Meet Chef Stev George - Our Backyard From Farm To Feast

    If you travel to the far of end of Brock Street in Kingston, Ontario you may forget that you are living in the 21 Century.  It is like escaping through a time warp and going back to the time of Sir John A.  The road is paved in brick instead of black asphalt.  There is a faint breeze coming off of Lake Ontario, it is beautiful.  It's hard to believe that just one street over is Princess Street a booming road lined with stores that you will see anywhere you go in Canada or North America (in fairness there are also a lot of really unique beautiful stores that also share Princess).  If you stand there long enough you can trick yourself into believing that you are actually on vacation in Europe.

    At 39 Brock Street you will see bright red awnings and beautiful flower boxes this is the home of the Italian trattoria, "Olivea" owned by Chef Stev George and his wife Deanna Harrington for the last 6 years.  Both are trained chefs.  It is no accident that Olivea finds it's home directly across the street from Kingston's Farmers market which has been in operation since 1801 (before Canada was even a country).  The Farmer's Market is source of inspiration for the menu at Olivea.  They are passionate about using local ingredients and keeping them simple.

http://olivea.ca/

    Because of his passion for local ingredients and his love of good food, Chef Stev George was the perfect choice of chef for Our Backyard From Farm to Feast.  This wonderful foodie's dream event is exactly about eating fresh, local food.  Food that grows in abundance in Tweed.  Steve is also a perfect choice because he already uses beef  in his restaurant that he purchases from Tweed's own Enright Cattle Company.

    As I walked through the doors of Olivea to meet with Stev, I was taken with the simple charm of the restaurant.  I say simple, and I mean comfortable, like you could sit there and eat good food with good company.  The very walls are a warm colour.  It is exactly what I picture a restaurant in Italy to look like.  The other thing that caught my eye, was the two large containers of Olive Oil on the counter.  My first thoughts were "I need those for my house!"  True to form, Stev uses olive oil from just down the street at 62 Brock Street's Olive Oil Co.

    Stev is passionate about using fresh, local food in his restaurant.  His theory about cooking is "Use the best quality ingredients, do as little as possible to them and let the food speak for itself.  Less is more."  All you have to really do to guess Stev's motto is to take a peek up at his menu.

    For Our Back Yard From Farm To Feast, the idea is to pair up a local farmer with a chef.  Stev will team up with Enright Cattle Company.  I asked him if he had any ideas of what he might make and he said that he was thinking about "Brasato".  Brasato is a blade roast that has been slow cooked traditionally with wine and root vegetables.  I for one am excited to see what he decides to create.

Don't forget to get your tickets for Our Backyard Feast From Farm.  Tickets are limited!