Canada's Next Culinary Hotspot

Saskatchewan has become one of Canada's booming provinces, and it's not all about potash production. Since the middle prairie province also produces excellent poultry, grain, fruit, vegetables and honey for the rest of the world, it's not suprising local foodies are waking up to the bounty in their own backard. Drop by and see what chefs like Rémi Cousyn at Calories Restaurant and Bakery in Saskatoon are creating with local delights such as saskatoon berries, wild rice, rabbit, cherries and steelhead trout.

Fresh, local, healthy, socially conscious, delicious: sustainable seafood is all of these. And by choosing abundant species of fish and shellfish and harvesting them responsibly, we can ensure our enjoyment of them for many years to come.

Guided by SeaChoice, a program run by Sustainable Seafood Canada, A Good Catch explains which are the best, most responsible seafood choices and features them in more than seventy mouth-watering recipes from celebrity chefs across the country. Among the delights are Jamie Kennedy's Marinated Herring with Warm Apple and Potato Salad, Rémi Cousyn's Pickerel Tempura with Wasabi-Ginger Tartar Sauce, Bonnie Stern's Tilapia Piccata with Asparagus, Fédéric Morin's Clam Rarebit, Chris Aerni's Naked Lobster with Green Pea Purée, and Robert Clark's Oyster and Leek Stew.

Packed with tips on choosing, storing and preparing fish and shellfish; overviews of the principal farming, fishing, and harvesting methods, and summaries of the issues affecting individual species (plus substitutes for popular, unsustainable species), A Good Catch is a must-have for aficionados of fine food and a healthy planet.

The Joslin Diabetes Great Chefs Cook Healthy Cookbook

The following two recipes by Rémi Cousyn are included in this exciting new publication;

• Red Wine–Braised Halibut with Roasted Root Vegetables
• Prosciutto-Wrapped Scallops with Mesclun in Tomato Vinaigrette

Outstanding Merchant 2007

Broadway Business Improvement District is proud to present Calories Restaurant and Bakery with this award in recognition of their continuous support of Broadway Initiatives, effective marketing efforts, recent renovation project, and admirable committment to outstanding customer service. Your contributions to the broadway area are both considerable and greatly appreciated.

The Canadian Chefs' Congress connects chefs to our land in solidarity with farmers, fishers, gardeners, foragers and all artisanal food producers.

The Canadian Chefs' Congress is a biennial gathering of chefs from across Canada that reinforces the passion and integrity of Canadian Food Culture.

http://canadianchefscongress.blogspot.com/

Link to a list of participating chefs.

Landesweit ber�hmt ist das „Calories Bakery & Restaurant”. Der geb�rtige Franzose Rémy Cousyn ist mit einer Tänzerin aus Saskatoon verheiratet. Angesichts der opulent mit Kuchen, Pralinen, Crème Brûlées und anderen Leckereien gef�llten Eingangstheke sollten Sie stets Platz f�r einen Nachtisch lassen.

Link to article.

Village de chef est une association regroupant une vingtaine de chefs français et francophones basés à l'étranger, dans les deux hémisphères. Les but est d'échanger sur las gastronomie et faire connaître les produits rares et spécifiques (koïmo d'Osaka, talouma, mini-rose comestible du Japon, fromage de I'île hollandaise de Texel...) des pays dans lesquels ils se trouvent. Certains d'entre eux, très axés sur la restauration française, commandent aussi à Rungis, à l'instar de Jean-Joël Bonsens, du restaurant Chez Christophe à Amsterdam. Pour mieux se faire connaître, l'association a désormais son site:

http://www.villagedechefs.com/

EnRoute Magazine - Reader's Choice

What began as a simple café with homemade soups, breads and chutneys has grown with the emergence of young French partners. Bistro dinners are "superbly prepared" and "served unpretentiously in relaxed 'artsy' suroundings."

Airlines Magazine
Calories you can count on – Saskatoon's French Bistro
By Johwanna Alleyne

