LCBO Food & Drink Early Summer 2024

CHEF’S DAY OFF

Playing Favourites with Zach Keeshig This innovative Indigenous chef tells us what he’s currently enjoying eating and drinking around Ontario.

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1 Richmond Station, Toronto I enjoy the people there, as well as the atmosphere. I was fortunate enough to meet Hayden [Johnston] and Carl [Heinrich] a couple of years ago, and I’ve been in touch with them ever since. When I’m in Toronto, it’s always interesting to try their latest tasting menu and see what they’re doing. They have really good cocktails as well. richmondstation.ca 2 Perch Restaurant, Ottawa We did a collaboration with them last year. They’re great people who are pushing the boundaries of Canadian cuisine in Ottawa. They’re doing interesting things with local wines and spirits, and sustainable ingredients. Their head bartender, Shannon Marshall, for example, makes some cool non-alcoholic and alcoholic cocktails using Cana dian ingredients. perchottawa.ca 3 The Pine, Creemore They specialize in a modern, Japanese-influenced tasting menu. It’s very small—they only serve around 10 people at a time, and it reminds me of going to a sushi counter in Japan. It’s around a 15-course tast ing menu and they serve a lot of great Canadian wines as well. thepinecreemore.ca 4 Cry Baby Gallery, Toronto Whenever I go down to Toronto for drinks, I go to Cry Baby Gallery. When you first walk in, it’s pretty much an art gallery—it doesn’t look like a bar at all. They have different resident artists there all the time. I like to try different cocktails and I usually like any thing made with smoked mezcal. crybabygallery.ca 5 Down Home by Sumac & Salt, Kimberley The owners have a little farmhouse, and they use a lot of ingredients they grow in their garden. It’s a “come into my home” style of dining, and the food is rustic. It’s always rewarding to support local farmers and people in the area. sumacandsalt.com

BY JESSICA HURAS

After cutting his teeth in top Ontario kitchens like Cambridge’s

Langdon Hall, chef Zach Keeshig has been quietly building a following with his pop-up restaurant, Naagan (naagan. squarespace.com), in the Owen Sound Farmers Market. Here, Keeshig blends French cooking techniques with knowledge from his Ojibwa background to create tasting menus driven by foraged ingredients. He’s now ready to take Naagan to the next level with the launch of a brick and-mortar location this year. Here’s a glimpse of the places and foods that are intriguing him most right now in Ontario’s culinary landscape.

Keeshig’s current ingredient obsession at his own restaurant is chaga, a fungi believed to have immunity-boosting medicinal benefits. “Traditionally, it’s steeped in tea, but we’re trying to push the boundaries of what you can do with it,” he says, adding that he’s using chaga to create everything from better-for-you beverage pairings to umami-packed ice cream.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON HENNESSY (PORTRAIT), RICK O’BRIEN (TOP RIGHT); PROP STYLING BY GENEVIEVE WISEMAN (PORTRAIT)

136 FOOD & DRINK EARLY SUMMER 2024