels, bistros and fine dining restaurants. ANTHONY ZOLKIEWICZ has been sharing his culinary prowess with students of varying ages and backgrounds as a chef instructor. Through Gastro Market, his goal is to bring his fun-loving culinary vision to life so that every food lover may learn how to become their own chef at home and to experience tasty, beautifully crafted, homestyle meals and ingredients from his talented team of chefs.

FUN WITH FOOD

What do you do at Gastro Market and what is the experience you provide to your guests?

Cooking is a life skill. And our mission is to help every Canadian household be able to cook good food fresh from scratch. This is the vision behind Gastro. We’re a very small team of chefs and culinary educators dedicated to teaching culinary arts and empowering people from all walks of life with the ability to cook. Most folks don’t have the time or financial resources to attend culinary school, and likewise, most high schools no longer offer proper culinary programs where Canadian youth can at least build some basic foundations for cooking. So, in this day and age of DoorDash, inflation and skyrocketing grocery prices, where does the average Canadian learn how to cook and fend for themselves? This is where we hope our unique program offerings, like our 8-week adult home and teen chef series, couples cooking classes, and corporate “Hell’s Kitchen” team building, help provide our guests with a fun and foundational learning experience.

What made you choose the location of your business in International Village?

To be honest, it was the space itself that really made us commit. We have our main operations on the ground floor, but the mezzanine is a super cool private dining space that overlooks our cooking studio. It’s also a great vantage point from which you can tease your partner during a couples cooking class or your colleagues during one of our Hell’s Kitchen team building experiences!

What’s your take on Hamilton now that you’ve got some roots here?

It’s a city with huge potential. Is there a need for change and upgrades? Yes, of course, but there is such an influx of young people bringing energy and lifeblood that there is no doubt good things are headed this way.

Favourite hangout in Hamilton?

To be honest, Gastro Market. Being such a small operation (and having a young son), it’s hard to get away anywhere but work and home. But we love our space and constantly have friends and guests popping in, so in essence, it is our own little hangout during our downtime.

How would you describe this city as a place to work as a chef?

As a chef, Hamilton is a dream. Folks here are definitely hardcore foodies and love experimenting with different flavours and fare. The number of amazing restaurants in the neighbourhood also offer a ton of creative inspiration. We love that we’re able to play with food and that Hamiltonians are only too happy to indulge.

What do you like to do when you’re not working, on your personal time?

We love spending time with our amazing son and playing golf. Hope to be able to combine the two activities once he’s old enough!

What’s Hamilton’s best-kept secret that you’ve discovered?

Dim Sum House! The restaurant is located a few doors down from us, and man, do they have good dim sum.

What does Hamilton need more of? Tourists!

What does Hamilton need less of?

One-way streets! Navigating through the city can be quite tedious at certain times.

/continued online

IF YOU’D LIKE TO BE FEATURED IN FOR THE LOVE OF HAMILTON, PLEASE CONTACT meredith@hamiltoncitymagazine.ca

THE FLIP SIDE OF URBAN SPRAWL

PRESERVING HAMILTON’S RURAL CHARACTER NEEDS TO BE A HIGH PRIORITY FOR ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS.

By PAUL SHAKER

When we usually talk about city development and sustainability, too often we focus on the urban part of our city. We discuss how neighbourhoods are developing, where housing is being built, opportunities for intensification, downtown renewal, or the implementation of rapid transit, for instance.

However, this is an incomplete discussion. What about the rural part, where suburban housing ends and farming fields begin?

The very nature of urban sprawl looks awkward on the landscape because it typically abuts a rural landscape that couldn’t be more different. So when we talk about the city’s future, we should ask, what will be the impact of development on the rural character of the community? This is particularly important considering the urban boundary debate that sought to expand city development into rural land. While city council, backed by residents, called for a firm urban boundary, the Province of Ontario tried to force a massive expansion on Hamilton, before backtracking under intense public pressure.

So, what is at stake when we consider expanding the urban area at the expense of

our rural landscape?

To begin with, we need to understand the nature of the area we are talking about. In Hamilton, this isn’t a small area, as rural land makes up the vast majority of land mass within the city’s boundaries. According to City data, about 80 per cent of Hamilton’s land mass, close to 220,000 acres, is rural.

Within this massive area, communities are less dense than within the urban area, and services are sometimes delivered differently, or as with transit, not at all. Unsurprisingly, a major economic sector of rural Hamilton is agriculture. However, what is less well known, is the impact of this sector on the Hamilton economy.

A BILLION-DOLLAR SECTOR

A 2022/2023 economic snapshot released by the City of Hamilton paints a data-rich picture of this sector. Overall, agriculture is a billion-dollar sector, with a gross output impact of about $1.3 billion. This involves:

n A direct impact of about $240 million, which includes business activity occurring as the result of direct sales of goods from Hamilton’s farm sector.

n An indirect impact of about $650 million, which includes business activity from farms to other businesses, including

services at the retail, wholesale, and production level.

n An induced impact of about $445 million, which includes business activity that results in spending on food, clothing, shelter, and other consumer goods and services as a result of the workforce at the businesses that create the direct and indirect impact.

AGRICULTURE REPRESENTS THOUSANDS OF ACRES AND JOBS

In terms of land mass, there are 118,070 acres of farmland within City boundaries. This represents approximately 13.2 per cent of the Golden Horseshoe’s total farm area. In 2021, Hamiton had 679 farms with an average farm size of 174 acres and the farms (on average) were the most profitable in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. In terms of jobs, it is estimated that agriculture employs 2,207 people including full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers.

Where do farms do their business? The vast majority, 79 per cent, don’t sell directly to consumers. Of the 21 per cent that do sell directly, this includes 112 farms selling from their farm (e.g. at stands or pick-your-own), 45 delivering to consumers and 27 selling at farmers’ markets.

ABOUT 80 PER CENT OF THE LAND MASS WITHIN THE CITY OF HAMILTON’S BOUNDARIES – CLOSE TO 220,000 ACRES – IS RURAL. PHOTO: INVESTINHAMILTON.CA

THE QUALITY OF HAMILTON’S FARMLAND

Aside from the economic snapshot, the other part of understanding the agricultural sector is to gain insight into the quality of the farmland itself. To do this, the Canada Land Inventory (CLI) is useful. There are seven classes used to rate agricultural land capability. Class 1 lands have the highest and Class 7 lands the lowest capability to support agricultural land uses. While there are other ways to rank the quality of land, the CLI is used to inform many jurisdictions for land use planning purposes.

HAMILTON HAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF PRIME FARMLAND WITHIN ITS URBAN BOUNDARY. MAP: CIVICPLAN

It is important to note that prime agricultural lands, Classes 1, 2, and 3, are a very limited resource in Canada. Only 5 per cent of the Canadian land mass is made up of prime land, and only 0.5 per cent of this prime land is Class 1. The Greater Golden Horseshoe contains a significant portion of this very limited resource.

The accompanying map illustrates the quality of farmland in Hamilton. The thick black line is the city boundary, whereas the thin black line is the urban boundary where city development is allowed. The areas in the three shades of red represent Classes 1, 2, and 3 of farmland. What this map shows is that Hamilton has a significant amount of prime agricultural land within its city boundary, especially the south-eastern part of the city.

AGRICULTURE VERSUS URBAN SPRAWL

This is particularly important in the context of the current urban boundary debate. Back

in 2021, after a large public mobilization, city council voted to freeze the urban boundary and accommodate growth within the current built-up area. In 2022, the province unilaterally decided to override council’s decision (along with other municipalities) and forced an expansion into rural lands. Looking at the map, the areas of forced expansion are indicated by the blue dotted line. It is clear that the proposed areas for urban expansion were at the expense of mainly Class 1 agricultural land, some of the best in Canada.

Fortunately, in 2023, the province reversed its decision on forced expansions, giving Hamilton the opportunity to return to a firm urban boundary and preserve the areas of prime agricultural land. In short, the ball is back in Hamilton’s court. Knowing what we know now about the importance of farmland to food security and environmental sustainability, why would anyone destroy a tier one resource? We can’t manufacture this quality of land and we need to elevate its protection in our planning and economic development.

This is made even more clear as we simply can’t afford the alternative: urban sprawl.

Sprawl is expensive. The City of Ottawa actually put a cost on sprawl and revealed that it costs $465 per person each year to serve new low-density homes built on undeveloped land. On the other hand, higherdensity infill development pays for itself and leaves the City with an extra $606 per capita each year. It is not unreasonable to assume these numbers are similar for Hamilton.

So on the one hand, we have a billiondollar economic sector made possible by a local land resource that is only found on 5 per cent of all the land in Canada. On the other hand, we have potential development that eliminates a valuable resource and is a net drain on local coffers.

That’s the choice.

Put another way, why would any city destroy a major economic asset and replace it with something that is unsustainable from both an environmental and economic perspective?

No clear thinking community would make that choice, and neither should Hamilton. n

Paul Shaker is a Hamilton-based urban planner and principal with Civicplan.

THE DEATH OF RYAN M c GREAL’S MOTHER IN CALIFORNIA PROVIDED THE CIRCUMSTANCES TO TRY DRIVING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE ON A 8,400-KM ROUND TRIP THROUGH CHALLENGING CONDITIONS.

By RYAN M c GREAL

My mother died last December in California where she had been living. In mid-January I learned that the cost to transport her cremated remains to Canada via airplane would be exorbitant; and that she had a storage unit I hadn’t previously known about. I decided, perhaps rashly, to drive to California, pick up the urn, handle the storage unit, and carry everything back myself.

In the spirit of not wanting to let a crisis go to waste, I realized this trip was an excellent opportunity to test the feasibility of a cross-

country road trip in an electric vehicle (EV). EVs are not a magic bullet in addressing the climate emergency, but they play an important role in the transition to a carbonneutral economy.

EV sales are growing but many people still find them unfamiliar and worry about tradeoffs. A steady drip of click-baity articles detail all the scary ways EVs can fail us. (As we set out, the media were feasting on a story about abandoned Teslas at a dead charging station in Chicago.)

This road trip was going to be a genuine

challenge: 4,200 km each way, through daunting Rocky Mountain passes and all the weather January can hurl: deep freeze, crosswinds, whiteout squalls, freezing rain, snow showers, black ice, and pea-soup fog.

We drove a 2021 Tesla Model Y Long Range, which benefits from a robust network of Superchargers, Tesla’s fast-charging system with more than 2,300 stations across North America.

The car has an EPA range of 531 km. But charging an EV to 100 per cent and then driving it to 0 per cent is not practical.

CHARGING AT A HOTEL IN TOOELE, UTAH. RYAN MCGREAL FOUND A HAPPY ROAD TRIP RHYTHM IN DRIVING TWO TO THREE HOURS AND THEN CHARGING FOR 20 TO 30 MINUTES ON HIS 8,400-KM JOURNEY TO AND FROM CALIFORNIA PHOTO: RYAN M c GREAL

Instead, road tripping in an EV calls for a slightly different approach: charge for 20-30 minutes to around 80-90 per cent, drive for two or three hours, then recharge again.

This is actually a nice rhythm. It feels good periodically to stretch your legs, get some air, use the bathroom, have a snack and explore your surroundings. It breaks a long journey into more psychologically manageable segments.

Tesla’s navigation system plots your route, including charging stops. The range estimator considers traffic, weather, elevation and charger capacity. Routing also updates dynamically as conditions change.

We embarked early on Saturday, Jan. 20 in the deep freeze of a polar vortex. We crossed the border in Sarnia – the agent joked about our car dying like those Teslas in Chicago – and traversed Michigan and Indiana into Illinois.

When we neared Chicago, the navigation system announced it was rerouting to a Supercharger farther off the highway to avoid delays. A bit on the nose, but the system worked as intended: we arrived at the new charger with our battery ready and it worked fine.

The second day, we wanted to leave early but had to charge the car. Unfortunately, the arctic chill still hung over the Midwest and I forgot to precondition the battery, so it charged much slower than usual.

Lesson learned: always schedule the car to precondition. If you forget before heading inside, you can use the Tesla app on your phone.

We experienced some range anxiety in an especially long Nebraska segment. The battery discharged faster than expected and hit 3 per cent before we reached the next charger. We decided we would start charging an extra five minutes after the car said it had enough to continue.

We learned other lessons along the way, including choosing hotels with a Supercharger nearby. We could schedule preconditioning, wake up, plug in, have breakfast, then hit the road fully charged.

We reached our destination in four days, conducted our business in California, and were on the road again less than 24 hours after arriving.

By this time, my concerns about the car’s performance had evaporated. We had a good sense of how accurate the navigation

system was at estimating arrival range. In fact, on the downhill ride east, the battery generally over-performed estimated capacity between stops.

We also knew our bout of range anxiety was somewhat illusory, as there were additional Superchargers between the ones our navigation system chose.

(Sidenote to Tesla: provide drivers the option to indicate a preference for more or fewer charging stops. Additionally, the route map should visually highlight extra Superchargers along the way.)

All in all, the trip was a success, at least driving-wise. Over nine days, after converting to Canadian dollars, we spent $875 on charging. According to Tesla, the equivalent cost for a gasoline vehicle would be $1,246, netting us $371 in savings.

We never ran out of battery. We had one slow start that was preventable with a bit of planning. We figured out a rhythm of driving and charging that incorporated breaks, mealtimes and hotel stays to make the best use of downtime.

Until EVs can fully charge in a few minutes with chargers in every town, the rhythm of a road trip will be different from a gas vehicle. You need to know where to charge – though

the navigation system does this for you – and you may be limited in how far off the beaten path you can meander.

The good news is that nearly every car company has now aligned on Tesla’s charging standard. New EVs will all use the same protocol and the number of universal chargers can grow more rapidly.

For now, Tesla still has the most reliable charging network. On our trip, we only encountered a single defective charging port, and we simply moved to the next port.

It was a crazy decision to drive 8,400 km in nine days through wildly varied landscapes during winter. I had no idea how physically and emotionally difficult it would be. But doing the trip in an EV was not a significant factor in the challenge. n

Ryan McGreal is a web programmer, consultant, writer, editor and self-described troublemaker. He served as founder and editor of Raise the Hammer, an online magazine dedicated to sustainable urban revitalization in Hamilton. He is also a founding member of Hamilton Light Rail, a community group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. His personal website is Quandy Factory.

THERE WAS A NICE ROAD TRIP RHYTHM TO STOPPING FOR 20 TO 30 MINUTES TO CHARGE EVERY TWO TO THREE HOURS.

M c QUESTEN URBAN FARM IS NESTLED IN AN EAST-END NEIGHBOURHOOD AND GROWS HEALTHY, AFFORDABLE AND CULTURALLY DIVERSE FOOD FOR ITS NEIGHBOURS, WHILE PROVIDING CLASSES IN COOKING, CANNING AND FERMENTING.

FARM CITY

By JASON ALLEN

If you’re headed for a drive in the east end near Parkdale Avenue, you can reasonably expect to see the usual things you’d see in a city: sub shops, dentist offices, a couple of hardware big-box stores, things like that. But a three-acre farm? That’s a little more unexpected.

McQuesten Urban Farm is nestled into a piece of land where Britannia Avenue meets Oriole Crescent in the Oriole neighbourhood that was initially supposed to be part of the Red Hill Expressway. Thankfully, it was spared. In 2008, after a significant grant from Maple Leaf Foods, Pat Reid, along with Plan B Organic farm and a band of volunteers, set up a farm right in the middle of the suburban east end, in an effort to address food insecurity in the area.

Over the next four years they put in garden beds, a pond, an irrigation system fed by the pond and planted hundreds of vegetables. The rest is history.

Fast forward to present day and the farm is a long thin row of garden beds, green and lush in the summer. The pond is still there, and sits halfway down the plot, while at the far end is “the compound.” This is a fenced area of greenhouses and storage sheds that also has an outdoor meeting space and classroom.

In summer and early autumn it’s a hive of activity with volunteers sowing, watering, tending and harvesting a dizzying array of market garden vegetables.

Amy Bonin is the farm team lead. She works with staff and volunteers to plant the

vegetables, harvest them and then make them available to buy at the farm’s summer produce stand. She is deeply committed to supporting the neighbourhood where she both lives and works.

“Everything we have is organic, low cost and nutritionally dense.”

It’s a way to bring healthy eating to an area with no grocery store within a two-km radius. In fact, the 7-11 opposite the farm is the most profitable franchise location in Ontario, for just that reason.

The farmer’s market runs from June to October and the farm deliberately prices its vegetables to support neighbours. “Our prices, we haven’t changed them in four or five years. Everything is low cost, a bunch of beets is $2, a head of lettuce is $1.”

McQuesten also offers workshops on fermenting, canning and basic cooking skills. They are not only supplying people with the food they need, but also the knowledge of how to prepare and preserve it.

And to close the loop from farm to table, on Thursdays in the summer they even host a community dinner for volunteers called “Weed and Feed.”

/continued on next page

PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

Another part of the commitment to the neighbourhood is a dedication to growing cultural foods that aren’t always in grocery stores. “That’s huge for us,” says Bonin. “What neighbours want is what we grow.”

For instance, Dominia (a longtime volunteer) provided seeds for Jamaican callaloo. It’s a thick leafy green that is popular in Caribbean cooking and can be hard to find. “It’s our number one seller. We sell hundreds of bunches,” says Bonin.

Dominia is the holder of one of two community garden plots on the site, and her relationship to McQuesten has always been generous. The seedlings Dominia shares often go on to be best sellers.

“Last year she gave us bitter tomato, like a tiny white eggplant, and people came from Burlington to get it.”

McQuesten Urban Farm is now under the leadership of Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, a multi-service Indigenous organization that provides programming rooted in culture and language. Its programs are focused on culturally relevant education, social services and food sovereignty. They also operate an EarlyON Child and Family Centre that involves the farm in its programming. McQuesten farm works closely with Niwasa in everything it does.

“We have quite a few medicine wheel gardens, and we work with the EarlyON program, and they did the three sisters garden this year,” says Bonin, the latter an Indigenous tradition of planting corn, beans and squash together.

Overall, the project is much bigger than you might think possible from looking at the compact site.

“Last year we planted 30,000 seedlings. We also donate them to the community gardens and all proceeds go to the operation. And this year we grew 22,000 lbs of food, which is amazing on this tiny plot,” says Bonin.

“We do interplanting and succession planting and plant one thing after another.”

There are also more than 500 volunteers, including many who volunteer for days of care, a teen group and a huge roster of regular weekly helpers.

Big changes are coming to the farm though. In the next few years, the building in which they do programming is scheduled to be demolished and a community centre built on the site.