Saskatoon's Calories restaurant is a favorite for special occasions and nights out. This French-style bistro proves there is nothing pretentious about good food. Not a high faluting French restaurant where waiters twirl around tables as you snap your fingers for service, Calories has a simple prairie feel where the plank wooden floors and high Victorian ceilings are charged with the smell of freshly baked baguette and savory herbs.
Staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and clientele know each one by name. Despite its casual and welcoming style, Calories is popular because of the sophistication and French background chef and owner Remi Cousyn brings to the table.
On the menu is southern French cooking, prepared fresh in the classical style that allows the natural flavours of seasonal fruits, vegetables and seafood to sing. Saskatoon is a long way from fresh fruit markets and so Cousyn adapts what is available. Geographic limitations have challenged his wisdom and sparked his creativity. The hickory-smoked salmon, for example, is smoked on the premises. Even apple pie is given a beautifully-adapted twist with the addition of fresh ginger.
The wine list is a gift to anyone who has ever wanted to taste great wine.
The service is efficient and ever-attentive. The piece de resistance is the pastry case where you can choose the perfect souvenir for the perfect meal.
This restaurant could turn anyone who likes good food into a gourmet. If you think you are not ready for such fine fare, don't worry; they still serve Shmoo – an extra fine angel food cake with caramel sauce that they inherited from the menu of the original owners. Calories, however, is far from just dessert. It's Bistro dining in the middle of the Canadian Prairie that is sure to please.

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Western Living Magazine
Applause for a French chef, prairie ingredients and four star service.
By Anne Suche

This smart yet unpretentious place suprises and delights. Owner Janet Palmer's talented young partner and chef, Rémi Cousyn, has impressive culinary credentials. Born in Nice, France, he trained under Rodger Vergé at Le Moulin des Mougins and worked in Italy, Switzerland, Montreal and Whistler, B.C. (at Le Val d'Isère) before coming to Saskatoon. In his open kitchen at the back, Cousyn makes the simplest fare sing. My starter salad of warm and creamy chèvre was bathed in a subtle sherry vinaigrette, the roasted eggplant was delicate and crimson marinated peppers were folded into flower petals, the topmost one a perfectly matched real petal. In contrast were the stronger flavours of mackerel fillets, lined up like soldiers, marinated Escabèche-style and served with pickled onions and baby greens. A main of Saskatoon-berry-stuffed duck breast married well with a juniper-berry-flavoured sauce. Grilled swordfish was served with crimini mushrooms atop a jewel-like mosaic of diced vegetables in a sharp balsamic vinaigrette. Great service, great value.The bill: $20 each for three courses.The bonus: Buy any listed bottle of wine to take home at a 10-percent discount (with the purchase of a meal).The dress code: Smart casual.

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Western Living Magazine
By Peter Wilson

Chef Remi Cousyn's simple, colourful handling of fresh fish consistently wins raves from his Calories patrons. "This dish is on the lighter side," he explains. "The key is to find the freshest fish on the market."

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The Saskatoon Sun
Renovated Calories open for business

Good news for those that haven't heard yet; Calories Restaurant's renovations have been completed and the popular Broadway dining spot is once again open for business. The new renovations are a win/win situation for customers and staff, with an expanded eating area and a much improved kitchen the focus of the work effort that went into all the changes.
With 12 years of success under its culinary belt, the restaurant had reached a point where a growing clientele and an expanding menu had made the renovation process inevitable. Part of that growing success must be attributed to Remi Cousyn, calories Chef and co-owner, explains Janet Palmer, the restaurant's founding partner.
Janet and her partners, Janis Cousyn and husband Remi, were confident that their patrons would remain loyal during the weeks the restaurant was closed while the extensive work was carried out. They were not disappointed and their restaurant is now busier than ever.
Originally known for its famous desserts, sandwiches and soups, Calories Bakery and Restaurant, under Cousyn's innovative kitchen skills, quickly moved the coffee shop into a place where you can enjoy international cuisine as well as the old favorites.
With the slogan: fine dining at cafe prices, the restaurant has not only maintained its faithful clientele, it also added substantially to its customer base. With a great wine list, terrific lunch and dinner menus, Calories looks to a successful future.
The restaurant now also offers catering services as well as banquet facilities for those special group celebrations.
Menu items are changed every two weeks, so dining out at this Broadway spot offers that something extra for all appetites. Check out such dinner delights as stuffed rainbow trout with sautéed spinach and shallots or rack of lamb with golden parsnips in a marjoram sauce. Appetiser are just as inviting with the likes of dishes like risotto and mushroom cakes with red wine glaze, and scallop salad with vegetable brunoise and fresh herb dressing. On the lunch menu I discovered treats like California Club sandwiches – smoked turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, tomato and lime mayo; lemon chive chicken sandwich; spinach and blue cheese tart; chicken Negimaki – Asian marinated chicken breast coated in black sesame seeds, grilled on skewers and served with a spicy red pepper dip.
Remember, brand new menus are featured every two weeks; a wonderful way to feature a wide variety of dishes.

