LCBO Food & Drink Summer 2022

TO DRINK A no-alcohol refresher helps beat the summer heat, and no summer gathering is complete without some no-alcohol alternatives—from soda to tea to cordials. They might just be the hottest drinks at your bar. This Indigenous-owned online company offers a tea-industry first: green tea blended with roasted northern wild rice (manoomin), which creates uniquely nutty, complex flavours, ideal for cool summer mornings. teahorse.ca Split Tree Cocktail Co., Ottawa Turn a summer soda water or mocktail a trendy cobalt blue with this mixer bursting with tart, fruit flavour. Find it at local grocers or online. splittree.ca Cream-top Milk Sheldon Creek Dairy, Loretto Mix in the cream that floats atop the cute classic bottles for pure, sweet dairy richness. Blackberry and Blackcurrant Cordial As a bonus, the dairy’s cows produce milk that’s lacking the protein that can cause lactose intolerance. sheldoncreekdairy.ca Raspberry and Lime Soda The County Bounty, Napanee Dry, tart and fresh-tasting, this handcrafted farm-to-glass raspberry and lime soda is made with local berries and far less sugar than most sodas. It tastes good and feels good! thecountybounty.com Wild Rice Tea Tea Horse, Thunder Bay

HARROW CRISP PEARS The Fruit Wagon, Harrow

SOURDOUGH CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES Little Paris Bread Co., Paris Owner April Vande Leygraaf has been selling sourdough baked goods with extra zip since 2018. Her pastry chef, Jenny Ruttiman, added cookies two years ago. Her versions forgo leavening agents like baking soda, and instead rely on a five-year-old sourdough starter dubbed Clint Yeastwood for its chew and tang. Come in the morning or message ahead to secure a stash. littleparisbreadco.ca PLANT-BASED BURGERS Heal Wellness, Hamilton and Guelph Looking for a way to make his vegan legume and whole grain–based burgers stand out, co-owner Jay Zuccato decided to crown them with colourful buns. Natural vegetable powders from so-called superfoods (like purple carrots, dragonfruit, spirulina and turmeric) create their summery pastel shades from mauve to pink to blue and yellow. Some customers drive more than an hour for these Instagram-worthy burgers. healwellness.ca

KOREAN-STYLE FRIED CHICKEN SANDWICH

Fox in the Henhouse, Huntsville There’s been a lot of clucking in Muskoka about the chicken sandwich from this food truck (parked beside Canvas brewery). It’s served on a homemade brioche-style bun (both bun and batter are gluten-free here), smeared with gochujang mayo, topped with pickled vegetables. Go early if you want to score a doughnut (offerings range from lemon meringue to s’mores flavoured) for dessert! redfoxcatering.wixsite.com/ foxinthehenhouse NORMANDY APPLE BREAD Spirit Tree Estate Cider (STEC), Caledon Each bite of STEC Normandy Apple Bread, baked daily in a giant wood-fired oven, delivers chunks of juicy apple in tangy sourdough. Pick up a rustic loaf at the farm shop (along with pies, pastries, fresh eggs and more), then nip into the cider tasting room to sample refreshing ciders—hard, non-alcoholic and sparkling. spirittreecider.com

Along the shore of Lake Erie, in Canada’s most southerly orchard, unique Ontario fruit varieties thrive. Sunrise apples are juicy and crisp, and Silken apples are sweet with glowing skin. The star here is the Harrow Crisp pear, with buttery flesh (no grittiness) and a mildly sweet, firm bite. It’s worth the trip to Harrow to find them, but they’re also available at the Downtown Windsor Farmers Market and other Ontario markets. thefruitwagon.com MARKET BOXES Sweet & Savoury Grazing Co., Thunder Bay These gorgeous picnic-to-go boxes are filled with a variety of premium cured meats, artisanal cheeses, fruit, crackers, nuts, olives and local chocolate to serve six. Sweet & Savoury Grazing Co. is based in the hot Goods & Co. Market (located in a retro-chic former Eaton’s building downtown), home to 25-plus local vendors for everything from sauna supplies to sushi. sweetandsavourygrazing.ca, goodscomarket.ca

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