THE THREE-ACRE McQUESTEN URBAN FARM IS LOCATED IN THE EAST END AND SUPPLIES AFFORDABLE, NUTRITIOUS FOOD, ALONG WITH FOOD CLASSES TO ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Last year we p L anted 30,000 seed L ings. w e a L so donate them to the community gardens and a LL proceeds go to the operation.” a my Bonin, farm team L ead

“It’s going to be Biindingen Well-Being Centre,” says Bonin. “That’s a full wellness facility for Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. It will have social housing, a cafeteria, food bank and other programming in a campus style.” The centre is being built in partnership with Niwasa Kendaaswin Teg, Ontario Aboriginal Housing and De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre, and will host education, social and health services and housing in one location.

Bonin is excited about the possibilities of the new facility and new opportunities for the farm to serve its neighbours, even during the three- to four-year transition.

“Indwell has generously allowed us to use their kitchen, so we’ll do our workshops there.”

In the end, and even the meantime, McQuesten Urban Farm will continue to grow nutritious healthy food for its neighbours, and be a linchpin for food security and health in its neighbourhood.

Be sure to check out the farm stand, which operates on Saturdays during the summer. You can learn more at mcquestenurbanfarm.ca. n

Jason Allen is the host of The Environmental Urbanist, Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. on 93.3 CFMU, and has been encouraging Hamiltonians to explore the outdoors for almost two decades.

McQUESTEN URBAN FARM OFFERS COMMUNITY GARDENS, A FARM STAND AND FOOD CLASSES.

NOT TO BE MISSED

Early spring is a great time to emerge from winter hibernation to enjoy all that Hamilton and Burlington have to offer. Here are a few of our favourite local happenings.

A COLLECTIVE TOUR

Since its inception in 2013, Hamilton’s Collective Arts brewery has been a champion of the creativity of craft beer and artists – the culmination of both fitting easily in the palm of one’s hand in the form of their recognizable, colourful cans. Get a peek behind the curtain and learn how Collective Arts was developed from brand to brews, in a 45-minute guided tour. Each guest is provided one pint of beer to wet their whistles and a discount at the retail shop for souvenirs. Saturdays. collectiveartsontario.com

SHUCKING SCHOOL

Oysters can be stubborn little things and knowing how to open one properly (and safely) is one of the universe’s deepest secrets. Fortunately, David Burns, owner of Maisy’s Pearl Oyster Bar on Barton Street is passionate about the beguiling bivalve and eager to share his knowledge. In addition to his restaurant and shop, Burns – an award-winning shucker on both a national and international level – offers private classes where he schools students on all things oyster – their health benefits, sustainability, varieties, and of course, the trick to conduct a proper shuck. www.maisyspearl.com

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BEFORE THERE WAS SATC

Before Carrie Bradshaw entered our collective consciousness, Candace Bushnell was blazing her own trail and living to write about it. The original Carrie is now talking about it as she brings her onstage memoir – True Tales of Sex, Success and Sex and the City – to the Burlington Performing Arts Centre for one night only. As Bushnell recounts her journey that led her to creating an iconic touchpoint in pop culture in her quick-witted style, the audience – filled with Carries, Mirandas, Charlottes, Samanthas, and likely some fancy shoes – will be guaranteed to enjoy the trip. April 5. burlingtonpac.ca

SPACE-AGE SNACKS

The modern advancements in space technology means that agriculture can now get a helping hand from more than just sun, water, hard work, and a little luck. The interactive Space to Spoon exhibit, on now at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum, explores the relationship between sustainable agriculture and these spacey technological innovations. Today’s agricultural applications have been developed using modern satellite images, benefitting farmers, the environment and each of us, every single day. When you thank the farmer at your next visit to the market, be sure to also give a thumbs up to the watchful skies above. Until May 20. warplane.com

BAY DAY

It’s that time again when local runners, many accustomed to training in the wintertime’s dawn darkness, emerge blinking (and stretching) into the daylight for the big show. The oldest on the continent, the Around the Bay Race welcomes some of the best marathon runners from around the world, testing their mettle on the challenging 30K course around Hamilton’s harbour, which will be lined with enthusiastic and encouraging spectators. Other routes include a 5K, 10K and 15K, and though shorter, they are still a testament to determination, dedication, and the marvel of what one can accomplish. See you there you glorious athletes – I’ll be the one with the cowbell. March 24. bayrace.com

LIFE IN THE CITY

From festivals and films to galas, galleries and gigs, Hamiltonians love to have a good time and these photos are definitely worth a thousand words. HAMILTON CITY Magazine was there – were you?

photos By B rent perniac, Donna Waxman an D Gary Green

1. Shendal Yalchin, Brent Perniac and Mayor Andrea Horwath at the Hamilton Club 150-year anniversary, Oct. 21.

2. Harrison Kennedy at the Steve Strongman and Friends Holiday Show, Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, Dec. 2.

3. DJ Chris Briscoe at Radius, Jan. 27.

4. Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland, who make up Whitehorse, at the AGH Festival’s closing night concert, The Music Hall, Oct. 22.

5. Nathan Fleet (HFF founder, CEO) with actress Jessica Clement, and 6. Abigail Maher with Sabrina Knappet at the Hamilton Film Festival, Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, Oct. 21.

7. Gavin Rossdale of Bush, FirstOntario Centre, Dec. 8.

8. Sonya Gilmour, Doug Gilmour and Natalie Sexton at the Grey Cup, Tim Hortons Field, Nov. 19.

9. Andrew McPhail, Natasja Bischoff and Reuben Bischoff at the Deathinator Exhibit, Assembly Gallery, Jan. 6.

10. Country superstar Carrie Underwood, FirstOntario Centre, Nov. 17.

Many thanks to our amazing Funders and Sponsors for making our 2024 Festival a huge success!

MADE IN HAMILTON IS SPONSORED BY CITY OF HAMILTON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INVEST IN HAMILTON

gritLIT is 20 in 2024

HAMILTON’S READERS AND WRITERS FESTIVAL IS FIVE DAYS OF READINGS, PANELS, INTERVIEWS AND WORKSHOPS – AND MARGARET ATWOOD.

gritLIT, Hamilton’s readers and writers festival, is 20 years old and has welcomed more than 400 of Canada’s best-estab lished and emerging authors over the years.

Running April 17 to 21, gritLIT lets readers get up close with their favourite authors through readings, panels and interviews while discovering new voices, too.

“This year’s festival will be bigger and better than ever,” says Jessica Rose, acting artistic director. “We have 30 authors coming from Hamilton and across the country.”

There are writing workshops and special events, headlined by renowned author Margaret Atwood, who comes to Theatre Aquarius April 9, and longtime CBC News anchor Peter Mansbridge, who will appear at the Playhouse Theatre on April 17.

An official launch party at Theatre Aquarius kicked off the festival in February.

“We’ve not done that in the past but it was really successful and I expect that will continue,” says Rose, who moved from her marketing role to acting artistic director in January when Jennifer Gillies went on a medical leave.

Also for the first time, gritLIT is partnering with Hamilton’s Telling Tales to offer kids programming.

As always, Hamilton looms large at gritLIT. Hamilton’s Gary Barwin will lead the Spotlight Series this year, which sees an established author pick emerging writers to showcase. As well, Mary Francis Moore, artistic director at Theatre Aquarius, will conduct an in-depth interview with Tom Wilson, whose autobiographical musical Beautiful Scars hits the stage April 24.

A Hamilton writers panel will feature Barwin, Dannabang Kuwabong, David Neil Lee, and George Matuvi.

Notable events include Drafts and Drafts, which sees authors read from upcoming works while attendees enjoy a pint. It will feature Hamilton authors Anuja Varghese, Nathan Whitlock and Amy Jones.

gritLIT challenges you to forget everything you think you know about literary festivals.

“Don’t like stuffy, academic discussions about boring books? Excellent! Neither do we. What we do like is wine, music, games, laughter – and sometimes tears – great stories, and discussions about fascinating topics and ideas with some of Canada’s best living writers.”

All in-person events are happening at the Homewood Suites By Hilton (40 Bay St. S.). The festival begins with digital events April 17. gritlit.ca/festival

MARGARET ATWOOD WILL MAKE HER FIRST IN-PERSON APPEARANCE AT gritLIT 2024 PHOTO: BRENT PERNIAC

These Hamilton-born food empires – all founded by immigrants who arrived in the post-war boom – are now iconic fixtures of this city’s past and present.

GENERATIONS OF FABULOUS FOOD

By HELEN POWERS

After World War II, many European families immigrated to Hamilton and broadened the city culturally. Statistically, one of the peak years for new arrivals was 1954. It was also a significant year for three families who brought recipes and knowledge that evolved into delicious, multi-generational food legacies.

THE DENNINGER FAMILY denningers.com

Rudolph and Frieda Denninger opened their first Canadian store in 1954, just six months after arriving from Germany. A year later, they moved to 284 King St. E., which is now both a store and the corporate office in downtown Hamilton.

In the beginning, they lived above the store on the building’s second floor with their four children. In the basement, generations of family recipes were used to create delicious sausages, and both fresh and cured meats.

“Most immigrants brought some personal items along to Canada,” says Patrick Denninger, CEO. “My grandparents brought sausage-making equipment that helped to get the new business going.”

They also brought expertise gained from

running three stores in Germany. Their eldest child had worked there and, though there was an age gap, over the years all four children worked in the King Street store.

This group of four siblings helped to expand the business to multiple locations. “My grandfather started the company but the growth really came from the second generation in its entirety who took it and built it from there,” says Denninger. Patrick’s father, Herman, spent more than 40 years as a butcher in the company.

“They always considered themselves a team,” adds Nathalie Coutayar, senior marketing manager. The company remains family-owned and operated and will celebrate its 70th anniversary this year.

Today there is a 60,000-square-foot plant that sends daily deliveries of freshly

made meat products, ready-made meals, catering items and more to the downtown Hamilton store and four other locations: on Upper James, in Stoney Creek, Oakville, and Burlington which has a new design concept with licensed dining, classes and double the floor space of its predecessor.

Although much has changed over the years, the originality of the sausages and other meats remains the same. “All of those recipes came with them and are still used,” says Coutayar, “same care, same recipes.” Using only Canadian beef, and pork and chicken from Ontario, Denninger’s also prefers local suppliers for honey, maple syrup and other ingredients.

At the Hamilton Ticat games, Denninger’s sausages and hotdogs are a popular choice. In their stores, chicken schnitzel on a bun is the top choice of customers but the Big Rudi sandwich is a close second. That begs the question, with the corporate office right above the King Street store, do you pack a lunch or head down the stairs?

“Down the stairs,” replies Coutayar, without hesitation.

VENETIAN MEATS & SALAMI CO. venetianmeats.com

Venetian Meats also began in 1954 with the talent and dedication of good friends, Gino Andreatta and Gino Dal Bello. Both had family roots in Italy, near Venice. Starting small, inside a backyard garage, they used traditional Italian methods and Dal Bello’s family recipes to make salami and other delicious meats.

In the early days, local retailers would not stock Venetian’s products, so Dal Bello began door-to-door sales, first by bicycle, and later by hearse.

“Yes, a hearse,” confirms his grandson and company vice-president Daniel Dorigiola. “And it was even equipped with a scale so orders could be weighed and invoiced on the spot.” Satisfied customers began telling their grocery stores to stock Venetian Meats – and so they did.

“He was very ambitious,” says Dorigiola, of

DENNINGER’S IS STILL FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED AND WILL CELEBRATE ITS 70TH ANNIVERSARY IN HAMILTON THIS YEAR. PHOTO: DENNINGERS

his 23-year-old grandfather. “He borrowed about $2,500 from his father to start the business.” From the garage, the partners moved to new premises for one year before the landlord raised the rent too high. In 1957, they moved again, to 947 Burlington St., where Venetian Meats stayed until 2021.

Sadly, Andreatta died rather young, about 15 years after the company got going. It was a struggle for Dal Bello to run things on his own, but he worked very hard to make the business grow successfully and only slowed down as retirement drew near.

Dal Bello and his wife Maria raised their four children in Hamilton and all of them were involved in expanding the business. Today, two of those siblings, Dorigiola’s mother Anna Dorigiola and his uncle Valentino Dal Bello continue to work on a part-time basis.

Dorigiola and his cousin, Mark Dal Bello, took over ownership of the company three years ago. There are now 40 staff, including more family members, working at a two-year old custom-built facility in Stoney Creek.

The new location has a 38,000-square-foot manufacturing plant with huge drying rooms that can hold more than 27,000 pounds of salami. The corporate office is there and so is a very popular store.

“The current store is a big change from the old one,” says Dorigiola. “We showcase new products there and offer meals-to-go, sliced deli, dry goods, catering platters and specialty sandwiches, too.”

After seven decades, Venetian is still going strong with customers across Canada and the United States. Its meats are free of gluten, lactose and fillers, and the spices are still blended by hand, just like they were in that backyard garage.

FORTINOS

fortinos.ca

John Fortino was 20 years old when he arrived in Hamilton in 1954. Today, a chain of 24 stores has his name but it all began humbly with one store back in 1961.

The first store was small, just 700 square feet, at King Street and Glendale Avenue. John was partners with his brothers-in-law, Stan Filice and Umberto Spagnuolo, who was the only full-time employee. Before long, they moved next door for more retail space.

During those early years, the three partners pooled resources and shared a

house for their young and growing families. Later, when they all moved to homes on the Mountain, John believed the new neighbourhood was a good place for a store.

In 1972, with five more partners that included family and friends, a 5,000-squarefoot Fortinos store opened on Upper Ottawa Street.

“His wife (Pileria) worked in that store, and I think maybe everybody in the family did too,” says Beverly Wright, director of marketing at parent company Loblaw.

“They were a hard-working immigrant family, and it was all-hands-on-deck when establishing the new business.”

Fortino’s nephew Vince Scorniaenchi was just 14 years old then. Many of the partners, like his father Tony, had their offspring helping in the new store but Scorniaenchi’s involvement started years before. During school holidays, he was picked up at 4 a.m. by Fortino to go buy fresh fruit and vegetables in Toronto. Riding in an old truck that needed cardboard sheets to cover holes in the floor, they’d be back and setting up displays by 9 a.m.

In 1988, with eight stores, Fortinos was purchased by Loblaw and John Fortino’s role shifted after that. Scorniaenchi took on the leadership role in 1994 and the company still operates very independently, with its own buyers, merchandisers, and offices.

Scorniaenchi calls Fortino a salt-of-theearth-person who lived by honesty, modesty, and hard work.

“I saw that in him every day. It’s how he managed his business and I saw it as the right thing to do.” Scorniaenchi retired last year but says, “There’s a handful of direct descendants from the original owners still in

the company.”

There have been many changes to the industry over the years and Fortino’s innovations were often imitated. Extensive produce areas, in-house bakeries and florists, and ready-made meals are some of their signature features. And after all these years, the emphasis is still on excellent food quality: “We’re all about fresh,” says Wright. n

OTHER NOTABLE LOCAL FOOD FAMILIES

Corsini’s Supermarket

Josephine and Ennio Corsini opened their grocery store in 1928 at James and Murray streets. Not only a great place to buy food, the store also became a gathering place for the Italian community. The store ran for 60 years and often helped local families through hard times.

The Barn

George Love began working in his father’s downtown market stall when he was just nine. In 1970, he opened a produce stall of his own and Love’s first retail building came in 1983. There were seven Barn stores when A&P bought the business in 1999 and six more were added before Metro Inc. ended the brand in 2005.

Fearman’s Meats

Established in 1852 by Frederick Fearman on downtown MacNab Street, the company was known for its Star brand products which included hams, bacon, and lard. The business was family-owned until 1932, but the Fearman’s name trademark is still used today.

LOCAL WINERIES HAVE COME THROUGH SOME TOUGH TIMES BUT THE MOOD OF THE INDUSTRY IS OPTIMISTIC AS IT REIMAGINES A MORE INTIMATE CONNECTION TO ITS CUSTOMERS AND THE FARMLAND IT CALLS HOME.

By EUGENE ELLMEN

In the last half-century, the Niagara wine industry has undergone a revolution, tearing out unpopular native grapes and replacing them with European varieties, launching a generation of quality Canadian winemakers who have received accolades at home and abroad.

This has created a boon for Hamilton wine drinkers with scores of critically acclaimed reds and whites available from dozens of wineries on the city’s doorstep, most of which are less than a 40-minute drive away.

Three wineries – Leaning Post Wines, Ridge Road Estate Winery and Puddicombe Estate Farm, Winery & Cider – are even located within the city’s boundaries in rural Stoney Creek.

Growing numbers of urban Ontarians are heading to the countryside, curious to sample and experience wines directly from the wineries that dot the beautiful benches and ridges of the Niagara Escarpment and shorelines of Lake Ontario.

This is happening at a time when last year’s controversy over Greenbelt and urban boundary expansions has focused public attention on the need for urbanites to support local farmers and agricultural lands.

“People really want to know what they’re drinking,” says Ilya Senchuk, winemaker and co-founder with spouse Nadia of Leaning Post Wines. “They want to know, is it sustainable? They want to know what you’ve done. They want to understand how it’s made.”

Despite this attention, the last few years have not been kind to the wine industry. Wine consumption has been waning in recent years and the industry has struggled under heavy provincial taxes.

Under these pressures, the wine industry is confronting the reality that consumers are demanding a richer personal experience from their wineries as well as a commitment

to social and environmental sustainability. This is prompting the industry to reinvent itself once again.

FROM BABY DUCK TO INTERNATIONAL ACCLAIM

There are about 100 Vintners Quality Alliance (VQA) wineries located in Niagara, home to favourable grape-growing soils and a temperate climate due to the moderating effects of Lake Ontario and the Niagara Escarpment. Dozens of European vinifera varieties are planted here, including chardonnay, merlot, riesling, cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc. Niagara makes about two million cases of wine annually, about two-thirds of Ontario’s total production.

But before 1975, only a handful of companies made Ontario wine, all from native grapes or imported juice. The wines were sweet, syrupy and marked by a distinctive and unpleasant aftertaste. Baby Duck and Moody Blue were two of the most well-known.

In 1975, winemakers Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser kicked off a revolution, founding Inniskillin Estate Winery in Niagara-on-theLake (now part of Arterra Wines Canada) using European vines. It was the first licence granted to an Ontario winery since Prohibition in 1929.

This was followed in 1988 by the cancellation of wine tariff protections under the Canada U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Grape growers received subsidies to switch from native to European grapes and VQA was established to certify wines produced in Ontario under quality standards.

A year later, the icewine produced by Kaiser and Ziraldo won the Grand Prix d’Honneur in France, one of the most prestigious winemaking awards in the world.

Over the next decades, other wineries set up shop, experimenting with new varieties. They found a surprisingly wide range of grapes that have thrived in Niagara’s soil and climate conditions. Other awards have poured in, prompting laurels from local and foreign critics alike.