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Gazel.ca
Calories Bakery and Restaurant : de la fine cuisine française au cœur des Prairies
By Jean-Paul Gagné

Auteur : Jean-Paul GagnéD’origine française, Rémi Cousyn est né en Bretagne, mais a grandi à Nice, sur la côte d’Azur. Déjà à l’âge de 12 ans, il se sent chez lui dans la cuisine et manifeste le désir de devenir chef pâtissier. « Mes parents voulaient que j’aille jusqu’au bac, mais j’avais envie de faire autre chose, explique-t-il en riant. L’école, ce n’était vraiment pas pour moi. » À un jeune âge, il fait donc un stage de deux mois dans l’un des restaurants les plus réputés de France, le Moulin de Mougins de Roger Vergé, près de Cannes. Il travaille ensuite en tant qu’apprenti dans un hôtel avant d’aller en Suisse, où il fait la rencontre de sa future épouse Janis, qui y était alors en voyage. Après un an et demi sur la côte d’Azur, ils rentrent ensemble au Canada et s’installent à Montréal pour permettre à Janis de poursuivre ses études et faciliter la transition à Rémi, alors francophone unilingue. En 1995, le couple décide enfin de s’établir en permanence à Saskatoon, pour se rapprocher des parents de Janis et fonder une famille.

D’importantes rénovations
C’est alors que Rémi s’associe à Janet Palmer et achète la moitié du restaurant qu’elle a ouvert en 1986 en tant que salon de thé. Situé tout près d’un cinéma de répertoire, sur l’avenue Broadway, de l’autre côté de la rivière par rapport au centre-ville, Calories a déjà une clientèle bien établie. Mais des changements s’imposent et le nouveau propriétaire passe rapidement à l’action : « Lorsque je suis arrivé, le restaurant tombait en ruines et avait de graves problèmes financiers. Il fallait faire quelque chose », explique-t-il. Grâce à un prêt de 180 000 $ d’une caisse populaire et à une participation financière de 50 000 $ d’une dizaine d’investisseurs, Rémi fait rénover le restaurant de fond en comble en le dotant notamment d’une cuisine de calibre professionnel.
Le succès du nouveau look « bistro » de l’établissement est immédiat. Mettant l’accent sur la qualité et le caractère distinctif de ses produits, le restaurant séduit les fins palais et amateurs de haute gastronomie. Selon Rémi, qui, depuis septembre 2000, est l’unique propriétaire du restaurant, le menu a été conçu pour miser sur les « acquis » du restaurant, tels que les desserts, de manière à permettre au restaurant d’innover et d’offrir à sa clientèle des plats qui sortent de l’ordinaire. 

Un menu alléchant
Le midi par exemple, à part le sandwich au saumon fumé et le sandwich club californien, qui représentent des valeurs sûres pour tout client nord-américain, Calories offre une salade aux figues marinées ainsi que de la baguette farcie à l’aubergine. Le restaurant propose également des plats-vedette un peu plus consistants, comme des raviolis au fromage de chèvre, servis avec du jambon de Parme et une sauce crémeuse au thym citronné. Le soir, pour 23 $, le restaurant offre un délicieux repas à trois services qui comprend une entrée, un plat principal et un dessert. Les desserts font d’ailleurs la renommée de Calories depuis ses débuts, et les clients sont invités à aller en choisir un eux-mêmes dans la vitrine à l’avant du restaurant.
Avec une équipe solide qui compte maintenant plus de 32 employés, Calories a réellement le vent dans les voiles. Le restaurant est presque toujours bondé, et des clients fidèles y dînent même plusieurs fois par semaine. « Ça a vraiment décollé depuis un an, déclare Rémi, et on ne fait aucune publicité.» Il affirme qu’il avait l’intention de créer un site Web pour le restaurant cet hiver, période généralement plus calme, mais que l’accalmie habituelle ne s’est pas produite. Il a toutefois déjà enregistré le nom de son futur site, qu’il terminera lorsqu’il en aura le temps : caloriesrestaurants.com. Bien entendu, la marque du pluriel nous laisse deviner les ambitions de notre chef devenu entrepreneur. 

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Saskatoon District Health – Public Health Services

Congratulations on having a smoke free restaurant. The Medical Health Officer of Saskatoon District Health would like to present you with a Certificate of Merit in recognition of your smoke-free restaurant.

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A Recipe for Romance
Valentines Day Should Start with Fine Dining
by Betsy Rosenwald

If you harbour high hopes of a special Valentine's Day, I have a few words of advice. Be a little adventuresome. Choose a quiet restaurant with a relaxed atmosphere where the food and wine both go to your head. It will get your pulses beating a little faster if you both try something you've never tried before. Remember, food can be a very sensual experience. Think of ripe red cherries and purple plums; mangoes, soft and juicy under smooth, cool skin; fleshy pink scallops; clams and mussels slippery wet and salty from the sea. Chocolate, in a class of its own, aims straight to the brain's pleasure centres to deliver its endorphic high. Strawberries, raspberries, warm from the sun, squirt their sweet juice into your mouth. Fragrant spices, wild mushrooms, the light and ticklish fizz of champagne on the tip of your tongue. Our conversation consists mostly of mmmm's and ahhhh's as we linger over the last of our meal. Listening to our satisfied sounds, I am again reminded of the shared ability of food, music, art, and, well, sex to impart intense pleasure to the senses, rousing the emotions, and stirring the soul. Chilean writer Isabel Allende devotes her entire book, Aphrodite: A Memoir of The Senses, to the erotic co-mingling of food and sex. The last part contains delectably amorous (and mostly easy to prepare) recipes created for their aphrodisiac properties by Allende's mother, Panchita. One unusual soup recipe includes ingredients that hardly sound sexy-1/2 pound pork ear and jowl, cabbage, pig's foot, ham hock, 1/2 hen – but listen to this introduction: "This soup has a robust country flavor that raises a sweat on your eyelids and awakens your basest instincts, even a desire to recite poetry... This dish... can make friends of enemies and revive the passion of the most world-weary." You could do worse on Valentine's Day than to buy this book, stay home with your significant other and try out some of these recipes together. Even reading them aloud to one another will stir your senses. However, while most women adore a man who cooks, very few men truly appreciate a woman in the kitchen in quite the same way. So unless you are guy who plans to cook for your woman (or man), or you plan to share the joy, dining out will be the safer, sexier choice.
If you can't make it to Paris for February 14th, my pick for romance would be Calories, Saskatoon's casually sophisticated French restaurant. Its husband and wife owners, Chef Rémi and Janis Cousyn, combine a tastefully subdued atmosphere with inventively prepared, delicious food that along with an excellent wine list will entice you into letting down your guard. The pale lemony walls are covered with original artwork and framed mirrors. Arts and Crafts inspired woodwork and soft recessed lighting mingle nicely with melodious vintage jazz. It all creates a mellow backdrop for the meal to come. We receive a warm welcome from the host who seats us amongst a friendly mix of people in the restaurant's rear dining area. I like its relaxed intimacy, though my partner feels it to be a bit narrow and confining, especially for a large man. He is soon distracted by our waitress who brings him a Boddingtons Pub Ale ($4.95). If you must drink on Valentine's Day, Calories offers a couple of French selections, such as Blanche de Chambly or Maudite from Quebec, that at least sound romantic. A preferable choice would be to start with one of the menu's far sexier list of aperitifs. I've ordered Calories Kir (white wine and crème de cassis, $4.95), passing over such heady offerings as Cinzanno Orancio (a Mediterranean orange wine), Lemon Gelato Tequila Margarita, and Ricard, the French anise based liqueur called an aphrodisiac in Isabelle Allende's book. Calories' Plum Wine Spritzer (Japanese plum wine served over ice with soda and lime) is another tempting choice, especially if you plan on ordering any of the Asian influenced dishes on the menu. Sipping our drinks, we begin to unwind and soak up the sounds of conversation and 1940s jazz. "The problem with delicious drinks," I say to my partner, "is that you get drunk drinking them quickly." "I've never considered that a real problem," he replies. A romantic dinner should be long and leisurely to allow the wine to slowly work its wily ways, warming your body and loosening your tongue. So if you can afford the luxury of ordering wine by the bottle instead of the glass, Calories' wine list offers many intriguing possibilities in a wide range of prices from $17.75 to $165.95. Even the descriptions are alluring. The 1991 Champagne Veuve Cliquot Reserve ($110.25) blurb reads, "Remember 'never hold a lady by the neck'-treat her with utmost respect and succumb to her wile." We decide on a wine we've never tried before, the Sicilian Donnafugata Anthilia 2000 ($35.50). It is a crisp, fresh, dry white Calories' special order that is very pleasant with our appetizers and is served in frosty chilled glasses. My pick for sexiest appetizer would have to be warm brie with pecan, fig and mango chutney served with mixed greens ($7.00). However, tonight we try two different appetizers-pan-fried pork dumplings with a wine-soy dipping sauce and fried leeks; and the special of the day, a scrumptious Asiago cheesecake. Smooth, creamy cheesecake is definitely in the Sexy Food Group, though it sounds like an unusual choice as an appetizer. The Asiago cheesecake turns out to be a rich, velvety concoction with the nutty, pungent flavor of asiago, is not unlike a dense quiche without a crust. Served with thinly sliced baguette toasts lightly drizzled with olive oil and baked with a walnut topping, it is sinfully delicious. The dumplings, light and crispy in a dark, sweet reduced sauce, are dense with pork that is a bit too dry for my tastes. I like the Asian flavours but miss the burst of warm liquid that I have received from other dumplings. If you take Chef Rémi up on his 3-course recommendation (choose from selected appetizers, main courses and desserts), you receive a discount of $3.00. The menu changes monthly. Our waitress is a consummate professional, attentive, yet laid back - so much so that we hardly notice her clearing our plates and laying out new cutlery including elegant French steak knives with tiny bee insignias--the symbol of Napoleon, she tells us. She places our two entrees, bison short ribs in a green peppercorn sauce ($18.00) and the vegetarian potato and gruyere galette ($15.00), in the centre of the table and brings plates so we can share them. The galette, crispy thin triangles of potato and cheese, is sensationally laid out in a star pattern around a creamy, intensely flavored ragu of porcini mushrooms, onions and fresh herbs. A supremely sophisticated version of latkes (potato pancakes), it is a superb compliment to the short ribs. The rich and meaty bison ribs, served with sweet parsnip fries and the peppery reduced sauce, are a happy, mouth-watering tribute to the chefs use of fresh, local products. Our conversation consists mostly of mmmm's and ahhhh's as we linger over the last of our meal. Listening to our satisfied sounds, I am again reminded of the shared ability of food, music, art, and, well, sex to impart intense pleasure to the senses, rousing the emotions, and stirring the soul. With so many delectable choices for dessert, I despair at choosing just one. "With most of our desserts, you can split a serving between two different half slices," our waitress helpfully suggests. Though the chocolate pate with raspberry sauce would be the ideal choice for Valentine's Day, it is still January so we try a pair of cheesecakes-the sweet, Italian style toffee cheesecake along with another half-slice of the richer, slightly sour coffee cheesecake. Says Allende: "After an erotic meal that spoonful by spoonful has led lovers through amorous games and foreplay to the bed, there should be a happy ending: dessert." There is no better place in all of Saskatoon for this kind of happy ending.