/continued on next page

LINDSAY PUDDICOMBE LOOKS WAY UP, WAY UP, AT A FERMENTATION TANK USED TO MAKE CIDER AT PUDDICOMBE’S CIDERY.

PHOTO: LORRY CUMMING FOR HCM

WINE DRINKERS ARE CHANGING

But this growth has slowed in recent years as wine consumption has faded. This is particularly true among so-called members of Generation Z (born since 1995), whose consumer tastes are heavily shaped by social media.

Canadians purchased about four per cent less wine by volume in 2022 as total sales dropped to 516 million litres (equivalent to 2.4 glasses of wine per week per person of legal drinking age) from 537 million litres in 2021.

Part of the decrease was due to lower spending as inflation has ramped up and people returned to normal wine drinking patterns after beer and wine consumption peaked in the pandemic.

But researchers are also finding that Gen Z consumers are drinking less wine (although higher premium brands) than older generations, and turning to craft beers, coolers, ciders, non-alcoholic drinks and cannabis.

Younger consumers are rejecting the cultural stereotype of Baby Boom wine drinkers, says Gary Pickering, a biology and psychology professor and researcher at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute at Brock University.

“It’s pushback to the stereotype of a wine drinker as an older white gentleman snobbishly nosing a wine and the social cachet that comes with that.”

It’s a stereotype propagated by wine columnists and movies such as Sideways and the recent television series Drops of God.

Wineries are changing their marketing to avoid “that perceived pretense of wine,” says Pickering. In Niagara, this means finding new ways to provide consumers with fun and interesting wine experiences.

“The industry has seen changing demands from consumers as they are looking for more experiences and not just the old “taste and buy” at the winery,” says Jayne Douglas, coowner with spouse Sean of Ridge Road Estate Winery in Stoney Creek.

These experiences are especially popular among younger consumers.

“Millennials and Gen Z want to come out and do the day trip and go to the winery,” says Tyson McMann, agriculture and food consultant with the City of Hamilton. “I think there’s some of that in all generations but the destination, the experience of going to a winery is more prevalent in the younger generations.”

SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATION ON THE AGENDA

As the weather has become hotter and events like last summer’s wide-ranging forest fires highlight the effects of climate change, consumers are demanding products that help to reduce global warming.

On this, Ontario wineries have a good story to tell. While the wine itself emits CO2 from the fermentation process, the major climate change culprit in the industry is transportation emissions through shipments from far-flung wineries in Europe, Australia or California.

“When you’re shopping for wines, local is always going to be your best bet in terms of the carbon footprint,” says Andrea Kaiser, chair of Sustainable Winegrowers Ontario (SWO), a sustainable standards certification body for wineries and vineyards.

But Kaiser, who literally grew up in the Ontario craft wine business as daughter of famed wine pioneer Karl Kaiser, is adamant that the Ontario wine industry cannot stand on this simple premise. She believes it’s critical for the industry to tackle its community and environmental impacts.

“First and foremost, we want consumers to buy Ontario and make sure that it’s VQA and uses 100 per cent locally grown fruit, and then there’s a second layer in the SWO certification,” she says.

Under the SWO program, participating wineries and vineyards provide information on their environmental management, such as soil and pest practices, biodiversity and renewable energy. They’re also required to provide information on community benefits

such as local purchasing and sustainable sourcing. Information is also provided on participants’ long-term business viability. The data is verified and graded by an outside auditor and participants must receive a score of at least 75 per cent to earn the certification.

About 40 wineries are currently enrolled (including some in the Prince Edward and Lake Erie wine areas), but Kaiser says the program aims to recruit all VQA-certified wineries in Ontario by 2030. Currently, there are 145 wineries across the province.

As well, she wants to expand the program across Canada and include a “metrics calculator,” enabling participants to measure and reduce their carbon emissions, water and energy and other sustainability impacts.

SWO aims to educate wine consumers “so that if people are looking for something that’s more sustainable they will look for that logo,” she says.

Pickering says the SWO certification is a step in the right direction but cautions that it will need to be communicated clearly and unambiguously. “It needs to be perceived as robust and not greenwashing.”

A GROWING OPTIMISM

Before last Christmas, the Ontario government announced its long-promised plan to permit beer and wine sales in corner and all grocery stores. In that announcement, the government agreed to rescind a 6.1 per cent tax on wine sales directly through wineries, a tax that created a lot of industry anger since no other sector has faced such a burden.

The government also agreed to maintain wine industry supports and to direct the LCBO to improve promotion of Ontario wines.

Kaiser welcomed these measures, saying they will enable the industry to make major reinvestments in its wineries and vineyards.

The government’s announcement has reinforced a growing sense of industry optimism as it works to develop a more intimate relationship with its customers through new high-quality wines, fun and interesting experiences and environmental and community benefits.

“I think most wineries are coming on board to that idea because it’s what consumers want,” says Ilya Senchuk. “It’s definitely the future for sure.” n

Eugene Ellmen writes on sustainable business and finance. He lives in downtown Hamilton.

THE TASTING ROOM AT RIDGE ROAD ESTATE WINERY, WHICH PRODUCES 13 WINE VARIETIES.

PHOTO: RIDGE ROAD

LEANING POST IS MAKING A NAME FOR ITSELF

Although Leaning Post wines are offered at some of Canada’s swankiest restaurants like Canoe in Toronto and Treadwell in Niagara-onthe-Lake, founders Ilya and Nadia Senchuk are disarmingly down-to-earth when welcoming new visitors.

“We take a very unpretentious view. When people find their way here, we go out of our way to really make people feel comfortable,” says Nadia.

Originally from Winnipeg, the couple made their way to Hamilton after Ilya learned about Brock University’s wine and viticulture program and decided that was his mission. He enrolled, and Nadia studied business, later working in banking and manufacturing.

The couple set up a virtual winery in 2009, borrowing facilities from a few established wineries until they purchased their own property in Stoney Creek in 2011. The 11-acre plot is on the edge of the provincial Greenbelt, making it affordable for the young couple because of provincial development restrictions that suppress the land speculation afflicting other

CENTURIES OF TRADITION AT PUDDICOMBE

The Puddicombe family has been farming in Stoney Creek for more than 220 years. Now managed by its eighth generation, the family believes the farm is not just a source of wine, food and cider, but it’s a place for visitors to taste, see and feel what Ontario agriculture is all about.

Puddicombe Estate Farm, Winery & Cider attracts thousands of visitors each year, drawn to its farm market, pick-your-own orchards, school visits, weddings and other events. There’s even a miniature train, dubbed by bloggers as the “tipsy train tour” for the wine and cider tastings offered along with the ride.

The family has been welcoming visitors since the 1990s to its 300-acre property, but popularity has grown in recent years as the “farm fresh” movement has taken off.

“Farm fresh has really evolved since the pandemic and people really want to come and get their fresh fruit from an actual farm, not just the grocery store,” says Lindsay Puddicombe, the family’s winemaker who manages the farm with her brother Brock.

nearby properties.

Leaning Post was opened to the public in 2013. Soon after, it won numerous awards and has been voted one of Ontario’s top 20 wineries by Vineroutes in each of the last four years.

Ilya is infectious in his passion for winemaking, delighting in how the “terroir” of his and other Niagara vineyards impart unique and changing flavours to their wines.

“If you take the same grape and you make the wine in the same way but the grapes were grown in two different places, the wine will taste different,” he says. “Isn’t that awesome? Isn’t that cool?”

For visitor information: leaningpostwines.com.

A DREAM REALIZED AT RIDGE ROAD ESTATE WINERY

Thirty-four years ago, Jayne Douglas and husband Sean bought a 60-acre parcel of farmland from Jayne’s grandmother with the intent of going into the wine business. Shortly after, they took an extended trip to Europe and discovered that the soil and climate conditions of the famed French and German vineyards

Lindsay’s father Murray was recognized for his contribution to tourism in Hamilton with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 by the City of Hamilton.

Winemaking is an essential part of the Puddicombe tradition, honed through a partnership with Stoney Ridge Cellars in the

were very much like their plot on the Niagara Escarpment above Stoney Creek.

Sean pursued a career as a banking industry accountant while studying viticulture and winemaking and Jayne worked as an interior designer and social worker. They spent weekends and summers at the farm, planting grapes and building a wine barn.

“Sean started making wine at an amateur level, took courses and learned from some of the best winemakers in the region,” says Jayne. In 2005, they realized their dream, opening Ridge Road Estate Winery to the public.

Today, Jayne and Sean have a thriving business, producing 13 wine varieties marked with intense minerality and pronounced fruit, a style attracting a growing number of followers.

The couple are committed to building their fan base by inviting them to gatherings and events at the winery. These include afternoon tea and wine charcuteries, yoga in the vineyard, fire-pit experiences and “Sunsets, Vines and Live Music” in the summer. The wines are also available at a kiosk on Saturdays at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market.

“We are very focused on the experience as well as the wine,” she says. For visitor information: ridgeroadwinery.ca.

1990s.

“Our goal for our wines is to represent what each growing year was like,” says Lindsay. “We don’t try to make the exact same wine every year, which is the exciting part of winemaking here.” For visitor information: puddicombefarms.com.

PUDDICOMBE ESTATE FARM, WINERY & CIDER OFFERS A MINI-TRAIN TOUR OF ITS STONEY CREEK ACREAGE IN THE SUMMER. PHOTO: PUDDICOMBE

Dash to Comma

COMMA CAFÉ OFFERS A RANGE OF BEVERAGE OFFERINGS AND BRUNCH ITEMS THROUGH A TAKEOUT WINDOW AND DINE-IN CAFÉ ON BARTON STREET.

The Barton Village dining scene has a new addition attracting many positive reviews. The tastefully renovated space of Comma Café at 301 Barton St. E., steps away from the General Hospital, offers two experiences – a contemporary takeout window and a dine-in café. The takeout menu offers beverages to accompany breakfast offerings and hot sandos (think breakfast box or pork belly on a bun) as well as salad, soup and pastries. That menu overlaps a bit with the dine-in menu. Food items are termed as “brunch” and served until late afternoon.

The eclectic menu choices include a classic breakfast, a benny, a breakfast sandwich, shakshouka, French toast, steak and eggs and avocado toast.

The Comma Classic is unique, combining a crispy potato cake and tossed greens with two eggs, double-smoked bacon, breakfast sausage and sourdough. The Open-faced Morning Sando serves up eggs, cheddar cheese, spicy mayo and mixed greens on a fresh croissant. Even the French toast has a twist,

filling Hong Kong-style milk bread with black sesame paste.

Who’s behind all this? Stacey Chang, Phoebe Kuo and Alice Shih. All with Taiwanese backgrounds and graduates of hospitality studies, they met and became friends in Toronto. Kuo added culinary training with impressive internships at Toronto’s Ritz Carlton, Oakville’s 7 Enoteca and locally at RPM Bakehouse in Jordan and Burlington’s Pearle Hotel.

Classic brunch-type beverages include pour-over coffee from Vancouver’s Nemesis Coffee (which you can order for home use as well). Prefer tea? The Ruby 18 Formosan black tea is a treasure and don’t take a pass on the herbal coffee cherry tea.

While “fusion” may be a passé term, it seems to perfectly describe the food and beverage wizardry of this creative trio. It must also be said that they have set the bar high when it comes to hospitality. n Comma Café

301 Barton St. E., Hamilton IG: @comma_lots_more

COMMA CAFÉ OWNERS STACEY CHANG, ALICE SHIH AND PHOEBE KUO. PHOTO: DIANE GALAMBOS

GET IN THE KITCHEN

Whatever your culinary experience or comfort level, Hamilton offers plenty of options to up your cooking game.

By STEPHEN NEAR

If you find yourself spending more time in the kitchen, you’re not alone. When it comes to preparing meals at home versus dining out, 44 per cent more Canadians were sticking to their home kitchens in 2023 over the year before. The rising cost of dining out is certainly a factor but inflation only tells part of the story. On the whole, our society is becoming more informed on what goes in our meals and even more concerned with balancing nutrition with taste. It adds up to Canadians wanting more control in preparing their own food to control their own health.

If you’re like me, cooking is not a skill you’ve easily picked up. No matter how many recipes for bread you looked up on Instagram during the pandemic, you always burned the toast. But fear not. It’s never too late to muster your courage and claim your space in the kitchen. Indeed, many Hamiltonians are discovering their proverbial joy of cooking and these are a few of the master chefs cooking up something special just around the corner.

According to Justine Wilk, co-owner of Gastro Market in downtown Hamilton, demand from Hamiltonians wanting to learn how to cook has skyrocketed. A recreational cooking school and catering company, Gastro Market provides locally sourced fresh foods and upscale dining experiences alongside popular cooking classes. “With the cost of food becoming more and more expensive,” says Wilk, “we have seen exponential interest in folks wanting to learn how to be more costeffective and use all those ingredients in their cupboards and fridge to avoid being wasteful.”

Working alongside spouse and fellow chef Anthony Zolkiewicz, Wilk says Gastro Market offers customers a wholesome yet innovative approach to food preparation. “Cooking is a life skill,” says Wilk, “and we would say it’s never too late to learn.”

As grocery prices continue to climb, more Canadians are looking to adapt how they consume food, and cooking from scratch is seen as the best way to save money on groceries. But, according to Wilk, it’s not all about economics. “It seems the number of allergies and dietary restrictions have increased over the years. Whether it be celiac or nut allergies, health-related diets like keto or paleo, and just general intolerances to staple ingredients like onion and garlic, people want to know how to properly take care of themselves and/or their loved ones.”

Wilk also counts the steep cost of

food delivery services like UberEats and SkipTheDishes as a factor in the growth of culinary classes. “Folks will spend an arm and a leg on food delivery services simply because they’re craving something they don’t know how to prepare,” she says. Ultimately, those same people would “prefer to take food into their own hands and make it fresh from scratch at home.”

Chef Marsha Simmons, of Marsha’s Kitchen in Flamborough, has also seen demand for cooking classes on the rise, with her sales increasing by more than 50 per cent between 2022 and 2023. Simmons cites the popularity

WHETHER IT’S TO MANAGE A BUDGET, EAT HEALTHIER, MAKE MEMORIES OR IMPROVE CULINARY SKILLS, MORE PEOPLE ARE ENROLLING IN LOCAL COOKING CLASSES . PHOTO: JOYCE OF COOKING

of cooking as an activity that is both easy and unique yet is close enough to home that it won’t break the bank. “A lot of people want to learn how to cook a dish they have never done before and use unusual ingredients and unfamiliar techniques,” says Simmons. “Cooking can be like a travel experience –seeing and doing something new, especially if it’s from a region in the world you have never visited before.”

In her cooking sessions, Simmons has seen a lot of interest in the preparation of tapas, pasta and even dim sum. Contrary to popular belief, Simmons shows clients that making dim sum can easily be done at home. “It’s a perfect bonding activity for friends and family to make dumplings together.”

Simmons agrees that the value of learning to cook goes beyond high food prices.

“Cooking for or with family and friends is a lovely way to spend time together, and being together in the kitchen will build a lot of memories. Also, I think all the food shows have sparked a lot of interest in cooking and helped people realize that cooking can be fun, entertaining and that anyone can do it.”

That said, fear of making mistakes can be a factor in keeping people from trying their culinary hand. Following recipes, effectively using various techniques, and handling specialized equipment can all be overwhelming for beginners. With that in mind, every one of the chefs I spoke with emphasized the need for support and encouragement in conveying kitchen skills to every level of would-be chef.

There is no right or wrong way to cut an onion, says Simmons. “Try starting with recipes that don’t have too many ingredients or are simple in the prep and cooking process. If you’re really intimidated, take a beginners class or a private lesson to build some of your skills and increase your confidence.”

Joyce Leung, chef-owner of The Joyce of Cooking, agrees that starting hands-on is the best way to conquer your culinary fears. “Don’t be afraid to start,” says Leung. “Cooking is not only about following a recipe, it’s about experimenting and being comfortable with what ingredients work well and don’t work well together. It can be so liberating, stress relieving, and most importantly fun. We all need to eat and we all love a good meal.”

Leung offers both in-person and virtual classes on Asian cooking including sushi, dim

sum, Asian soup and kimchi. Her hands-on courses, offered in Hamilton and surrounding areas extend to both individual adults and courses where parents and kids can learn together.

The social bonds that form around people cooking and eating the food they make is a point of pride of Leung’s business model. “Food is an important part of all our daily lives and I can see many parents want their kids to learn from a younger age and learn a basic life skill. Many people also like to join classes alone to meet locals who have the same interests. And then we have couples coming out for date nights or anniversary celebrations.”

Asked about recent trends in clientele, Leung says there are two groups who attend her classes. “One is the food lovers who already know how to cook. They want to expand their knowledge on different types of cuisines and learn how to make dishes they normally enjoy in a restaurant. The second are people who realize that eating out, and buying prepackaged foods, is getting expensive, so they want to learn some basic skills in the kitchen.”

Luisa Di Marcantonio, of Burlington’s Il Convento, agrees that the kitchen is the place to have fun. “Don’t be afraid to make a mistake because this is where we learn. Be inspired and start with trying to learn to make a favourite dish you would normally enjoy out.” Offering private and group classes in Italian cooking, Di Marcantonio says that “learning to make pasta by hand is a bucket-list item” and her group classes work well as gifts or corporate and team-building exercises. “It’s a fun activity for people to gather with a group of friends to celebrate,” says Di Marcantonio whose classes specialize in “an authentic hands-on Italian cooking experience” including “an immersive four-course meal.”

Born in Canada to Italian immigrants from the Italian region of Abruzzo, Di Marcantonio always loved to bake but only learned later in life to cook like her mother Annunziata. She says her students appreciate that lessons are “hands on and not just a demo.” To ensure that no one is left behind, she adds “we are there every step of the way with practical tips, and they leave with detailed recipes.”

Without a doubt, learning to cook is a skill that almost anyone can pick up, with half the fun being in the process itself. So, check out what these and many other chefs in Hamilton are cooking and get yourself in the kitchen! n

OTHER CULINARY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS IN THE HAMILTON / BURLINGTON REGION INCLUDE:

Affirm College

Formerly known as Liaison College, this culinary institution in Jackson Square continues to provide quality education and training with a diverse range of culinary and lifestyle programs. Headed by chefs Romaine Newell and Clarissa Smith, Affirm prioritizes personalized cooking lessons to foster an intimate, student-centred learning environment. The college offers short lifestyle classes suitable for novice or experienced chefs, while the essential series offers intensive courses that focus on both recipe-based and advanced culinary techniques.

Mohawk College - Cooking Fundamentals

Run through Mohawk’s Continuing Education department, the 12-week cooking fundamentals course is geared towards those with cooking as a general interest. Chef-instructor Nino Sarkis, a graduate of both the culinary skills chef training program at Niagara College and teachers’ college, offers catering services and private virtual cooking classes in a variety of dishes including Mediterranean, pasta and sushi.