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Calories has gone from bakery to French bistro, yet maintained its prairie simplicity.  The old plank floors and light earth tones compliment the chicken and seafood menu, which is tastefully creative without being overly inventive.  It's still a good place for a morning coffee and pastry or for a slice of cake or pie.

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Canada's Best New Chefs,
Accolades for a New Gastronomic Culture
by Toby Saltzman

Calories Bakery and Restaurant blossomed from a neighbourhood dessert and cappuccino bar to a notable dining room on the strength of Chef Rémi Cousyn's classical French mindset. No wonder. Raised in the tiny village of Villeneuve Loubet, famous for being the birthplace of Chef Auguste Escoffier, Cousyn learned his craft in France and Switzerland. He met his Saskatoon-born wife while she was touring as a dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and he was serving as Chef at the renowned Mas d'Artigny, a 3-star Michelin-rated Relais & Châteaux in Provence. Today, Cousyn, 33, draws an eclectic, savant crowd to the unpretentious, Parisian-style bistro-cum-art-gallery tucked in a Strip of 1900s heritage buildings next door to the Broadway Theatre, one of Canada's few remaining repertoire cinemas. Cousyn's daring menu reflects his quest to fuse Canadian ingredients with an international palate. Start with scallops in classic vichyssoise with a twist of Spanish saffron. Follow with house-smoked and roasted duck breast served with Bordelaise sauce, tiny vegetables and a prosciutto brunoise wrapped in leek leaves and topped with a creamy aged chèvre rosette. Everyone checks out the dessert cooler at the entrance for the day's selection of cakes, pastries and crème brûlées. For a down-home prairie treat, try the Saskatoon berry pie or the pecan-filled Shmoo torte.