Yellow Door Catering

Chef-owner Bill Horodecky and partner Andrea Coull offer in-home cooking classes to both burgeoning chefs and experts, featuring a variety of tailor-made menus including seasonal and specialty meals. Horodecky brings a note of off-beat fun to his three-hour classes alongside full-service catered cocktail parties and his five-course private chef experience.

The Casual Gourmet

Situated in the heart of Westdale Village, the Casual Gourmet offers an extensive selection of fine kitchenware and an inclusive market filled with locally sourced foods. Under the new ownership of Nasif Walji, and a fully equipped kitchen in the back of the store, the Casual Gourmet looks to resume offering cooking classes to the public in the near future.

Hamilton's culinary TIME MACHINE

Taking in the service, ambience and food at the city’s historic restaurants allows diners to step back in time.

By JOYCE LEUNG

In the vibrant city of Hamilton, some culinary journeys are not just a delightful experience; they are a step back in time through the doors of classic restaurants that have stood the test of time. Hamilton’s rich history is tastefully preserved in its diverse gastronomic landscape, where iconic eateries transport patrons to eras gone by. From the timeless charm of family-owned diners to the elegant ambiance of historic fine-dining establishments, each restaurant in Hamilton tells a story of tradition and culinary excellence. Nostalgia comes alive as you savour the flavours of carefully crafted recipes that have been passed down through generations, creating a dining experience that transcends the present. These classic establishments not only serve delectable dishes but also provide a nostalgic escape, inviting patrons to immerse themselves in the timeless allure of Hamilton’s culinary past. Let’s dive in and discover just some of these historic establishments.

SHAKESPEARE’S STEAK AND SEAFOOD

Established in 1969 by the visionary 26-year-old Italian immigrant, Franco Putignano, in the heart of a steel-town, the restaurant has become a cherished symbol of fine dining in Hamilton. Back in 2019, Shakespeare’s celebrated a significant milestone — 50 years since Putignano took that bold leap of faith on Oct. 7, 1969. At the time, he had just married and was embarking on a new chapter in his life, unaware of the future that awaited him. With passion and unwavering dedication, Putignano turned Shakespeare’s into a beacon of culinary excellence. Putignano, the head chef, has not only created a renowned establishment but also instilled in his family the values of perseverance and the pursuit of dreams. Stepping into Shakespeare’s restaurant feels like a nostalgic journey through time, where the rich ambiance, adorned with lots of wood, warmly beckons patrons to a bygone era of timeless elegance and classic charm. n Shakespeare’s Steak and Seafood is located at 181 Main St E.

EASTERBROOK’S HOTDOG STAND

Easterbrook’s restaurant stands as a cherished time capsule, boasting over 85 years of culinary excellence and community service. Nestled in the heart of tradition, this vintage establishment transports patrons to a former era with its classic checkered decor. For four generations, Easterbrook’s has been a beacon of culinary nostalgia, proudly serving great hotdogs, hamburgers, French fries, and real ice cream. Beyond the

delectable menu, what sets Easterbrook’s apart is its commitment to providing a dining experience rooted in cleanliness, exceptional personal service, quality food, a diverse selection, and excellent value. The atmosphere remains as it did many decades ago, a timeless space where generations have gathered to savour the same flavours that Mable Easterbrook first introduced in 1930. With origins tracing back to Mable’s tea house in 1926, Easterbrook’s has become a culinary institution, selling over 1,600 miles of hotdogs and over one million pounds of ice cream since its humble beginnings. A visit to Easterbrook’s promises not just a meal but a journey through its storied history. n Easterbrook’s Hotdog Stand is located at 694 Spring Gardens Rd.

COACH AND LANTERN

Nestled in the heart of Ancaster’s historic village within a 200-year-old stone building, the Coach and Lantern stands as a unique and irreplaceable gem. This remarkable pub, a true embodiment of British charm, seamlessly combines a historic setting with a warm, welcoming atmosphere. Offering not only great food and exceptional beer but also a community gathering place. The Coach and Lantern is housed within a building with a compelling history that dates to the late 1700s. Originally constructed in this era, the building endured a fire but was rebuilt around 1823. Remarkably, it now stands as the third-oldest building in Ancaster, a proof to its enduring presence in this ancient Ontario community, which ranks as the third-oldest in the province after Kingston and Niagara-on-the-Lake. Steeped in historical significance, the building served as a site for sentencing traitors in 1812, marking a chilling chapter in its past. Around 1870, the establishment transformed into the Union Hotel, later evolving into the Traitor’s Court before ultimately becoming the beloved Coach and Lantern pub. With its roots traced back to 1832 when it was constructed for George Rousseaux, the building highlights a blend of architectural history, with the front dating from 1832 and the rear added around 1860 after a fire. The adjoining structure, now part of the Coach and Lantern, was once the stables for the hotel. While not the site of the Bloody Assize

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EASTERBROOK’S HOTDOG STAND, AT MORE THAN 85 YEARS OLD, FEATURES AN OLD-TIME DINER FEEL, ALONG WITH GREAT COMFORT FOOD. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

held in 1814, this Coach and Lantern location remains a living relic, connecting patrons to the storied past of Ancaster and its enduring architectural legacy. The Coach and Lantern is more than just a dining destination; it is an experience steeped in history and hospitality. The venerable stone building provides a picturesque backdrop to the pub’s authentic character, making it a cherished establishment that captures the essence of both tradition and community.

n Coach and Lantern is located at 384 Wilson St E.

GERMANIA CLUB OF HAMILTON

Founded in 1864, the Germania Club of Hamilton proudly stands as the oldest German club in Ontario and one of the oldest in North America, with its original charter signed in the name of Her Majesty Queen Victoria in 1884. Rooted in a deep commitment to preserving and promoting German culture in the Greater Hamilton area, the club warmly welcomes members, guests, and anyone eager to uphold its longstanding traditions. The Restaurant Germania, open Thursdays and Fridays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m., offers authentic and affordable homemade German food, including schnitzels, spaetzle and goulash, along with weekly specials, including pastas and fish and chips. With a commitment to heritage and a calendar full of lively events, the Germania Club remains a cherished institution, embodying the spirit of German culture in the heart of Hamilton.

n Germania Club of Hamilton is located at 863 King St E.

CORKTOWN IRISH PUB

Nestled in the heart of Hamilton, the Corktown Irish Pub stands as living proof of the city’s rich history, proudly holding the title of Hamilton’s oldest licensed establishment and live music venue. With a legacy spanning over 80 years, the Corktown has been a cherished platform for both local and international talent, hosting a variety of musical experiences within its walls. Beyond its legendary status, the pub boasts a culinary journey with a modern menu, carefully curated with locally sourced ingredients. As patrons step into the Corktown, they not only embrace the vibrant atmosphere of a timehonoured pub but also savour the flavours of a contemporary culinary adventure. It remains a cherished destination where the

Hamilton, a city pulsating wit H vitality and ric H H istorical tapestry, reveals its vibrant essence through a collection of historic restaurants that stand as living monuments to the past.

echoes of Hamilton’s past and the vibrancy of its present converge. Be sure to look for the “ladies’s entrance” sign over an entry door.

n Corktown Irish Pub is located at 175 Young St.

THE INNSVILLE

The Innsville, one of last true inns in the Golden Horseshoe, was established during the golden age of inns, when the road from Hamilton wound lazily through quaint burrows along the Niagara Peninsula to the iconic Niagara Falls, The Innsville stands as a nostalgic spot for travellers seeking respite. Hospitality has been the cornerstone of The Innsville since its inception, and over six

decades, this philosophy has not only endured but has evolved to offer a diverse range of services. In a nod to the golden age of inns, the ambiance at The Innsville exudes warmth and comfort, creating an atmosphere reminiscent of a more unhurried time. From the welcoming smiles of the servers to the enticing menu, featuring award-winning prime rib, fresh oysters, pickerel and cod, and AAA steaks, The Innsville remains a timeless retreat where the spirit of genuine hospitality lives on.

n The Innsville is located at 1143 Hamilton Regional Rd 8, Stoney Creek

THE PHEASANT PLUCKER

The Pheasant Plucker is a cherished gem among Hamilton’s original old-world British pubs. With a legacy spanning over 30 years, this iconic establishment features an incredible menu of pub classics that have been perfected over the decades. From the renowned fish & chips and comforting liver & onions to the delectable steak pie, The Pheasant Plucker invites customers to savour the authentic flavours of British pub fare. The menu proudly embraces diversity with the inclusion of haggis for those seeking a taste of the adventurous. As a culinary mainstay, The Pheasant Plucker not only offers a delightful and delicious experience but also serves as a time-honored gathering place where the spirit of old-world British charm comes alive in every dish. When you walk in, you really feel like you have been transported back in time just as Augusta Street develops all around it.

n The Pheasant Plucker is located at 20 Augusta St.

CORKTOWN IRISH PUB IS HAMILTON’S OLDEST LICENSED ESTABLISHMENT AND LIVE MUSIC VENUE.

PHOTO: SUPPLIED

PHOENIX CRAFT HOUSE AND GRILL

Located inside McMaster University’s historic Refectory Building, The Phoenix Crafthouse & Grill blends tradition and innovation. Established in 1969 on the upper level of the now-demolished Wentworth House, The Phoenix found its new home in 2013, relocating to the Refectory Building, one of the campus’ original structures dating back to 1930. What sets The Phoenix apart is not just its longevity but also its commitment to excellence. The old-time decor of this iconic eatery, coupled with a unique curved ceiling, pays homage to the building’s historic roots as a dining hall. Since its inception, The Phoenix has been a provider of delectable food and craft beer, offering an affordable yet quality dining experience. As McMaster’s Home of The Perfect Pint, The Phoenix continues to be a timeless destination where the past and present coalesce, creating an inviting atmosphere for patrons seeking both culinary satisfaction and a touch of history.

n The Phoenix Crafthouse & Grill is located at 1280 Main St W.

CAPRI RESTAURANT

Capri has been delivering authentic Italian on John Street North since Elena and Bruno Cariolato opened it in 1963 in a building built in the 1800s. In the early days, the pizza was so famous that there were lineups almost every night to get in the Capri Restaurant. There was even a pizza man right in the front window throwing dough in the air. The restaurant is also famous for the second-floor Blue Grotto, which was made to resemble a

cave like the one in the Capri Islands called the La Grotta Azzura. The ceilings and the walls were transformed into concrete stalactites. There was food, dancing and even a flowing river through the middle of the floor with little fish swimming around. The Blue Grotto was originally used as part of the restaurant and then later used for small functions like weddings, baptisms and birthday parties. After being closed for 20 years, it reopened in 2014. The Capri has been family owned throughout its history. In 2004, head cook Anna Fiorino purchased the restaurant where she had worked since arriving in Hamilton in the early 1960s. She still owns it along with her husband Genaro and their son Salvatore. Dishes like gnocchi, risotto, cannelloni, are inspired by Anna’s family in Calabria, Italy.

n The Capri Restaurant is located at 25 John St. N.

BLACK FOREST INN

The Black Forest Inn harkens to the inns that have dotted Europe for centuries. In addition to providing for the needs of travellers, inns traditionally acted as community gathering places serving food and drink. Fred and Rosa Obbereiter came from Austria in the 1950s and opened the Black Forest Inn in 1967, eventually passing the torch to son and chef Wolfgang Schoen. Ownership changed again in 2016 but the traditional Bavarian decor and outdoor Biergarten remains. The venerable Black Forest serves large portions of classics like schnitzel, spaetzle, cabbage rolls, sausages and pork chops. Untold numbers of date

nights, business meetings and family milestone celebrations have been held at the King Street East landmark.

n The Black Forest Inn is located at 255 King St. E.

TROCADERO TAVERN

Trocadero Tavern on Barton Street in Hamilton, carries a rich and storied history as a community hub with a unique charm. In a building that has been a gathering place for over a century, the Trocadero has witnessed the transformation of the Barton Street neighbourhood. Its historic roots trace back to the 1910s when it operated as a soda shop before evolving into a restaurant in 1944. For decades, it weathered changes in ownership and economic fluctuations, standing resilient as an enduring presence in the heart of the city. The Trocadero became more than just a dining establishment, it amplified the resilience and adaptability of Hamilton’s cultural landscape. With its classic façade and vintage interiors, the Trocadero continued to be a beloved venue, serving not only delicious food but also preserving the nostalgic essence of Barton Street’s past. Trocadero is closed for an indefinite time but Sorella Roma (a division of Roma Bakery) runs pop up events there and it is rented out for movie shoots and events..

n Trocadero Tavern is located at 525 Barton St E.

Hamilton, a city pulsating with vitality and rich historical tapestry, reveals its vibrant essence through a collection of historic restaurants that stand as living monuments to the past. Each establishment, with its own unique story and cultural significance, contributes to the city’s dynamic character. From the enduring charm of Shakespeare’s to the venerable traditions upheld at Easterbrook’s, and the nostalgic journey offered by The Innsville, these restaurants serve as portals to Hamilton’s storied history. As guardians of cultural heritage, these establishments remind us to treasure the tangible echoes of previous eras, celebrating the moments etched into the walls of these culinary landmarks. In the heart of these historic restaurants, we find not only exceptional food but also a living connection to the city’s roots, urging us to cherish and preserve the invaluable treasures embedded in the very fabric of Hamilton’s past. n

THE RESTAURANT AT THE GERMANIA CLUB OF HAMILTON SERVES UP TRADITIONAL GERMAN FOODS SUCH AS SCHNITZELS, SPAETZLE AND GOULASH. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

CHEERS TO BOOZE-FREE

LOW- AND NO-ALCOHOL COCKTAILS ARE SHAKING UP DRINK MENUS ACROSS THE CITY – JUST TRY NOT TO CALL THEM MOCKTAILS.

By KRIS OSBORNE

BAR SAZERAC OWNER KYLE FERREIRA – KNOWN AS THE “FATHER OF BARTENDING” IN HAMILTON – MAKES HIS OWN ZERO-PROOF SPIRITS, LIQUEURS, AND APERITIVOS TO GO INTO LOW- AND NO-ALCOHOL COCKTAILS.

PHOTO: MARTA HEWSON FOR HCM

Low- and no-alcohol cocktails have become a priority on menus across the city, with dedicated low-ABV (alcohol by volume) and zero-proof or “mocktail” menus taking up prime real estate. Many don’t like the idea of calling them mocktails, though.

“We’re not trying to mock anything,” said several people in the hospitality industry. Corina Fleet, beverage director of The Other Bird hospitality group, sees them being of equal importance. “We want our customers to feel included and valued, no matter what they’re drinking or why.”

Fleet is even considering reformatting how the menu reads, where zero-proof and low-ABV drinks aren’t in their own distinct category, but the alcohol content is still easy to find and understand.

Creating an “inclusive” menu, alongside making customers feel valued, were common themes with everybody I spoke to. But many also shared their own personal reasons for creating zero-proof menus, ranging from supporting those in the sober or sober-curious communities, to creating a safe space, having healthier alternatives, and making it fun for people who are choosing not to or are unable to drink for various reasons.

These drinks are fun and flashy, says Anthony Cipollo, Undefined’s general manager, sharing that customers love that their drinks are perfect for the ’gram.

More and more people are “approaching (drinking) with intentionality,” said Alex Drumm, a bartender at The Argyle for two and a half years. “There’s been a drastic shift in drinking culture since I’ve started working here.”

People are having one cocktail, then turning to non-alcoholic drinks for the rest of the evening, or only consuming nonalcoholic drinks from the start. Whether it’s driven by Health Canada’s alcohol guidelines changing in 2022, how alcohol affects sleep quality, both short- and long-term health risks, or cost and competition, the low and no-alcohol drink trend seems like it’s here to stay. According to Statistica.com, the interest in non-alcoholic drinks has been climbing nation-wide over the last several years and that growth is expected to continue, to the tune of 2.2 per cent annually until 2027.

As Drumm and I chatted, he pointed out three customers sitting at the table closest to me. All three were drinking non-alcoholic drinks and their reasons for doing so differed, from participating in dry January, to being at work, to simply not feeling like drinking alcohol. They were there for a work meeting and noted that having more places serving good non-alcoholic drinks made it more interesting to have meetings outside of the office that didn’t include a coffee shop.

Mocktails have long had a reputation of being overly sweet and belonging on the kid’s menu, alongside a Shirley Temple. But this just isn’t true anymore. Yes, there are places still using a base of juices and syrups to create their non-alcoholic drinks – more as an afterthought on the menu.

But not the places I visited. Many of the drinks I tasted were innovative, complex and creative, with thoughtful and considered house-made components, like the subtly sweet and spicy ginger beer at The Merk, the pineapple shrub at Mystic Ramen, and the grapefruit cordial at Undefined doing most of the heavy-lifting among their dedicated non-boozy drinks.

Mystic Ramen on King William Street even makes a zero-proof old fashioned, which for the record, is traditionally 99 per cent bourbon or rye whiskey.

Heather Elson, one half of the ownership team at Mystic Ramen, is able to capture the flavour of the classic cocktail quite well, even if it is on the sweeter side. She uses a mix of ingredients that mimic the background flavours of the spirit, including a blend of the funky and smoky lapsang souchong tea and the toasty bitterness of barley tea.

“I’m not a fancy bartender,” she said. This drink proves otherwise.

Outside of what was made in-house, the thoughtful curation of ingredients often made me have to double check that what I was drinking didn’t, in fact, include alcohol. The tropical sour served by Drumm at The Argyle, for example, was as convincing as they come. The Merk’s Peared Off and Rapscallion’s coconut matcha sour, both things I wouldn’t have typically ordered, were decidedly enjoyable, and worth writing home about.

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THE HAIKARA MUGICHA IS ONE OF SEVERAL LOW- OR NO-ALCOHOL OPTIONS AT MYSTIC RAMEN. PHOTO: MYSTIC RAMEN

THE FOAL AT THE MERK INCLUDES JALAPENO SIMPLE SYRUP, LIME JUICE AND GINGER BEER. PHOTO: KRIS OSBORNE

THE BLACK CHERRY SHRUB AT UNDEFINED FEATURES AGED BALSAMIC AND TORCHED ROSEMARY. PHOTO: UNDEFINED

Low-ABV cocktails also have a dedicated space on several of these menus. ABV is the percentage you see on your can of beer, bottle of wine, or spirit. And in the cocktail world, it’s used to determine the alcohol content in a drink served. Most standard drinks are around one and a half ounces of distilled spirits, making for around 40 per cent ABV.

For the low-ABV menus, most establishments are looking to at least cut that amount in half. For example, the refreshing and subtly floral L&T (Lillet & tonic) at The Argyle, now on my all-time favourites list, comes in at 17.5 per cent. While Rapscallion’s sweeter apricot spritz, uses bitter Campari, an apricot simple syrup, and alcohol-free Gruvi Dry Secco, for a much lower 5.5 per cent ABV refresher. A traditional Aperol spritz, also rings in at a low 7.5 per cent ABV as it is.

More interesting non-alcoholic options are what people want. After attending an eventful cocktail competition in Toronto last year, Courtney Johnson, who’s built a reputation for herself in the non-alc community, decided to run a similar mocktail competition in Hamilton. Johnson started her Discovering Mocktails Instagram account last year because she was “struggling with” her drinking. All she could see when researching sobriety, she said, “was that being sober was boring.” Through sharing alcohol-free beverages and sober-inclusive events in and around the GTA, she’s made it her personal mission to prove that being “sober isn’t boring, or doesn’t have to be.”

The competition showcased three bartenders from across the city: Shirline Nalepa from the Merk Snack Bar, Mare Walsh from Bon Temps, and Brendan TK from Victoria’s Steakhouse. Walsh, who’s worked in hospitality for roughly 25 years, is the owner of cocktail catering company, Quick Stir, bar lead/restaurant manager at Bon Temps, and now, a brand influencer for the company Sobrii. Highly respected and known for her craft, she was keen to participate in the competition, and use her “voice and platform to educate others on healthier ways to have a relationship with alcohol. Having personally “suffered from alcohol abuse” and witnessing the

“abuse, and even loss of life, of too many of my friends, colleagues and community members over the years,” Walsh believes they have a responsibility “to have offerings for everyone without judgment.”

The event was well-received and the energy was buzzing, according to several who attended. “They mixed their drinks while the song of their choice played and everyone cheered. It was incredible to watch,” says Johnson. Thrilled with the community response, she’s planning another competition for this year and is anticipating much wider participation from across the city’s bars. If you’re wondering who won, everyone produced great drinks, but in the end it was Brendan TK from Victoria’s who stole the show with his TKTK mocktail.

Making great no- or low-alcoholic drinks is one thing but Bar Sazerac owner Kyle Ferreira is also making his own zero-proof spirits, liqueurs, and aperitivos to go into the drinks. This project started in 2021 when his wife Jennifer Ferreira was pregnant with their second child. He wanted to create a drink that allowed her to feel like she could better participate in the culture. They owned a cocktail bar, after all.

Her taste preferences lean towards bitter, so Ferreira worked with flavours like “orange, gentian, angelica root, and other herbs and spices” to create a spiced aperitivo that she could add to her soda. This concoction is now firmly on their menu, doubling as the house aperitivo and tonic syrup. You’ll find it in Peppo the Alley Cat, their spin on a non-alcoholic Aperol spritz.

This personal endeavour led Ferreira down the path of developing more non-alcoholic spirits to stock his bar. In addition to the aperitivo, Ferreira says his house-made rum and triple sec have also earned a confident place on the menu, though he’s just scratched the surface, he says. He’s working on developing a more robust sweet vermouth, gin, Aperol, and whiskey. And although it’s in its infancy, the whiskey still made a wonderful addition to the Scrooge McDuck, a riff on a Penicillin, a scotch-based drink developed by New York bartender Sam Ross.

Ferreira is deeply committed to his craft. He owns and runs a cocktail bar, so I was naturally curious about his motivation for working so hard on the non-alcoholic side of

THE COCONUT MATCHA SOUR AT RAPSCALLION INCLUDES COCONUT WATER AND AQUAFABA. PHOTO: RAPSCALLION

THE TROPICAL SOUR AT THE ARGYLE FEATURES GRAPEFRUIT, LIME, CINNAMON SYRUP, ORGEAT, AND EGG WHITE. PHOTO: THE ARGYLE

THE ALEPPO AND GRAPEFRUIT FAUX-LOMA AT UNDEFINED FEATURES GRAPEFRUIT CORDIAL AND AGAVE. PHOTO: UNDEFINED

Ferreira is deeply committed to his cra F t. He owns and runs a cocktail bar, so i was naturally curious about H is motivation for working so H ard on t H e non-alco H olic side of t H ings. w it H out H esitation, H e said t H at people s H ould question if H e didn’t give t H e same deference and care to creating drinks for all of H is customers.

things. Without hesitation, he said that people should question if he didn’t give the same deference and care to creating drinks for all of his customers.

“I support whoever’s in front of me,” he said. And in his house, everyone should “be comfortable, have a good time, and have something … that works for them.”

When he was growing up, his mother used to say, “less than your best, you cannot give. And better than your best, you cannot give,” a likely influence to his approach. Known by others in the city as the “father of bartending,” Ferreira is also recognized as an expert by those at arm’s-length to the industry. In addition to his own in-house libations, he’s been asked to develop the base flavour profiles for a Canadian brand that

is looking to create a range of non-alcoholic spirits and produce them on a larger scale. Ferreira’s work is only just beginning.

Whether you’re imbibing or not, there’s much to discover in the city. And many of the drinks will surprise you with their convincing makeup, contemplative curation, and extraordinary flavour and presentation. The most important thing to remember is that you should talk to your bartender. If I’ve learned anything from my research, it’s that everybody genuinely wants you to enjoy your drink and to have a good time. If they know your likes and dislikes, they’re happy to craft something for you on the spot.

And don’t ever apologize for ordering something non-alcoholic. Those attitudes are in the past. n

YOU MIGHT WANT TO TRY:

The Tropical Sour, the Spicy-rita, and the L&T (low ABV) at The Argyle

The Coconut Matcha Sour and the Faux-Seventy Five at Rapscallion

The Foal and Peared Off at Merk Snack Bar

The Scrooge McDuck and Peppo the Alley Cat at Bar Sazerac

Aleppo & Grapefruit Faux-Loma at Undefined

The Coco Beach and Haikara Mugicha at Mystic Ramen

PHOTO: MARTA HEWSON FOR HCM

FOR THE FOOD TRUCK

OTTAWA STREET’S SEW HUNGRY BEGAN IN 2013 AS A WAY TO CELEBRATE HAMILTON’S BURGEONING FOOD TRUCK CULTURE. BOTH ARE STILL GOING STRONG.

By JODY ABERDEEN

As Ottawa Street gears up for the return of Sew Hungry on May 11, the food truck scene in Hamilton has never been more vibrant. Hamilton was an early adopter of the food truck trend and it remains strong to this day, with dozens of different operators serving up a multitude of cuisines,

ORIGINS

Every part of the world has had some variation of a food cart in its history. No matter where you go, they are almost always run by enterprising individuals with a knack for making delicious food who bring their offerings to the roadsides for ordinary working people to enjoy a well-cooked meal.

Within the North American context, the origin of the modern food truck is often traced to post-Civil War Texas, where former Confederate soldier and rancher Charles

Goodknight invented the “chuck wagon,” a horse-drawn covered wagon outfitted with wood burning stoves, kitchenware and a water barrel. Chuckwagons were intended to feed cowboys on the long cattle drives across the state to New Mexico and back again.

Covered wagons would subsequently find usage back east, such as Walter Scott’s lunch wagon in Providence, Rhode Island, which served up sandwiches, hot coffee and pies to journalists and staff at the newspaper office where it was parked day and night.

The 1950s saw the evolution of the wagons into “mobile canteens,” as well as the more familiar invention of the ice cream truck since vehicles could now have refrigerators and freezers on board.

Food trucks catered to working people – farmers, factory workers, retail staff, and busy office personnel – providing affordable, convenient and delicious food. Rich folks tended to look down on them as “roach coaches” or “gut trucks,” preferring traditional fine dining in brick and mortar restaurants.

That perception would change in the late 2000s and early 2010s, especially following the start of the Great Recession in 2008. A confluence of three factors led to the rapid evolution of the food truck as we know it today: a surplus of available food trucks at relatively low cost; a large number of unemployed cooks and chefs due to restaurant closures; and the rapid growth of social media. In low-income neighbourhoods and suburbs across the continent, food trucks started rolling up to various locations to serve long lineups of hungry diners, alerted to their arrival on Twitter and Instagram (a practice most notably pioneered by L.A.’s Kogi, operated by Chef Roy Choi).

Better yet, food truck offerings had diversified, with a wider range of cuisines from all around the world, as well as unique innovations provided by the individual chefs.

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FOOD TRUCKS WILL BE THE STARS OF OTTAWA STREET’S ANNUAL SEW HUNGRY FESTIVAL ON MAY 11. PHOTOS:

As the trend caught on, food truck rallies started to appear in many cities, with dozens of new food trucks lining up on the street and drawing in thousands of people.

City governments, at varying speeds, adjusted their local food safety and permit processes to allow for food trucks to operate legally within their bounds. It was within this context that the first-ever Sew Hungry rally was held in 2013 on Ottawa Street.

THE LEGACY OF GRAEME SMITH

The Hamilton food truck community of today owes a great debt of gratitude to chef Graeme Smith, the founder of Gorilla Cheese, Canada’s first food truck devoted to grilled cheese sandwiches, and an original favourite at Sew Hungry.

Having had a lifelong dream to own a restaurant, Smith attended Hamilton’s Liaison College and developed what would become the Gorilla Cheese menu. As the food truck scene started to take hold elsewhere in North America, Smith decided to open his own.

Smith held the launch for Gorilla Cheese at Hamilton City Hall in 2011, and with the partnership of fellow chef Jonathan Tjerkstra, a.k.a, Jonny Blonde, was able to pave the way for today’s thriving Hamilton food truck scene. “There was no food truck industry when Graeme started,” said Blonde in a CBC news article on Smith’s leadership. “He really did a lot of the legwork for a lot of us in getting through to the City and making it possible to do what we do because there just was no legislation and stuff like that for us.

Smith would grow Gorilla Cheese into one of the most successful Hamilton businesses, briefly owning a brick and mortar restaurant on Ottawa Street from 2015 to 2018.

In 2017, Smith was diagnosed with

oropharyngeal cancer, which he would battle for the next five years before passing away in January 2022. An entire local food truck industry owes its existence to Smith’s passion, vision, and love of people. Gorilla Cheese continues to operate, serving customers throughout southern Ontario.

FOOD TRUCK FUTURES

Much has changed in the past 13 years for Hamilton’s food truck industry. The added pressures of operating in the post2020 environment and all of the economic pressures that has brought for the hospitality industry in general are certainly felt by many operators.

“These days, the audience can be pretty fickle,” says chef Mandip Kaler of the Flying Gnosh, comparing today’s food truck scene to the early 2010s. “Now that the ‘new car smell’ has worn off, the customer is not as excited to visit many events as before.” He notes that being able to cook and run a food business without the investment of a physical location is still a great advantage. “A truck lets you bring your food and concept to a wide array of customers and locations.”

Kaler has been able to collaborate with many brick and mortar businesses in Hamilton, most recently helping to launch a beer, the Flyin’ Lassi Sour with Mango, with Grain & Grit Small Batch Brewing in the city’s west end.

Sew Hungry continues to be touted as “Canada’s largest food truck festival”, and as of this writing, the Ottawa Street BIA, the primary festival organizers, are still adding new trucks to the lineup, but if the 2023 festival (with more than 33 trucks) is any indication, Sew Hungry 2024 should be one of the best events to look forward to this year. n

HAMILTON WAS AN EARLY ADOPTER OF FOOD TRUCKS AND THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT BECAUSE IT LAUNCHED THE DELICIOUS SEW HUNGRY. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

HAMILTON AND BURLINGTON ARE BASKING IN GREAT BAKERIES. THESE ARE JUST A FEW OFFERING UP SWEET AND SAVOURY SPECIALTIES.

BEAUTY in the bake

WBy HEATHER PETER

hether you’re searching for a buttery French-style baked good to enjoy on your own, a double-decker themed cake for an anniversary or special occasion, or perhaps, some mini Italian delights for a party with friends, you are sure to find exactly what you are looking for in Hamilton and Burlington. Each of the bakeries below has their own specialty, and each do things a bit differently, but boy are they sure all delicious!

KARLIK PASTRY

762 Barton St. E., Hamilton karlikpastry.ca

Instagram (IG): karlikpastrybakery

This unassuming little gem in the Barton Village is sure to knock your socks off, bakery-style! Karlik Pastry is a European style bakery with a specialty in Polish and Ukrainian baked goods. The little shop has been around since the 1950s, and serves up traditional Eastern European treats like meltin-your-mouth cookies, poppyseed pastries, cake rolls, and more. Be sure to stay tuned to Karlik’s social media, where you can find out about specials such as the famous Paczki – traditional fried donuts filled with jams or creams.

CANICHE FRENCH BAKERY

346 Wilson St. E., Ancaster canichebakery.com

IG: canichebakery

A staple in the Ancaster Village community, Caniche Bakery is a French-inspired bakery serving up delicious drinks (Balzac’s Coffee and Kusmi Teas), and all sorts of delicious French-themed pastries, breads, and sweets; though, this bakery doesn’t let the French theme hold it back from creativity. The spectacular buttery croissants are one of the items that brings people in from the community and beyond. Try the croissants – apple pie, chocolate, and almond – for a sweet little break in the middle of a hectic day.

CHATON

35 York Blvd., Hamilton chatonhamilton.com

IG: chaton.hamont

New to the Hamilton community, Chaton is another spot where the French pastry reigns supreme. Specializing in croissants, financiers, and madeleines, you can find these buttery baked goods at Chaton’s new spot in the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. Owner Anna is always creating and inventing, while leaning on all the knowledge that Anna has gained in the bakery-world. Creativity and experience – that’s how inspired baked goods are made at Chaton.

LA BAKERI

935 Fennell Ave. E., Hamilton labakeri.com

IG: labakeri_

Specializing in Sicilian pastries and classic Italian specialty baked goods, La Bakeri has been a staple in the Hamilton community since the 1980s. La Bakeri is best known for its Italian tortes, tiramisu and – above all – its cannolis. Cannolis can be enjoyed in flavours such as traditional, salted caramel, pistachio, nutella, and many more. For something a bit fun, try the mini peach pastries: a mini peach-shaped pastry bun, filled with vanilla custard, dipped in rum and rolled in sugar.

BEYOND THE BATTER BAKERY

1791 Stone Church Rd. E., Hamilton beyondthebatter.com

IG: beyondthebatter

The peanut-free factor of Beyond the Batter Bakery means that everyone at your gathering can enjoy a sweet little something. Though offering squares, cheesecakes, cookies and more – this bake shop is best known for cupcakes; which come in a huge variety of flavours. You can pre-order your cupcake offerings and choose from flavours like: bananas Foster, rainbow sorbet, root beer float, French toast and many more.

CASTELLI MERCATO

13 Hatton Dr., Ancaster castelli-mercato.square.site/ IG: castelli.mercato

Opening last year in the Ancaster community, Castelli Mercato is relatively new to the food scene in the area. Launching from its big brother in Hamilton – Castelli Cucina on James – Castelli Mercato has already made a name of its own within Ancaster and beyond. This small but mighty shop serves up everything from coffee and espresso-based drinks, bombolones, cookies, and cannolis, to fresh baked pizzas, paninis, and pastas to go. Head on over to the little shop off of Fiddlers Green and see what they’re baking up today.

SAM’S QUEENSTON BAKERY

341 Queenston Rd., Hamilton samsqueenstonbakery.com

Stepping into Sam’s Queenston Bakery is like stepping into a time-machine – to a time where cash was king, desserts were made from scratch with love, and diet was not a

word in the vocabulary. Sam’s opened in the 1970s in Hamilton and is a true Hamilton-area gem for its imported Italian items and Sicilian baked goods. For something extra special, try the Big Cannoli, reminiscent of a cornucopia of dessert items. Another stand out item is the rum sponge cake.

CAKES, SWEETS, AND TREATS

1600 Kerns Rd. #3, Burlington cakessweetstreats.com

IG: cakessweetsandtreats

You can’t talk about bakeries without mentioning a bakery that specializes in cakes. Cakes, Sweets, and Treats really does make cakes for all occasions – from the smaller celebrations at home with family to weddings and large events, they do it all. With flavours like mocha buttercream, confetti, carrot cake, raspberry white chocolate, it’s hard to go wrong with any of these cakes. (PS. The name says it all – they have more than cakes, too!)

MYSWEETOOTH

301 Main St. W., Hamilton mysweetooth.ca

IG: mysweetooth_hamilton

MySweeTooth on Main Street has definitely brought something to the city of Hamilton that we were missing: cream puffs. These crispy-on-the-outside, and oh-so-creamyon-the-inside treats come in flavour options such as ube, Earl Grey, strawberry, jasmine, pistachio and many more. In addition to the ever popular cream puffs, MySweeTooth creates mousse cakes and egg tarts. This bakery also has a unique way of matching sweet and savoury flavours together for some unique combinations. Try something new with MySweeTooth.

SAVING THYME

450 Appleby Line, Burlington savingthyme.ca

IG: savingthyme

Burlington’s Saving Thyme creates not only divine pastries from scratch, but also beautiful dishes and baked goods. This French-style bakery started as a small familyowned establishment in the Burlington area and has since expanded its name Burlingtonwide and beyond. Hot tip – try the Frenchinspired pastry: kouign amann. You can’t go wrong!

AN OPEN DOOR

DE

MAZENOD DOOR AT ST. PATRICK’S CHURCH IN DOWNTOWN HAMILTON IS HELPING THOSE IN DEEP NEED EACH AND EVERY DAY WITH HOMEMADE MEALS, KIND WORDS AND EVEN A HOME TO CALL THEIR OWN.

By KATHRYN DUNMORE | Photos By JACK SOULE

It’s a bitterly cold day in January and still a long line of people forms around St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Hamilton. It is hunger that keeps people hunched over against the frigid winds as the line shuffles along – people of all ages, abilities, and health. Hundreds of Hamiltonians come to De Mazenod Door in search of food, a hot beverage, even kibble for their pets. Though the weather held steady at -8 C that day, there were dozens of volunteers from young to old standing behind tables, serving food, drinks, and bags of pet food. Among them were church members, retirees, grade 8 students from the local school, and public health staff providing vaccinations.

One woman in a toque and a bright pink coat stood

to one side helping to direct and handle questions from the many people milling around. Her name is Sherri Ramirez and she has been helping to run De Mazenod Door Outreach since it was started eight years ago by Father Tony O’Dell and Father Jarek Pachocki, co-pastors of St. Patrick Parish on King Street East at Victoria Avenue North.

“There’s not a day we don’t do this. We’ve been out here in -40 temperatures,” says Ramirez, smiling broadly despite the icy wind. “Because it is our brothers and sisters who are going hungry. It builds a sense of community. Food draws people out; hunger draws people out.”