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Best of Saskatoon Awards
A people's choice reader's poll

2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 – Best Dessert Spot
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 – Best French Restaurant
2005, 2006 – Best Vegetarian Friendly Restaurant
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 – Best Soup
2007, 2008- Best Restaurant for a Date

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City Flavours: Big City Cuisine on Broadway
By Darlene Gulas-Bomok

I am always content after eating at Calories. Remi and Janis Cousyn could open a Calories in Toronto or Paris and it would thrive. Saskatoon is a tough market; however, Remi, with his French culinary training, creates top quality fare, which entices a loyal clientele. There are dishes that I have had at Calories that have raised the bar. A salad with duck confit, an appetizer with hummus and shrimp, organically-farmed chicken prepared several different ways...you will discover ingredients here, like duck confit, that you will not find anywhere else in the city. It is worthwhile to watch for special events that Calories hosts. I attended one such event on September 13th when Rick Bain, Canada-Prairies regional manager for Robert Mondavi Wines, was in town. Kim Choninard of Maxxium and Calories organized, "An Evening with Robert Mondavi". The meal included four courses for $55.00; gratuity and tax extra. The wine selections were compliments of Robert Mondavi. We started with a 2002 Private Selection Sauvignon Blanc, which exhibited a fresh melon taste, making it a perfect aperitif. Starter bites accompanying the white were pizzaIadiere, a foccacia-style crust with a "jammy" caramelized onion spread and smoked salmon tapenade.. The ravioli of chevre, swisschard and pine nuts with a roasted red pepper drizzle was exquisite. It reminded me of the raviole (yes that's raviole with an "e") I had in Romans, France, but Remi's was better! It was paired with a 1999 Napa Valley PinotNoir.
The advantage of attending events like this is that you may be served wines that are no longer available. The 1998 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve, paired with the tarragon stuffed chicken breast in blackpeppercorn and red wine reduction, was one such wine. My traditionalist reaction was that I would rather have had a white or the Pinot Noir with the chicken; however, the red wine sauce aligned the chicken and Cabernet Sauvignon perfectly. The moral of the lesson, trust Rémi and Janis. I love crème brulée but I’m not crazy about raisins so I only ate the luscious creme in my crème brulée with rum-soaked raisins. A 1995 port-style wine, Portacinco was served with dessert.
My only criticism is that an appropriate wine glass with a large bowl would have added to the pleasure factor of the wine rather than the "rob-roy-style" glasses. Calories is definitely worth the trip. It is prudent to make reservations (665-7991) for lunch or dinner and particularly Sunday brunch.

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Bridal Sweets
by Elizabeth Withey

Fruitcake? Icing rosettes? Lace? Please. We wanted ourwedding guests to eat thecake, not recoil in horror. Together, my husband and I jumped the barbed wire fence of wedding cake tradition. We wanted something adventurous. Fun. Something the guests couldn't wait to devour. And certainly something chocolate. With the help of Calories Restaurant in Saskatoon, we dreamed up an architectural marvel that would reflect our style and make every guest say "1 do" to dessert. And so was born our brownie tower, a pyramid of 100 hazelnut-stuffed squares dotted with chocolate-dipped Strawberries.
Sweet.
Like us, many bridal couples are treading off the severely beaten wedding cake track, ditching pillars and sugary white icing for contemporary creations. The move comes as more brides- and bridegrooms-to-be try to add a personal touch to their big day.
"(Couples) want something that's unique, that says them, so when people look at the take, it looks like something that they designed themselves," wedding cake maker Karyn Dunne explained.
Dunne, who owns Le Gateau in Beaumont, dresses her cakes to suit any couple's hobby ortaste. She's written words on cakes, from vows to wedding song lyrics. Recently she fashioned a Stanley Cup-shaped cake for two hockey lovers.
Debbie Lasuik of Deliciously Different Cakes in St. Albert says having a theme is a big part of the trend. She has designed cakes with underwater, winter and cowboy motifs. "I had a bride that picked jelly beans for her cake," Lasuik said. "She had a vibrant personality and it suited her reaIly well."
Cake shapes are also part of the switch away from the conventional circular stack that dominated wedding receptions in days gone by. Now, layeringcakes on separate trays for the pillar effect is a nuptial no-no. Tiered cakes survive but mixing up shapes and angles is key. The Mad Hatter cake, wilh its haphazardly arranged square layers, is madly popular for being whimsical and using different colours and patterns.
Individual servings of squares, cupcakes or fruit tarts are also making matrimonial waves. While arranged in a weddingcake shape, these creations don't need to be cut, making them easy to serve.
And while monograms and vivid icing colours are hot, happy couple cake-toppers are definitely, definitely not.
"Oh lord, the bride and groom figurine is so long gone it isn't even funny, "Dunne said.
But the most important ingredient to a successful wedding cake is the cake itself.
"I try to get my guests to choose something they'll really enjoy," she said. "When we go to a restaurant and we order a slice of dessert...that's what we want our wedding cake to taste like." Dunne uses flavours like mocha and kahlua to liven up the spongy insides of her cakes. "You can do anything with a wedding cake now," Dunne said. "The sky is the limit."