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HOW IT STARTED

Every single day for the past eight years, breakfast and lunch has been provided – not one day has been missed even through frigid winters, summer heatwaves and a pandemic. It has been going strong since O’Dell and Pachocki started this initiative by handing out sandwiches.

They started their parish work at St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Hamilton in 2012. One of their first decisions was to remove the fence around the church, which ended up being symbolic in more ways than one.

“We felt like (the fence) was promoting a different message where our message was everyone is welcome, but that fence was a dividing line between the parish and the community,” says O’Dell.

It was one day not long after when he was asked for money by someone on the street. While he explained that he did not carry cash, he asked the man what he wanted it for.

“He said he was hungry,” recalls O’Dell. “I told him to come across the street (to the church) and we’ll make you a sandwich and can give you a banana and some coffee. Then it grew to about 20 people in the first three months.”

People were coming to the church’s office, in a small building beside St. Patrick’s Church.

“They would ring the doorbell and we made sandwiches or some food that we had,” says Pachocki. “It started growing so we thought to start preparing for the next day. On the kitchen table, we would spread five loaves of bread and prepare the sandwiches for the next day, so we were ready. I think the beginning of De Mazenod Door, in 2016, was when the (Catholic) school board came to us. We had a conversation on how we can partner the parish and the school to make a difference in the inner city.”

The school offered a classroom, with a secured door so that nobody could go into the school.

“St. Eugene de Mazenod was the founder of our religious community (Missionary Oblates). He always had the passion from the beginning 200 years ago for the poor, for the marginalized. His mission of taking care of the poor and working with the poor was very much of the heart. So, we named De Mazenod Door after him, but the concept of the door was significant as well. The door symbolizes welcome as when someone

comes to your home, you welcome them as your guest at the door. That’s why we don’t call them clients, we call them our guests.”

De Mazenod Door, also referred to as the Door, registered as a charity and grew to serve 250-300 meals a day on average.

“Then came along the pandemic,” says O’Dell. “We, as a church, had to close as well but we had a big, empty church here and there’s people who need to go to the bathroom, who are freezing to death outside. So, we opened our church, we had volunteers come to help us and we had what we called a ‘resting station’. We had people sleeping in the pews, we always had hot coffee, hot chocolate, sandwiches there for them. We had people come in who help with mental health issues. Throughout that, that’s when we were breaking 500 (meals) at the end of the pandemic.”

As lockdowns lifted, it became a difficult time for some people to pay common expenses such as rent and food.

“What is surprising now is the number of young men coming,” says O’Dell. “People can’t afford it; if they must pay rent then they can’t afford food. We hear that over and over and over again. The largest number we had was in December 2023 when we topped 700 meals in one day.”

The point of offering food, much of it grown on a farm the church leases and operates in Hamilton, is to provide basic necessities to people, regardless of their situational, physical or mental health issues.

“You don’t have to be clean and sober to come,” says O’Dell. “Even in addiction they’re

still human beings, they still have dignity and value, and they still get hungry like any other person would. Unfortunately, when we see addicts on the streets, automatically we’re trained in our society to make a judgment right then and there, so the person is written off before you even know what the issue is.”

“The person comes first,” adds Pachocki. “It’s important for us to listen to them. A number of times, people living on the streets haven’t heard their name spoken for years –people see them, sometimes help them here or there but nobody speaks to them by name.”

One summer, the priests decided to offer barbecue instead and it became a Friday tradition. When temperatures cooled, they assumed they would pack the BBQ away until the next season.

“When the weather started changing, we asked the people in the line, our guests, how long we should be doing barbecue,” noted Pachocki. “(They) said if it’s cold or hot out, we’re still hungry. So that was the answer, it doesn’t matter what the weather is, the person is hungry, so we feed them. We had the Friday BBQ in the winter storm, we’ve had BBQ in heatwaves. It was an eye-opener when we’re thinking the weather is bad but that’s not a concern for them. Their first concern is they’re hungry.”

HOW IT GREW

In the past year alone, the distribution of meals increased from 500 a day to 700 meals a day. Each day has a different team of volunteers who rotate through the week, breakfast and lunch, to provide food every day.

DE MAZENOD DOOR HAS SERVED BREAKFAST AND LUNCH EVERY DAY FOR THE PAST EIGHT YEARS.

“I knew there was a need down here. I had a friend volunteering here who enticed us to come down to volunteer,” says Jim Galvin, who has been a volunteer since he retired in 2016.

“You like to feel you’re contributing to the homeless problem,” explains Galvin when asked why he volunteers. “People are hungry. You like to feel in some small way you’re contributing. When new volunteers come here, you see it through their eyes, and they’re astounded. I think people are insulated from this and I think when people see it for the first time up close, they’re gobsmacked. People come here from homeless encampments, I’ve seen people come halfdressed, no socks in a rainstorm. I also see the number of people who volunteer to help. The volunteers are the heartbeat of this place, they’re so important.”

More volunteers and community agencies have since joined the initiative. Patrick MacCarthy, the Door’s volunteer coordinator, says there are more than 100 regular volunteers on the roster, not including schools, corporations, and community organizations. Beyond providing food and beverages, they also host a vaccination clinic. As people wait for food, they can walk over to a white tent, roll up their sleeves, and receive a vaccination while there.

“It started as a fluke,” says Ramirez. “It has the highest vaccination rate of any pop-up in the city.”

Now Hamilton Public Health Services is routinely on-site to provide vaccinations to anyone who wants them.

Paul Dobrowolski teaches at St. Patrick’s Catholic School next door to the church. He started in 2010 and witnessed how the Door grew in popularity, not just with guests but with volunteers.

“I have a unique perspective because I can look at the before and after,” he says. “I arrived here in 2010; there was a big iron rod fence around the entire church, essentially to keep people out. It started to change when Father Jarek and Father Tony arrived. I can still remember vividly looking over at the pastoral centre, which was the rectory before, and seeing someone knocking on the door and the person walked away with (food). I would see that on a consistent basis and wondered what was going on: I know now that was essentially the early days of De Mazenod Door. It very organically grew from a handful of people to 40-50 people

to hundreds of people. I remember looking out my classroom and seeing Father Tony and Father Jarek standing at a BBQ flipping burgers. I was really inspired by what I saw. It allowed me to get out and started volunteering, so on my lunch, I would be assisting at the Friday BBQ.”

It wasn’t long after that the school and church partnered to increase the Door’s space for preparing food.

“In 2016, De Mazenod Door moved into the old St. Patrick’s school,” adds Dobrowolski. “De Mazenod Door was getting larger and larger and didn’t have space to accommodate everybody, so it was decided with the church and the school board to offer a space in our school which was actually the teacher’s staff room. Windows were put in with a door and that became the kitchen with volunteers working now inside the school preparing meals. It was an opportunity for our kids to get involved. It’s developing that idea of service and recognizing we all have a role to play in this.”

Soon other schools were coming to help serve food. The idea of helping this initiative grew amongst schools, including McMaster University which would send nursing students to help.

“It snowballed,” says Dobrowolski. “I used to reach out to people but now it’s the opposite where I have people calling and emailing me asking how they can be a part of this. It’s to the point now I have a waiting list, I have so many people contacting me. When you start to talk to some of these people and start to learn their stories, you develop a greater appreciation for what they’re going through and why they’re in the situation they’re in. When you start to see those stories, you understand why they’re here and the question becomes, what can we do to help?”

HELPING WITH HOUSING

When it came to their guests, O’Dell says they saw a vicious cycle in people wanting to get sober and stay sober.

“We decided to create spaces for clean and sober living. Take people from the streets and work with them, put them into a new, clean house, and put supports around them for everything they need. If they had hospital appointments, we’d get them to those appointments. We provided everything in the house for them to be successful.”

There is now a men’s house called Eugene’s Place, the women’s house is called Mary’s Ark and there are also four apartments.

They get the properties from friends, says O’Dell, people who approach them with available properties and De Mazenod Door Housing leases it, renovates it and provides anything else needed to help in the resident’s success.

“We make sure it’s going to be successful,” says O’Dell. “If they can’t afford food, for example, we will provide food. If they need cleaning materials, we will provide that. It’s to give people a hand up so they can get on their feet and hopefully move on in becoming a contributing member to their own family. When people get knocked out of housing and onto the streets, it’s really hard to make that transition because there is so much that needs to come together. We decided our housing would be packaged in such a way, it’s guaranteed success.”

One friend is Garth Brown, a business owner and philanthropist living in Oakville, who recently bought two homes in Hamilton: one for Eugene’s Place and one for Mary’s Ark. He bought the men’s house in 2020 and then, a year ago, bought a house to offer to women.

“Having a fixed address changes everything,” says Brown. “Now individuals can work on language skills, job skills, furthering their education, whatever direction they need. It’s predictability of having a home you share and a door you can lock. Things we take for granted. Most of us have a set of keys we carry around but for a lot of people getting a key to a room and a front door is the first thing they’ve had in years that suggests stability. We appreciate the real challenges everyone has gone through but we can provide them with some dignified housing at affordable rates and that helps them move forward with

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THERE ARE MORE THAN 100 REGULAR VOLUNTEERS, NOT INCLUDING GROUPS WHO PITCH IN.

their lives and stabilize and go in a direction that’s right for them.”

Brown has years of experience with this as he opened a house in Kitchener a couple decades ago and one in Oakville in 2011, but he will admit to learning along the way.

“We stumbled and fumbled our way through, but we helped a lot of women move forward in their lives and the home eventually evolved,” explains Brown.

“Through that journey, you start to realize these people have stories, background, they have gone through things I would never have dreamt of and here they are, stronger than ever, trying to move forward in their lives. What can we do to set them up for success?”

Brown says he and his wife have always had a passion to help, and this is one tangible way they can.

“Growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, I didn’t see (homelessness) or, at least, I was blind to it,” recalls Brown. “Now it’s a question of what can we all do as a community, as individuals, as agencies – individually or collectively – to find ways to work together to make these spaces possible?”

Brown says they knew they wanted to expand their offer of housing to Hamilton and Bishop Douglas Crosby introduced the Browns to O’Dell and Pachocki.

“I keep learning every day how to do better and do more tomorrow,” says Brown. “We’ve helped a lot of people. A quote I heard the other day, but it’s been around for decades if not centuries, is ‘Be good to yourself by being good to others’ and that resonated because I think we can focus on our own challenges and issues, but we take into context the challenges other people are facing then we realize we got it pretty good, we’re pretty blessed. If we share those blessings and find ways to make a difference in other people’s lives, then I think we are happier inside.”

Brown has since become a board member of De Mazenod Door to focus on housing solutions and invites community members with possible property opportunities to collaborate with them and be part of this movement.

“The continued outreach and support from Sherri Ramirez and the volunteers and staff at De Mazenod have made a huge difference to the people who live in the homes so I can’t thank them enough for the role they play in making every day that much brighter for everyone who lives in the properties.”

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PROVIDING A SAFE HOME

James was an executive in the call centre industry who moved to Philippines to open a new centre for his company. While there, he met his wife and started a family. Then he fell ill, had to return to Canada for health care, and then found himself homeless.

“My impression of homeless people was pretty low,” he says. “I would always try to avoid them. After spending time in a shelter, these homeless people – and I was one of them – everybody has a story, a reason how they wound up where we are.”

He talks about his life before he got sick when he had money to spare and spent it on luxury items, activities like golfing, taking friends for dinners. Then, in 2007, it all changed when he got an intestinal infection.

“I came back to Canada without much and moved in with a family member to get good health care,” recalls James. “I was fixed in three months but then I found myself without a home in Hamilton. My doctor advised me to stay out of senior management as it would wear my health down, so I got a job as a representative taking calls. I still needed to support my family back home, and I needed to look after myself here so that’s why the financial aspect became difficult, especially taking a few steps down in my career. I was OK with it, but I had to get into a shelter for six

months. Then I was able to live with my niece before she moved to Edmonton, so I was back in the shelters again for another six months.”

He soon met Ramirez who offered a room in Eugene’s Place where he moved in October 2021.

“Supportive housing is not about profit,” says James. “It has been a game changer for sure, but it’s not about making money. We need more people like Garth (Brown).”

ADDRESSING MORE NEEDS

The priests say their next mission will be working with youth in Hamilton.

“Mission with Youth, the whole idea is being with young people rather than doing things for them,” says O’Dell.

“It’s seeing the needs of the youth,” echoes Pachocki. “Seeing the young people in the city and seeing their struggles, we’re not going to sit and wait for them to come. The whole idea of mission work is to go out to young people and work with them and make sure they feel safe, they feel that they belong and how we can be present for the young people. We’re not going to sit and wait for people to address the needs.”

O’Dell nods in agreement.

“The gospel is all about that call to action. I feel very humble to be given the opportunity to do something that’s bigger than me, to be part of something that’s bigger than me.”

“For me, it’s something normal in the sense that’s what we’re supposed to do,” adds Pachocki. “I don’t see it as something extraordinary, I see it as an ordinary thing that we’re called to do and help others and see the dignity of other human beings. I see that as being normal.” n demazenod-door.ca

scan the qr code to read about de Mazenod d oor’s far M operations and see M ore photos.

ha M iltoncity M agazine.ca

JAMES WAS AN EXECUTIVE IN A CALL CENTRE BUT HEALTH ISSUES LED TO HIM BECOMING HOMELESS.

THE KING OF RESTAURANT ROW

THE EAST-WEST KING WILLIAM STREET IS A HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT STREET IN THE CITY AND IS NOW ONE OF HAMILTON’S MOST IMPORTANT DINING DISTRICTS.

By DIANE GALAMBOS

PHOTOS: MIKE SCHYMKIW FOR HCM

Ivisit the King William Street dining district often. It has much to offer and triggers fond memories. Readers of a certain age will recall a vibrant downtown, boarding buses at nearby Gore Park, and trolley buses on Hughson Street, the Lister Block (now restored), Graftons’s (The Loft) and Maynard’s chocolates on King William. Popular food spots were the cafeterias in Kresge’s and Zellers – hardly foreshadowing today’s food scene, but a memorable treat in the day.

Stretching way back, the original inhabitants of the Hamilton area were Indigenous, with the first Europeans appearing in the 1600s. It was not until after the War of 1812 that the “City of Hamilton”

began to take shape (with official city status granted in 1846.) Key players had names that now appear on street signs – Durand, Hughson, Stinson, Jackson and Wilson to name a few.

George Hamilton, a settler and local politician, established a town site in the northern portion of Barton Township after the war in 1815. He kept several east–west roads which were trails used by Indigenous peoples. By 1833, the town limits were defined with Gore Park at the centre. The east-west King William Street may once have been a well-used trail and could be one of the oldest streets in the city. Once the location of the town hall, the street was named after King William IV who was the British

monarch from 1830 to 1837.

There are many heritage buildings that survived long enough for some recent, excellent and exciting restorations. The recent neighbourhood “highs” were preceded by some “lows” in the late 20th century. We are now witnessing an infusion of energy – and investments. Surprisingly, the current vitality dates back only about a decade.

In a 2017 Globe and Mail interview, chef Mike Cipollo and his wife Paula talked about being part of an exodus of chefs from Toronto to Hamilton. Referring to their launch of King William’s Hambrgr in 2015, Cipollo said: “It was a leap of faith on multiple counts – a chance to be part of the city’s evolution /continued on next page

and to bring life to a lifeless downtown street with only a bingo hall and a couple of restaurants drawing visitors. ‘Oh my God, I thought. There’s no one here. This place is abandoned.’”

The evolution of King William continues and is listed as one of Hamilton’s “mega projects.” Hamilton City (Eaton) Centre, completed in 1990 and shuttered in late 2022, is slated to be replaced with a high-rise housing complex that will add open spaces and extend King William to the west. Though developer IN8 Developments indicated to local media in December that the project is on hold – and no new timeline is in place –until the local real estate market improves.

The Hamilton Public Library has photos from the 1940s showing that King William used to run west past James Street North. and was the location of the old City Hall. Built in 1888, it was demolished in 1961 and by 1972 Jackson Square had thoroughly changed the neighbourhood.

Emily Walsh, executive director of the Downtown Hamilton Business Improvement Area, spoke highly of the cooperation between King William businesses, mentioning in particular the Beacon and Gate public art project approved for the corner of King William and James Street North.

In HAMILTON CITY Magazine’s September 2023 issue, Eugene Ellmen wrote about today’s plans for changes in Hamilton’s downtown, referring to residential developments seemingly on every corner. “With an expected occupancy average of between 1.5 and about 2 people per unit, that means that 18,000 to more than 24,000 additional residents are expected to live in the core...” Many of the 30-storey towers will have commercial ground floors – perhaps retail or more eateries.

In recent summers, the section of the street from James to Hughson has been closed to traffic to become a pedestrian mall and extended patio. The added vibe enhances the draw of this dining destination.

The main King William “restaurant row” is somewhat bookended by restaurants on James and John North. On James, the (closed) Union Social space will soon open as The Standard – another project of the Cipollo team. Next to that is Pearle Hospitality’s Bread Bar, which is now rebranded as Bardo, along with locations on Locke Street and in Guelph. And on John, don’t overlook

Pintoh (Thai), the iconic Capri (Italian), Lulu’s Shawarma, Tony G’s Pizzeria and the John St. Diner. And keep your eyes on the Orella Group’s restoration project on the northwest corner of King William and John Street. The iconic Windsor Hotel will one day reopen as another exciting restaurant.

In order of appearance as you stroll from west to east, here’s the cobblestoned King William restaurant row.

ELECTRIC DINER

Lister Block: 28 James St. N. electricdinerhamilton.com

Instagram (IG): electricdinerhamont Reminders of the 1980s are by design since owners Erika Puckering and Jamie Ewing love that decade, which was central to their youth. They have remained young at heart with playful menu items and décor. Fun extends to their frequent communitybuilding events that include family-friendly nights and date nights. They also have an original location in Hess Village.

MEZZA CAFFE

Lister Block: 28 James St. N., Unit 104, mezzacaffe.com

IG: mezzacaffe

The Meza family, with roots in Venezuela, has a passion for coffee. “The steamed fragrance that indulges the senses, its unique aroma and its decadent warm taste, prepares you for a new day.” Mezza on King William, opened in 2013, as their fifth café in Canada. Enjoy classic and creative coffees with tantalizing sweets or pizza and panini.

PARMA AND PICCOLO

Next on the street is an empty space with signs promising Parma and Piccolo – an Italian restaurant and sandwich bar – for summer 2023. No updates were available.

RELAY COFFEE

27 King William St. relaycoffee.com

IG: relaycoffee

“Joy is Good Coffee” is the motto of Relay. Since 2008, owners Rachel and Jason Hofing have been small-batch roasting/blending fair trade and organic coffee here in Hamilton. Coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages can be enjoyed with waffle sandwiches, snacks and desserts. Watch for special events like afternoon tea.