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Seven Surprises of Southern Saskatchewan
by Laura Robin

Calories, in Saskatoon, keeps its name from the days when it was simply a dessert cafe. Now it’s a renowned restaurant and food shop, selling fresh breads and locally made granola, and serving gourmet dinners in a bistro setting. Chef Remi Cousyn’s menu changes regularly but look for such specialties as Saskatoon Berry Lemonade, Saskatchewan Goose Rilletes and Northern Pike on a Saskatchewan wild-rice, leek and black trumpet pilaf. But don’t forget its famous desserts. Gourmet magazine has written to request several of the recipes; its toffee cheesecake is legendary.

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Best Entertainment Area

The place to be is Broadway, a historic avenue originally designed to allow a 180-degree turn by a team of horses and wagon. Favourite stops include the Taj Mahal Restaurant, Calories Bakery and Restaurant and the Yard and Flagon Pub.

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Canada's Best Restaurants - A coast to coast culinary odyssey of where to eat well
by Evelyn Brown (in Saskatchewan)

Not merely the standard list of top eateries across the land, certainly they are represented, but we wanted to hear of those legendary spots that magically capture the mood of their city or town... Calories Restaurant's chef brought his skills to Saskatoon 10 years ago with this hugely successful cafe. Expect wholesome, well prepared dishes made with the freshest ingredients, often organic, and French panache.

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Local Food on the Menu a Tasty Find
by Amy Jo Ehman

Where do you eat when you want to eat local food? I am frequently asked this question and, I am glad to say, the answer is getting easier.
A growing number of restaurants in Saskatoon are tapping into the local food market so it is possible to find fresh, locally produced ingredients on several menus.
One of the leaders in local cuisine is chef Rémi cousyn of Calories Restaurant on Broadway Avenue.
Remi hails from the south of France where restaurants specialize in local foods – not just for the tourists that flock to the Cote d’Azur, but also for local diners who take pride in their regional cuisine.
He brought this ethic to Saskatoon, creating a network of farmers and gardeners who supply his restaurant, changing the menu every month to take advantage of whatever has landed at his kitchen door.
Just how wonderful this can be was proven on Monday evening. Dinner started with a velvety lentil soup, then trout in a creamy egg sauce, rabbit with potatoes parisiennes, berry mouse on honey pound cake and a sip of cassis made with local black currents.

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Chefs, Farmers Cook up Ways to use Locally Produced Foods
by Lori Coolican

When gourmet chefs and farmers converged this weekend on a downtown hotel for a day of networking and discussion about locally produced food, the hotel had to find a larger room to accommodate their numbers.
It’s a sign of the growing movement towards incorporating the broad range of meats, vegetable, fruits, herbs and grains that are produced in Saskatchewan into high-end restaurant menus, said the proprietor of a local eatery that’s been serving Prairie-grown meals for some 13 years.
“Just to see the progress that we’ve made as a community in terms of supporting local, the quality of food that were seeing now in our city is really exciting,” said Janis Cousyn, who operates Calories with her husband, chef Rémi Cousyn.
The restaurant teamed up with Tourism Saskatchewan and the provincial Ministry of Agriculture to host Local Bounty: Farmer-Chef Connection in hopes that it will become an annual event.
About 30 local food producers – who sell everything from bison meat to salad greens and designer mustards – attended the event to meet representatives of about a dozen professional kitchens from Saskatoon and towns such as Birch Hills.

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Ten years ago, Melanie and Kevin Boldt fulfilled a dream and bought a farm near Osler. It was no ordinary farm, but the homestead of his great grandfather that had been sold out of the family decades ago. They adopted a natural protocol, using no growth-promoting hormones or medications and only natural feed. They built a butcher shop on their farm with provincial certification and created a label called Pine View Farms.
Four years ago, they held the first Feast of Fields based on a concept that was popular on Vancouver Island. They teamed up with the owners of Calories restaurant in Saskatoon, Rémi and Janis Cousyn, to serve a beautiful dinner in a rustic setting using ingredients grown close to home.
This year the menu featured prime rib of Pine View farms beef and lamb meatballs with cherry sauce, sushi made with Lake Diefenbaker steelhead trout, beluga lentils, locally grown vegetables and for dessert, a delicious confection of meringue, cake and fresh raspberries.