BERKELEY NORTH

31 King William St. berkeleynorth.ca

IG: berkeleynorthkitchen

The west coast kitchen vibe and menu always includes some seafood and vegetarian leanings to entice diners. The mushroom dumplings (subtly flavoured mushroom filling served with an umami sauce) and fresh cheese and sourdough (made-in-house ricotta – their signature dish) are so popular they are menu standards.

UNDEFINED

35 King William St. eatundefined.com

IG: eatundefined

The name of this restaurant from the Cipollo team is meant to imply that there will be no constraints on the menu. Brunch, lunch and dinner menus offer updated classic dishes and refreshing creative choices. As the website proclaims: “We are not afraid to take the familiar and turn it into something wild…”

THE FRENCH

37 King William St. thefrench.ca

IG: thefrenchhamont

The stone-walled décor and charming ambiance of this cozy restaurant might seduce you into believing you have been transported to the countryside in France. Classic and modern French cuisine are on offer for brunch, lunch and dinner. Like The Diplomat, the standards of Equal Parts Hospitality guarantees kitchen and service professionals.

MUSHROOM DUMPLINGS, A SIGNATURE DISH AT BERKELEY NORTH, WITH SUBTLY FLAVOURED MUSHROOMS, SOY, MISO, GINGER, AND GARLIC.

PHOTO: DIANE GALAMBOS

CONVERSATE STEAK AND SEAFOOD

38 King William St. conversaterestaurant.ca

IG: conversate.restaurant

While most King William restaurants are on the north side of the street, Conversate dominates the south side. Masterfully renovated after the departure of Club Absinthe, beautifully designed spaces offer perfect settings to “engage in conversation.” Add to that specialty cocktails and a steakhouse with modern flair and you have the makings of a great lunch or evening out.

THE MULE

41 King William St. themule.ca/hellohamilton

IG: themulemakestacos

An extensive (and clever) drinks menu, can be enjoyed with a gluten-free menu of tacos and “not tacos” (aka wings, tamales, ceviche). Owners Erin Dunham and Matt Kershaw of The Other Bird “happen to think that tacos are a dish best served fun, with a side of liquor…” The setting is The Empire Times building – beautifully restored by awardwinning Core Urban Inc.

THE DIPLOMAT

43 King William St. thediplomat.ca

IG: thediplomathamont

Baltimore House (a heritage building) was transformed into The Diplomat — a modern space with stylish, hip décor and a welcoming vibe. A variety of seating options include window seats with views of the King William street scene. Jason Cassis and his Equal Parts Hospitality team have taken hospitality to a fine art with a menu to match from chef John Forcier.

SAGARMATHA CURRY PALACE

43 King William St. currypalacerestaurant.com

IG: sagarmathacurrypalace

Since 2011, this family-run restaurant offers cuisine that blends Indian and Nepalese traditions, with influences from Tibet. The menu includes more than 19 vegetarian dishes. Naan and roti are made fresh onsite in an authentic tandoor oven. The fiery hot clay interior also enables the creation of tikka, kababs and an entire tandoor oven menu. This family-friendly, affordable restaurant is a favourite with groups.

HAMBRGR

49 King William St. hambrgr.ca

IG: eathambrgr

The Cipollo team were early adopters of life on King William beginning with Hambrgr, now expanded from the original space. Despite the preponderance of Hamilton burger joints since they opened in 2015, their imaginative burgers and build-your-own burger options, not to mention, chicken, snacks and funky desserts, maintain their status as one of the city’s top burger joints.

MYSTIC RAMEN

51 King William St., Hamilton mysticramen.ca

IG: mystic.ramen

For several years, talented chef Noah Woods and partner Heather Elson created delicious noodle dishes (and more) at the Hamilton Farmers’ Market. A year ago they moved to a dine-in restaurant on King William. From appetizers, to signature and vegan bowls they never disappoint and deserve top marks for service. Stay tuned for their introduction of curry rice bowls and, as always, fun special events.

SEASONED

162 King William St. seasonedrestaurant.ca

IG: seasonedhamilton

King William’s restaurant row does not end at John Street. A few short blocks away is a treasure of a restaurant run by brothers Matt and Will Gaynor and Will’s wife Kristin Kusturin. Having moved from Stratford, it’s no surprise that they landed close to Theatre Aquarius and enjoy serving patrons. The brothers have long and impressive cooking CVs and never disappoint, even with their yummy desserts. n

OTHER RESTAURANTS

CLOSE BY:

Bardo – James

14 James St. N. bardorestaurants.ca/james-street-hamilton

IG: bardojamesst

Capri Ristorante

25 John St. N. capriristorante.ca

IG: capriristorante

John Street Diner

29 John St. N.

Lulu’s Shawarma

32 John St. N. lulus-shawarma.business.site

Pintoh

21 John St. N. pintoh.ca

IG: pintohcuisine

Tony G’s Pizzeria

30 John St. N.

IG: tonygshamilton

TOKYO SHOYU PAITAN IS A SIGNATURE RAMEN AT MYSTIC FEATURING RICH CHICKEN BROTH SEASONED WITH SHOYU TARE, AND INCLUDING PORK BELLY, MENMA, SCALLIONS, ARUGULA AND NARUTO MAKI. PHOTO: DIANE GALAMBOS

CRAB RANGOON WITH WONTON CHIPS IS A FAVOURITE ON THE DIPLOMAT’S MENU. PHOTO: DIANE GALAMBOS

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At the top of his game

VETERAN HAMILTON SINGER-SONGWRITER PHILIP ‘PIP’ KUMMEL RELEASES HIS ‘MAGNUM OPUS,’ WITH 30TH ALBUM EVERY CITY

By KERRY DOOLE

Releasing 30 albums is a momentous milestone for any artist. Seasoned Hamilton singer/songwriter Philip “Pip” Kummel has achieved that impressive feat with his brand new record, Every City, and it is made sweeter by his confidence that he is at the top of his game.

Chatting with HAMILTON CITY Magazine, Kummel (who records as Pip) calls Every City “my magnum opus, my Sgt. Pepper’s. I believe I have reached my potential as a musician, songwriter, and performer and that this is my best work.”

Kummel has patiently honed his craft over five decades of work, first in such rock and punkaccented bands as Varsol and A Room with a View in the fertile early ’80s Toronto scene, and then, with the Philip Kummel Band and as a solo artist, diligently developing his own broader style, unswayed by any prevailing trends of the day.

The “Pip sound” is an eclectic one, drawing upon strains of folk, jazz, rock and bossa nova, and showcasing melodic guitar work and poetic lyrics. Assisting his cause on the self-produced 16-song Every City is the skillful accompaniment of an elite grouping of Hamilton musicians, including Dan Fortin (Myriad3), Kevin Christoff (Simply Saucer), David Lee, Jay Burr, Will Gillespie, Karen Thornton, Aaron Hutchison (Haolin Munk), and more.

Their support reminds Kummel that the vibrant Hamilton music community is the right place for him. A nomadic troubadour, he has lived and made music in Toronto, Peterborough, Vancouver, Paris, Prague, Germany, Hamburg, South Korea, Bangkok, Laos, and other locales prior to settling here.

He explains that the title of Every City “is a reference to all the different places I’ve played and written in, been influenced by, the languages I’ve spoken, and the musicians I’ve met. I moved to Hamilton in 2008 because it’s a real city. It has everything that comes with that, yet it has a smaller village feel. You can meet the mayor, and I have. I’m still doing what I love to do, and this is a good city to do it in.” n

MORE ONLINE: SCAN THE QR CODE TO READ MORE ABOUT PIP’S MUSIC CAREER AND HIS NEWEST ALBUM. PHOTO: JOHN HOLLICK

THE MUSIC HALL PROJECT AT THE NEW VISION CHURCH HAS A $1.3-MILLION PLAN TO BRING A MODERN 1,000-SEAT LIVE MUSIC VENUE TO THE HISTORIC DOWNTOWN PLACE OF WORSHIP.

By JAMIE TENNANT

Hamilton does not have a proper “mid-sized” 1,000-seat music venue. That means there’s a rung missing from the music scene’s ladder. A local band with a rapidly growing fanbase might outgrow a 500-seat venue. The next-largest venue is FirstOntario Hall with over 2,000 seats, which is simply too big. This leaves many artists in limbo, with nowhere appropriate to play. The same goes for touring acts, many of whom pass over Hamilton simply because there’s nowhere suitable to perform. When the city formed its music strategy team a decade ago, members generally agreed: there is a need for a venue this size. /continued on next page

THE MUSIC HALL

PLACE: The sanctuary of the New Vision (formerly Centenary) United Church, 24 Main St. W., Hamilton. Constructed in 1868, the structure has been designated a building of cultural heritage value by the city.

PEOPLE: The Music Hall Alliance is a not-for-profit group formed to oversee the venue. It includes a board of directors, an advisory group, and a general membership of supporters.

PURPOSE: For New Vision, the Music Hall project will help the congregation preserve its historically significant building. It will also help the church continue to serve people in need in the city centre. As members stated during a delegation at City Hall, the Music Hall will “provide an affordable, accessible and safe space for marginalized and racialized voices to express their creativity.” It will be a crucial midsized venue for both local and touring artists.

The Music Hall could be – would be, perhaps will be – the answer. It’s central, transit-adjacent, and accessible. It’s a heritage space that would be permanently open to the public. It has the venerable vibe of a place like Massey Hall, with its wrap-around mezzanine and stained-glass windows. It was built with acoustics in mind. It seats 993.

It’s also not finished – but the Music Hall Alliance is working to change that.

The property is owned by the United Church of Canada. The New Vision congregation knows that if they can succeed with the Music Hall project, that the city, the music scene, downtown Hamilton – and of course the church itself – all stand to benefit.

Helen Bradley is a church trustee and champion of the Music Hall concept. She originally joined the St. Giles congregation (at Main and Holton streets), thanks in part to its positive stance on the LGBTQ2S+ community. “They were providing space to the Elizabeth Fry Society and had opened a drop-in centre for sex trade workers. I thought to myself, that old chestnut, ‘What would Jesus do?’”

Years later, St. Giles and Centenary amalgamated to become New Vision. Bradley became a trustee to assist the church’s mission to help the folks downtown; as its website states, the congregation believes that “justice for persons experiencing marginalization is fundamental to the creation of an inclusive beloved community.” Newcomers are a large part of the congregation’s recent and notable expansion.

Finances, however, were not necessarily allowing them to meet their goals as they hoped. Yet here they were, sitting on this incredible space. A rental here and there – for rehearsals, for movie shoots – was helpful. A full-time purpose for the space, making the space accessible to the very community they serve, seemed like an even better idea.

The room, however, is not ready to go. Performances have taken place there, including the memorable Welcome to Hamilton benefit for Syrian newcomers back in 2016, with headliner The National. However, to use the room as-is means a lot of red tape, several concessions to fire code such as renting extra washrooms and not filling the room to its full capacity.

“We’re sort of at a bit of a tipping point right now,” says Bradley. “Our construction is visioned in two phases, really. Phase one is the

stabilization of the floor in the sanctuary and also the remediation of the space underneath the floor. It all has to be done in a manner that keeps with its heritage designation.”

The costs to complete the job are not trivial, coming to an estimated $4 million dollars. Fundraising, from a variety of sources, will be crucial.

Glen and Jacqueline Norton were early proponents of the Music Hall initiative. Glen is the former director of the City’s economic development division and Jacqueline is the former manager with the music and film office. Today, both sit on the Music Hall Alliance board. They have, in some form, been pursuing this goal as long as New Vision has. Both were well aware that from certain standpoints – economic, cultural, tourism – the Music Hall project was worthwhile.

“The nice thing is that it can be a bit of a staged progression,” says Jacqueline about the construction. “There’s already been $500,000 going towards it, mostly from the United Church of Canada who want to keep their building alive; some of it is City money from a heritage grant. There’s some serious renovation getting done. Reinforcement of the floor is a big one. Asbestos abatement, and realignment of some of the lower downstairs floors, too.”

Another part of this phase, would be raising the railings of the balcony for safety, which at the moment are perilously low. After that, once the space is compliant in the most important ways, the space will be usable at full capacity, and the work on other amenities can begin in stages. These include new accessible and gender-neutral washrooms, elevator replacement, new HVAC, exterior restoration and other improvements.

In January, Glen Norton gave a presentation to the City’s general issues committee about the project and its scope. The Music Hall Alliance board is asking the City for $900,000 of the $1.3 million needed for completion of the first phase. The money has provisionally been granted via the GIC and council must finalize the commitment.

Other granting agencies will be approached once municipal funds are confirmed. “There’s really no point in talking to other levels of government until they know that the City’s in,” says Glen. “That’s just the way it works. Then we can also then go to private donors who want to make sure that something’s going to happen, that it won’t fail part way through. You need a certain amount of success before they will come on board.”

Many of Hamilton’s smaller venues have closed in recent years, not even necessarily due to the pandemic. It’s one sign of many that things are changing quickly in the city centre. Completion of the Music Hall would be change for the better in many ways. For the New Vision congregation, it would allow them to sustain themselves as well as provide an affordable space (thanks to flexible rental fees) for charitable causes, and community development, with an eye on developing marginalized creatives in Hamilton.

“We hope to rent to other programs that serve the marginalized in downtown Hamilton,” adds Bradley. “I think it’s become pretty clear to us in recent months, particularly, that welcoming members of newcomers to Canada is part of what’s going on in downtown Hamilton.”

For the average concert goer, these all count as wins, but there’s one more element to remember – the space itself. With its high ceilings, impressive stained-glass windows, and even the pipe organ (itself updated and operational, worth preserving on its very own) walking through the former sanctuary/soon-to-be Music Hall feels unlike any venue in recent memory. It feels historical. If all goes according to plan, then, our city’s history will be preserved to create opportunities – for expression, for enjoyment, for development – for the city’s future. n

THE SANCTUARY OF THE NEW VISION CHURCH ON MAIN STREET WEST WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1868, AND IS NOW DESIGNATED AS A BUILDING OF CULTURAL HERITAGE VALUE BY THE CITY. THERE IS AN AMBITIOUS PLAN IN PLACE TO TRANSFORM THE SPACE INTO THE MID-SIZED MUSIC VENUE THAT IS DESPERATELY NEEDED BY THE CITY. THE MUSIC HALL ALLIANCE BOARD IS SEEKING OUT CITY SUPPORT FOR A $900,000 GRANT TOWARDS THE $1.3 MILLION TO COMPLETE PHASE 1. THE SPACE HAS THE VENERABLE VIBE OF A PLACE LIKE MASSEY HALL, WITH ITS WRAP-AROUND MEZZANINE AND STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS, WRITES JAMIE TENNANT. PHOTOS: SUPPLIED

RESTLESS CREATION

SHELLEY NIRO produces art through painting, photography, beadwork and filmmaking and her retrospective exhibition ‘500 Year Itch’ at the Art Gallery of Hamilton pays homage to her prolific work and its hope for the future.

By STEPHANIE VEGH

Huddled in a coffee shop on the first properly cold day of winter, Shelley Niro and I thumb through the glitter-encrusted catalogue of her retrospective exhibition “500 Year Itch.” She is looking for Cherry Picker, a painting of a young 1960s-era woman gathering cherries in the looming presence of an astronaut. In the cosmos beyond them both, small white shapes fly on tails of fire.

“Are those spaceships?” I ask, squinting closer. Shelley’s grin is kind yet mischievous. “No, burning bras.”

This is characteristic of Shelley Niro’s art – the dreamlike visions that soar on the heels of a lived-in feminism, the political stakes that tug one firmly back to Mother Earth. Her humour gentles the harsh realities exposed in sharp-tongued works like The Shirt – a photographic calling-out of land theft and genocide spelled out on a series of T-shirts that lands on the punchline of “And all’s I get is this shirt” – before the shirt, too, is snatched away. Niro recalls being driven away from her first location choice by a California park ranger threatening fines for using her large-format camera rather than a “family camera,” adding a ridiculous layer of irony to this now-iconic work by one of Canada’s most prolific artists.

Following its debut last year at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City, “500 Year Itch” is now on view at the Art Gallery of Hamilton before embarking on a national tour. Occupying the vast majority of the AGH’s first floor, this is the largest exhibition in the gallery’s history, and an intimate

tribute to the Mohawk artist whose decades of practice are deeply interwoven into Hamilton’s cultural fabric.

Tobi Bruce and Melissa Bennett of the AGH pitched the idea of a retrospective to Niro in 2017, the same year that she won

both the Scotiabank Photography Award and the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. They soon welcomed Greg Hill, then-curator at the National Gallery of Canada, and David W. Penney of the Smithsonian to contribute their respective

SHELLEY NIRO’S RAVEN’S WORLD (2015), OIL ON CANVAS. PURCHASED IN PART BY THE ART GALLERY OF HAMILTON THROUGH THE SUPPORT OF THE ELIZABETH L. GORDON ART PROGRAM, A PROGRAM OF THE GORDON FOUNDATION AND ADMINISTERED BY THE ONTARIO ARTS FOUNDATION AND THE PERMANENT COLLECTION FUND. PHOTO: ROBERT MCNAIR

knowledge of Niro’s work to a curatorial endeavour that has been years in the making.

Even with three curators and an unprecedented commitment of space, Bennett acknowledges the difficulty of paring down Niro’s vast body of work while honouring the many diverse forms in which she creates, from painting and photography to beadwork and filmmaking. The process of revisiting all her creative accomplishments, many of which remain in the artist’s studio and are deeply autobiographical, was an emotionally vulnerable experience for Niro as well.

When asked which works were essential to this retrospective, Niro cites Mohawks in Beehives, a series of hand-coloured gelatin silver prints created in the wake of the Kanehsatà:ke Resistance at Oka that depict the artist’s sisters dressed up for a girl’s day out that defies the heaviness of the world, gazing into Niro’s lens with confrontational beauty. This was a foundational first step

JOSEOH HARTMAN

towards Niro’s many performances for the camera that continue in This Land is Mime Land, a series that strings together sepiatoned childhood photos with performances of popular figures from Santa Claus and Marilyn Monroe to the gold uniform of a Star Trek character. While the women of her family, herself included, are recurring subjects in her work, men appear far less often and, as Niro acknowledges with a cheeky smile, are frequently shirtless. She found it “more interesting and necessary to show depictions of women” to re-assert the matriarchal traditions of her forebears, long overwritten by colonization.

Beadwork is another custom with deep roots in Niro’s childhood, when the craft was widely practised in her family as a means of earning a living. While complicated by the memory of those tourist trinkets, Niro employs beadwork and its patterns with loving patience to elevate her photography and objects with a beauty rooted in Iroquois design traditions that are always evolving. Every ancestral design, Niro notes, was a work of contemporary art at its inception; this awareness has encouraged her to innovate freely upon these traditions.

Niro’s photography has also tested the limits of the medium from the darkroom processes she learned as a student to the onset of digital photography. When photo chemistry became scarce at the turn of the millennium, Niro pivoted to digital methods that she continues to refine with each technological shift in the medium. Her most recent experiments have attempted to capture the moon and stars of the night sky

with a powerful telephoto lens. Pandemic Moon is the most successful of these experiments to date, a lightbox-mounted photograph that welcomes visitors to this retrospective and gestures at the forward momentum of Niro’s restless creation.

While the past is an ever-present companion, the future burns bright in Niro’s practice. Recent paintings like Black Whole reflect the artist’s anxieties around the fate of satellites and other “space junk” that has been shot into orbit with no plan for its safe retrieval. Raven’s World is a more optimistic portrait of Niro’s granddaughter among the corn stalks of her ancestors, peering into her future from beneath the aviator’s cap that Niro has adopted as a symbol for Sky Woman’s flight from her celestial origins towards the creation of Turtle Island.

In a landmark retrospective layered with knowledge of all that has come before, this exhibition radiates defiant joy and hope for her youngest descendent and all who will walk alongside her into tomorrow. n

THE PROCESS OF ASSEMBLING THIS RETROSPECTIVE OF HER EXTENSIVE WORK HAS BEEN AN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE FOR SHELLEY NIRO.

PHOTO: NATIONAL GALLERY OF CANADA

SHELLEY NIRO MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE WITH VIDEO, VELVET, BEADS, STILETTO HEELS. ART GALLERY OF HAMILTON; GIFT OF THE WOMEN’S ART ASSOCIATION OF HAMILTON, 2018.

PHOTO:

CHOOSE ONE – OR ALL! – OF THESE FOUR LOCALLY WRITTEN BOOKS TO DELVE INTO MOHAWK ART, DISABILITY ACTIVISM, THE LIFE OF A ROCK STAR OR FAIRIES FOR KIDS.

By

Jessica Rose

Finding a spare moment to curl up with a good book is always a treat; however, it’s an even better experience when you’ve found a title by a local author. Here are a few Hamilton-area books to add to your to-be-read pile!

MOHAWK WARRIORS, HUNTERS & CHIEFS: THE ART OF TOM WILSON TEHOHÁHAKE

A newly appointed member to the Order of Canada, Tom Wilson Tehoháhake has a lot to celebrate in 2024. His new coffee table book, Mohawk Warriors, Hunters & Chiefs: The Art of Tom Wilson Tehoháhake was released in January. Next, the musical adaptation of his first book, Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home, is set to close Theatre Aquarius’s 50th season in April. Both books and the play explore Wilson’s search for identity through art, music, and words.

In Beautiful Scars, Wilson used prose to tell the astonishing story of discovering his hidden Indigenous heritage. In Mohawk Warriors, Hunters & Chiefs, it’s his visual art that takes centre stage. Featuring more than 35 full-colour images of Wilson’s intricate paintings, alongside family snapshots and photos of his studio at The Cotton Factory on Sherman Avenue, the book explores how his art has developed, especially since learning about his Indigenous roots.

Presented in dual languages — English accompanied by a Mohawk translation by Karonhí:io Delaronde — Mohawk Warriors, Hunters & Chiefs was co-written by Toronto’s David Liss, who first met Wilson at the Dundas Valley School of Art in 1980. Wilson’s “visual art practice immediately took on a renewed and urgent purpose as a means of exploring and understanding his identity and his relationship to it,” writes Liss of Wilson’s recent art exploration in the book’s introduction.

“Along with evolving vibrant imagery in a distinct, highly accomplished style, his work during this period represents his intensely personal journey,” he adds.

Mohawk Warriors, Hunters & Chiefs is a stunning collection that not only celebrates Wilson’s art — on canvas, guitars, board,

and other surfaces — but also pays homage to his artistic practice, highlighting its renewed and urgent purpose to better explore and understand a longhidden identity.

BERYL: THE MAKING OF A DISABILITY ACTIVIST DUSTIN GALER

Disability activist Beryl Potter isn’t a household name, but she should be. A survivor of more than 100 surgeries, the working-class mother devoted herself to disability justice following an accident. She’s the subject of Beryl: The Making of a Disability Activist, an extraordinary biography by Hamilton’s Dustin Galer, a historian who has published widely on the topic of disability history and labour. With great precision, Galer takes readers from Potter’s childhood

in early 20th-century Liverpool where she barely survived scarlet fever to her life and work in Canada, which included lobbying for accessible transit, employment rights, and a foray into politics as a Liberal party candidate.

LAY IT ON THE LINE: A BACKSTAGE PASS TO ROCK STAR ADVENTURE, CONFLICT AND TRIUMPH RIK EMMETT

With six decades in the music biz, it’s no surprise that Rik Emmett has stories to tell. Best known as the lead singer, songwriter, and guitarist with Canadian rock band Triumph, he’s also released many more solo projects that range from rock and blues to jazz, folk, and classical. His book, Lay It On The Line: A Backstage Pass to Rock Star Adventure, Conflict and TRIUMPH, has elements you might expect in a rock n’ roll memoir: favourite gigs and tours, surviving fame, and brushes with music royalty. However, more importantly, it’s full of many life lessons he gained along the way, including prioritizing his nearly 50-year marriage, balancing ego with humility, embracing mistakes, and gaining and keeping perspective as a student of life. Now retired from touring, Emmett lives in Burlington.

THE ONLY LONELY FAIRY LANA BUTTON

Looking for a book that combines makebelieve, melodrama, and comedy for the young readers in your life? Look no further than The Only Lonely Fairy, the most recent picture book by Burlington’s Lana Button. In it, Leah is looking for a friend to play fairies, but none of her classmates accept. The result is an entertaining look at navigating social situations and conflict, written by an early childhood educator, coupled with vibrant illustrations by Peggy Collins. The duo also worked together on Percy’s Perfect Friend, their 2023 collaboration. n

TOM WILSON TEHOHÁHAKE. PHOTO: JEN SQUIRES

ART AND ABOUT

From showing off your vocals to painting classes to tributes to the greats, get out an enjoy arts and culture this spring.

Here are a few of our favourite local happenings.

SINGING AT THE STAIRCASE

A thriving cultural centre in Hamilton for years, the Staircase Theatre has hosted all manner of performers during its lifetime, and you and your dulcet tones can now be added to the list. Get those vocal cords warmed up at the monthly Stairyoke Karaoke evenings held in the lounge of the historic building. Thrill the audience with your moves, stage presence and vibrato, and prove that all that singing in the shower was well worth the water. Third Thursday of each month. staircasehamilton.com

BRUSH STROKES FOR ALL FOLKS

The folks at Ottawa Street’s Crown and Press Fine Art Gallery and Café believe that art is for everyone and encourage visitors to linger over a beverage as they savour the collection in the Art Deco-inspired space. Now, the gallery invites you to linger even longer at one of its upcoming artist-led painting classes (Lori Meeboer and Sandra Manzi are up next) where students will get to see where the brush takes them. All art materials for the five-hour class are provided to registered participants as is a light lunch, because getting those creative juices flowing can really work up an appetite. April 7. crownandpress.com

ALL FIRED UP

Play With Clay, Locke Street’s interactive pottery studio, wants you to get your hands dirty at one of its drop-in sessions and classes in pottery painting and clay handbuilding. Ready to throw your creative hat in the ring? Students can even take a spin on the pottery wheel by booking an hour-long guided lesson. You’ll make a new treasure to take home, and we dare you to refrain from making reference to a certain 1990s film. You know the one. playwithclay.ca

STEVIE AND SHERYL AT THE WESTDALE

More than movies, The Westdale Theatre serves as a cultural hub for Hamilton, offering frequent live events to make the most of its historic stage. This storied theatre is the perfect place to celebrate the music of two artists celebrated for creating their own stories. Stevie Nicks and Sheryl Crow are trailblazers, recognizable for both their sound as well as their songwriting, and Hamilton Originals’ interpretation of their music, featuring Suzie McNeil, Annette Haas and more, promises to be an inspiring night of song. April 5. thewestdale.ca

FAB 4

The Liverpool 4 – Canada’s tribute to the Beatles – have been honing their musical craft for nearly two decades, honouring the prolific band whose career spanned multiple eras. Audiences of all ages will be thrilled to experience a wide selection of the epic Beatles catalogue played live at Mohawk’s McIntyre Performing Arts Centre, performed with the same energy and showmanship as the OGs. Feel the thrill, sing along and get transported back in time to Beatlemania, all without the need for a time machine. April 12. mcIntyrepac.ca

PATRICIA GAGIC is a Hamilton-based international contemporary artist and author, with multiple awards for her painting, photography and writing. Her work has been exhibited in Toronto, New York, Geneva, Berlin, France, Austria, Zurich, London, United Kingdom and Seoul. She is a certified meditation specialist, feng shui consultant and reiki master. She was the founder of Kyralex Management Group and MLX Property Management with a successful career in banking and entrepreneurship while pursuing an artistic career. She was Knighted as a Dame of the International Order of Saint George Grand Prior of Canada. She was a member of the Ontario Cabinet of Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and is a member of the board of directors of the Sir Edmund Hilary Foundation.

Interviewed by MEREDITH MACLEOD

HAVING IT ALL

What is the greatest satisfaction in the work you do?

I am a student of life, my path has been deeply rooted in spirituality with a great need to believe life has purpose. After my first book Karmic Alibi was published in 2014, I really wanted to dig deeper into Buddhism and neuroscience. I entered the University of Toronto and completed my certification in transformative mindfulness and applied mindfulness. I love helping people and being in service (I am a member of Passport Rotarian Club District 7080 Oakville). Combining this with my art training I created The Karmic Art Experience. I offer an opportunity for people to journey from inside the mind and body to the blank canvas. People realize they can unlock more of their hidden and untapped potential by creating a thoughtful and meaningful art piece allowing the mystery within to manifest. Seeing the transformations and revelations in people is absolutely rewarding for me.

Why is drumming so important to you?

My cousin Paul Panchezak is the founder and drummer of the local Hamilton band Trick Bag. One of my good friends is Franklin Vanderbilt, the drummer for Lenny Kravitz. My art partner Greg DiFrancesco was drumming for Phat Orchestra and now the Boddhisatvas … drumming just seems to be in my sphere. Greg and I launched brand Lotus97.7, creating NFT’s by drumming on the canvases with paint.

I was also very good friends with the late Vince Fontaine of Winnipeg, a powerful Indigenous creator and founder of Juno awardwinning Indian City and Eagle and Hawk. His messages to me were always filled with pushing the boundaries and encouraged me to listen to the heart of Mother Gaia.

Drumming has opened the portal to feeling the heartbeat of the universe. I have loved painting and drawing; however, when I sit behind my two drum kits… yes, I own two kits, Gretsch Renown and Sonor SQ1 kit and have added many new pieces, there is nothing that stops me. My brain literally only feels and stops thinking words, it’s just mathematics and love.

How would you describe Hamilton as a place to make a living as an artist?

Hamilton is a very complex city. There is no doubt we exist with a great deal of ethnicity. I have been very fortunate to make great connections with both artists and musicians. However, it is not the local community that

supports me. My experience has been to cultivate relationships outside of this city. In my early years as a banker, I engaged in the community with being on various boards and committees. However, the art world is a very ominous place. What I love is that my true friends reside near me and support me, but the reality is in order to exist in the world of art you need to be fully present outside of your studio.

How has the city changed in the time you’ve been here?

I am a Libra with a Virgo rising; change is not something I manage well. The vibrancy of being raised near Barton and Sherman, attending Scott Park High school and HCI for Grade 13, shifted much of who I have become. We were obsessed with the Pagoda, The Grange, Paddie Green’s…. living life in a timeless place. Hamilton has evolved and I miss the freedom of hitchhiking and racing to McMaster University for classes on the bus. I rode my bike everywhere, wiping out multiple times… Hamilton is extraordinary. It’s a unique cosmopolitan place where you can find happiness in the quietude of just being.

What is an artistic or cultural experience you’ve had in the city that stands out for you?

I met Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 1967 at City Hall. For many years, I participated as a board member of the Bach Elgar Choral Society when Wayne Strongman was the artistic director. At the former Copps Coliseum I saw Joe Cocker. I sat in the audience when Pavarotti did not perform! I have always loved the performances of local artist Jacob Moon. Visiting the Moore Gallery on Locke Street brought incredible talent to our community.

What neighbourhood do you live in and what do you love about it?

For the past 25 years, my husband Ned Gagic and I have lived in the Scenic Woods subdivision. It is designated as Ancaster, but on the border of Hamilton. It’s location, location, location. One of the best features of this quiet

little pocket, is having the escarpment behind the house. Mother Nature reveals her beauty season after season in its ever-changing growth patterns and wildlife surprises. I recall about 15 years ago waking up and seeing 20 deer sunbathing in the backyard. From wild turkeys, foxes and the rare sight of a prothonotary warbler in the fall, this has been an extraordinary place to call home. We are minutes to everything! And most of all we have the best neighbours. I cannot imagine how lucky we are…

What’s your ideal way to spend a lazy day in Hamilton?

I’d love to have a lazy day first! On “spa” days, which do not include going to a spa, I find myself with camera in hand visiting places which remind me of the past as I visualize what they have become. Walking through Gage Park, sitting quietly on one of the many dedicated benches, cloud gazing and scrying… I love walking down Ottawa Street/Locke Street and visiting the wonderful shops. I am really blessed to have a super cool art studio space downtown, which is where a perfect day happens. Spending hours writing, painting and of course playing my drums. Cranking up the speakers and letting the music filter into my brain. Spending time with family and friends trying out new French fry and pizza places!

What is Hamilton’s best kept-secret?

n Trails and views around RBG, Dundurn Castle.

n Waterfalls… we boast many

n Donuts: Grandad’s, Donut Monster

n Antique shops of Ottawa and Locke streets

n Artists: Scott McDonald/lit up the entire city with his murals

n Music: D.J. Chris Briscoe

n Music: Brian Melo/Tommy Swick/Andrew McTaggart

n Beautiful churches

n ME!

Hamilton needs more?

As an observer of life, I see that Hamilton has become a haven for homelessness. I do not wish to become political; however, we are a magnet for those who are less fortunate. Perhaps we became the city where we recognize our ability to secure sacred space for those who have lost their homes, suffer from mental illness and addiction. We need more housing. We need apartment pricing to be lowered. More attention to repairing our streets of potholes. n

UNWAVERING SUPPORT

INCITE FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS SUPPORTS THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE TOTTERING BIPED THEATRE AND THE HAMILTON ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS.

The Incite Foundation for the Arts has contributed more than $6 million to 30 Hamilton-area organizations, through grants from $2,500 to $150,000, since it was founded in 2011. It is the legacy of the late Carl and Kate Turkstra who believed the arts are key to quality of life and critical to the future of Hamilton. And they believed anyone, regardless of circumstance, should be able to enjoy and pursue music, theatre and visual art.

HAMILTON CITY Magazine is showcasing the incredible, creative and talented recipients of Incite grants. Here we share the work of Tottering Biped Theatre and the Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts.

HAMILTON ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS

Step into the enchanting world of The Nutcracker, a dazzling ballet production that mesmerizes audiences year after year in Hamilton. Picture this: more than 70 performers donning brilliant-coloured costumes, a live 30-piece orchestra filling the air with melodic symphonies, and internationally acclaimed guest dancers gracefully gliding across the stage.

This spectacle, celebrating the 10th anniversary of its presentation this year at the McIntyre Performing Arts Centre, is the masterpiece of the Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts (HAPA).

Established in 2009 as a beacon of artistic excellence, HAPA has been a nurturing ground for budding talents, for all age groups. Its foundational history included

TOTTERING BIPED THEATRE

Tottering Biped Theatre (TBT) is based on a radical idea: the talent, spaces, and audiences needed to create the vibrant, bold, hardhitting professional contemporary theatre that happens in Toronto could happen right here.

Its first season featured existentialist stand-up comedy, a queer love letter series, and a piece about terrorism. As per the usual Canadian theatre practice, there were two to three weeks of rehearsal and then opening night came, ready or not. After considering this model TBT pivoted to a different approach: multi-phase creative processes of

incorporating academic education (Grades 4 through 12) with the artistic pursuits of ballet, music, vocal and drama.

HAPA’s graduates are trailblazers, carving their paths in universities, colleges and ballet companies across Canada, U.S. and Europe. HAPA emerged resilient from the pandemic,

original works over several years. It’s hard, it’s long – and it results in deeply considered work it tour for years.

Balancing out three contemporary originals is the annual summer Shakespeare project, “Shakespeare by Nature.”

Emphasizing emerging, local artists and technicians creating work that operates like a Trojan horse – people expect bodkins and lacey ruffles; they get work set in drag clubs, as a sci-fi experience, or in a dreamscape. It messes with gender, explores colonialism, and interrogates contemporary life. The language is old; the ideas are not.

With the unwavering support of the Incite Foundation, TBT continues to totter on, creating and touring with great success. Aiming higher and higher each year (especially post COVID-19 lockdowns), TBT is still working to build that key core audience willing to take the risks it does to create vital theatre. We hope you’ll join them. totteringbiped.ca.

restructuring its operations to focus on outof-school artistic programs and community outreach. From performance opportunities to summer ballet intensives, the academy remains a cultural pillar in Dundas.

Thanks to the unwavering support of the Incite Foundation, these performances continue to weave magic, ensuring that every child, dancer, and audience member experiences the transformative power of ballet.

HAPA will take part in Doors Open Hamilton on May 4, where Nutcracker photographs of the last 10 years will be on display.

Auditions for the next Nutcracker will be held June 9, July 14, and Sept. 5.

Mark your calendars for December and prepare to be whisked away on a journey where dreams come alive, and the spirit of the holiday season dances in the air. n haofpa.com

BULFINCH’S MYTHOLOGY WAS PERFORMED AT HAMILTON FRINGE IN 2022. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

THE NUTCRACKER IS A HAMILTON HOLIDAY TRADITION. PHOTO: BALAZS KRALOVANSZKY

scan the qr code to read more about incite and the legacy of carl and kate turkstra.

BEAUTIFUL SCARS A WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL

A NEW MUSICAL CREATED BY TOM WILSON & SHAUN SMYTH

DIRECTED BY MARY FRANCIS MOORE

INSPIRED BY THE BOOK BEAUTIFUL SCARS: STEELTOWN SECRETS, MOHAWK SKYWALKERS AND THE ROAD HOME BY TOM WILSON

Tom Wilson’s bestselling memoir comes to life on stage at Theatre Aquarius beginning on April 24.

Be among the first to witness the world premiere musical in Steeltown, where Tom’s search for his identity began.