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Where to eat when in Saskatoon

Last year, on February 14th, Mike, my spouse of 20 years, and I had planned an early dinner to suit our 81-year-old babysitter’s schedule! We celebrated at a local favorite: Calories. Around since 1995, it is a locally owned, nationally recognized bistro-style restaurant. Local producers supply meats, artisanal beers, produce and berries, when in season (this is Saskatchewan after all).
We selected the special tasting menu with wine parings. Within minutes, we were sipping 2003 Château de Landras; crisp and clean. Soon, came comforting roasted tomato and fennel soup with preserved lemon, rosemary cream – velvety smooth and a perfect pairing with the wine.
Next up was the highlight of the evening for me: smoked scallops, fried to perfection, nestled on a bed of crispy riced potatoes, with pickled chanterelles, arugula and toasted hazelnuts with a drizzle of honey-coriander vinaigrette.
We switched wines and ventured into a bold, red 2004 Marzane. It prepared our palates for Frenched pork chops stuffed with Asian pear and foie gras, served with an artichoke and green bean gratin, buttered asparagus and richly delicious black truffle port sauce.
Already more than content, we were met with a 2003 Muscat de Beames-de-Venise, sweet and complex, perfectly balancing the platter that held beignets with warm caramel sauce, braided quince paste jellies, panforte (which came home and was eaten later) and two delectable local Souleio chocolates.
We digested, rested and lingered just a little over a cappuccino – the babysitter was almost ready for her bedtime, after all. We left feeling that we had enjoyed a lovely dinner and grateful that we had each other to share it with.

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About Town – Saskatoon

Tucked in beside the Broadway Theatre art-house cinema, this is the lunch and dessert spot for your day trip. Chef-owner Rémi Cousyn, with co-owner and wife Janis, changes his French inspired menu monthly to take advantage of fresh herbs and edible flowers from his own garden and Saskatchewan’s organic producers.

Growing fresh herbs: Surprising kitchen gardens of Canadian city chefs

Herbal oasis in urban Saskatoon
For the past 13 years, besides creating delicious food, Chef Rémi Cousyn of Calories has been tending (with the help of his mother-in-law, Judith Hutton) a bountiful plot of land nestled next to his Saskatoon bistro. Tarragon, sage, basil, cilantro, arugula, and calendula are a few of his preferred herbs; although, born in Provence, he especially loves thyme and rosemary. Menu favourites at Calories often feature home-grown produce: from a unique dressing made with nasturtiun leaves, to a savoury potato-and-swiss-chard gratin. For the herb garden newbie Cousyn recommends perennials: “It’s a bit of a lazy pleasure to get plants the following year with very little effort!”

Katahdin lamb: Good to the last (big) chop

At Domus Café, Ottawa’s temple of regional cuisine, chef John Taylor recently served up a whole lamb in individual mixed platters of braised shoulder, grilled rack and loin, roast leg and spiced patty. “I called it a Study of Katahdin Lamb,” said Mr. Taylor, one of a handful of Canadian chefs who are offering the little known North American heritage meat. “It is very lean, almost like veal. It’s got a different flavour and texture.”
The result of crossing wool sheep with African hair sheep, the breed was registered in Maine in the early 1970s and named after the state’s highest mountain. Now that they are spreading through canada – mainly saskatchewan, Alberta, and Ontario – the animal has the potential to become a favourite of locavores who want to know what they’re eating.
“I love the taste. Its lamb, but so mild,” says Jasmin Kobajica, chef at Edmonton’s Crowne Plaza Chateau Lacombe.
But the breed goes largely unnoticed, according to Travis tock, Ont., farmer Neil Mesman, president of the canadain Katahdin Sheep Association. “There hasn’t been enough demand, but if there was, a lot of us would probably raise more of them,” Mr. Mesman says.
with a thick winter coat that is shed in summer, its a hardy animalthat is well suited to the Canadian temperature extremes. It thrives on pasture foraging (while some farmers do opt for growth hormones, it is generally raised naturally). And the meat tends to have lower cholesterol than regular lamb.
At Calories restaurant in Saskatoon, Provence-born chef-owner Rémi Cousyn has been using Katahdin for his merguez sausages as well as other dishes.
“It’s very good. There is no muttony smell,” Mr. Cousyn says.
Farmers say it’s the animal’s coat that makes the difference in taste: the Katahdin’s hair has no lanolin, a natural substance secreted by most sheep. Lanolin is in the wool, that is what gives it that smell. But even wool breeds don’t produce lanolin until they are over 100 pounds ( 45 kilograms).
Except for easter lambs, which are smaller, lambs are usually slaughtered around that size. Since Katahdins don’t produvce lanolin, they can be sold at 120 pounds. People say: “Wow, lamb chops that aren’t a quarter (coin) size.”