Francophone food and drink

Northeastern Ontario

Whiskeyjack Beer Company

Whiskyjack is not just a microbrewery. It’s also a brewpub serving delicious apps, salads, snacks, burgers—and beer, of course! The menu features regional specialties such as burgers and spaghetti sauce made with bison raised just a few miles from Haileybury, as well as local cheeses. Whiskeyjack also serves as a venue for shows featuring local musicians. Whiskeyjack is run by two Francophones from Northern Ontario.

Location: 485 Ferguson Avenue, Haileybury

Details: Open year round

Fromagerie Kapuskoise

La Fromagerie Kapuskoise is more than a family business—it’s a matter of local pride. Each fine cheese is named after a local watercourse and is made with local cow, sheep and goat milks. You’ll find the shelves stocked with cheese curds, halloumi and a variety of other local products such as honey, dry-cured sausages, chocolates and jam. Cheesemaker François Nadeau often gets behind the counter to greet customers.

Location: 376 Government Road East, Kapuskasing

Details: Open year round

Leisure Farms

One of the area’s best-kept secrets, this family-owned and -operated farm in the small Francophone community of Sturgeon Falls is the place to go for fresh air, fun and farm produce. Purchase or pick fresh strawberries, raspberries, corn and pumpkins.

While you’re there, enjoy a picnic or wagon ride, or roast marshmallows on the bonfire. The farm also offers daily fresh-baked pastries including homemade fruit pies, breads and award-winning jams.

Location: 744 Quesnel Road, West Nipissing

Details: the farm is open seasonally

Distillerie Rheault

Connoisseurs of hand-crafted spirits won’t want to miss the delicious options available from this Francophone family-run business, which specializes in unique products and small-batch distilling. Choose from a wide range of top-quality vodkas, whiskeys and liqueurs, all crafted using only the finest ingredients.

The Loon Vodka is distilled four times to create a crystalline, velvety vodka that’s methanol-free and unlike any other produced in Canada. Whiskey lovers can mix and match small, two-litre barrels to suit their individual taste. Or if liqueurs are more your thing, try the “sinfully delicious” raspberry and cherry options.

Location: 6 Hwy 583 Nord RR #2, Hearst

Details: open year-round

Ottawa Region

C’est Bon Cooking – ByWard Market Food Tour

Taste your way through one of Ottawa’s most popular attractions, the ByWard Market on this gourmet food tour. Meet the merchants, discover outstanding Francophone, ethnic and fine food shops, and sample award-winning dishes.

Explore the city’s historic neighbourhood while sampling dishes prepared by local chefs and food artisans. The 2.5-hour tour offers six to seven tastings, including the world-famous BeaverTail pastry.

Location: 200 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa

Details: open year-round

1 Elgin Restaurant

This casual, airy eatery is located within the National Arts Centre, Ottawa’s performing arts organization. With a focus on local seasonal ingredients, their diverse menu of contemporary cuisine has something for everyone. Meals are inspired by French cooking, Métis, and Canadian and French-Canadian traditions, among others.

Try the delicious Li zhaardayn starter (Michif for “The Garden”), which includes carrot and lentil hummus, pickled beets, puffed wild rice, Aunt Ruth’s celery seed vinaigrette, dandelion and mustard greens and purslane. A new indoor-outdoor annex means you can savour your meal outside comfortably in colder weather.

Location: 1 Elgin Street, Ottawa

Details: Open year round

Le St. Laurent

This modern restaurant set in the penthouse of the Brigil building with gorgeous panoramic city views specializes in quality French cuisine. Local ingredients sourced from the area’s farms and producers combine with global flavours to make for delicious seasonal menus and unique dishes.

Try the duck and foie gras rillette, with peach mostarda, candied pecans and toasted country bread, followed by the Quebec rabbit wrapped in prosciutto and dressed with lemon aioli. Vegetarians can indulge in a beet salad with seared halloumi and black walnut vinegar, followed by ricotta gnuddi—chanterelle mushrooms with corn, rosemary, lemon and a parmesan emulsion.

Location: 460 St. Laurent Boulevard, Ottawa

Details: Open year round

Gitanes

Locally sourced ingredients are a focus at this traditional French restaurant, which offers a special after-hours oyster and whisky menu until 2:00 a.m. The dinner menu varies according to season. Indulge in a cold seafood platter and traditional starters like oeufs mayonnaise, seared beef tartare and braised beets. For dessert, try the apple crème caramel, foie sundae and chocolate truffles.

Location: 361 Elgin Street, Ottawa

Details: Open year round

Southeastern Ontario

Huff Estates Winery and Inn

In addition to a vineyard, Huff Estates is also a contemporary Canadian art gallery, a sculpture garden (featuring Marius Barbeau), a restaurant in the summer and a luxurious inn in beautiful Prince Edward County, where about 40 vineyards share the land.

Location: 2274 County Road 1, Bloomfield

Details: Open year round

Les Fruits du Poirier

Les Fruits du Poirier is a great place to enjoy some local flavour! The Poirier family grows every kind of fruit you can think of and then some—haskap berries, raspberries, redcurrants, blackcurrants, jostaberries, saskatoon berries, grapes, apples, pears, plums… and even kiwis! You can pick them yourself from mid-June to October (something’s always in season), or buy fruit jams, jellies, pies, juices, compotes or fruit leathers at the orchard booth or at a market.

Location: 2535 Concession 3, St-Eugène

Details: Seasonal fruit picking, store open year round

Drouin Farm

Get hold of some delicious maple sugar at this charming and rustic 19th-century farm, which has been run by the Francophone Pierre family for five generations. The farm has a fully operational sugar shack during maple syrup season (mid-March to mid- or late April) and foods and activities for everyone in the family.

Enjoy self-serve maple-inspired pancakes and maple taffy treats at the sugar shack buffet, and then take part in fun farm-related activities like a horse-drawn buggy ride, the apple picking and pumpkin festival in the fall, and tobogganing in winter. Pay a visit to the animals while the kids work off their energy in the bouncy castle.

Location: 1230 Route 400, Casselman

Details: open seasonally

St. Martha’s Brasserie d’Orleans

This casual eatery in the Orléans neighbourhood of Ottawa serves traditional French cuisine centered on “rustic refinement.” Combing elegance and quality ingredients with the spirit and comfort of home-cooked meals, St. Martha’s offers a range of delicious salads, mains, pizzas and desserts.

Try the rich onion galette, with an assortment of sauteed onions wrapped in a brie pastry with Dijon mustard, or the saumon tartare—diced Pacific salmon tossed in a light and fresh marinade and served with crostini and cucumber. For dessert, the traditional Québécois pouding chomeur with maple whisky infused syrup, mixed berries and whipping cream is not to be missed.

Location: 3095 St Joseph Boulevard #305, Orléans

Details: Open year round

St-Albert Cheese Factory

Established in 1894, this is one of Ontario’s oldest cheese makers. St-Albert Cheese Factory, located in the heart of this charming eastern Franco-Ontarian village (famous for its “St-Albert” cheddar), produces the freshest cheese curds and other delicious cheese products. Savour tasty cheeses while soaking in the fascinating history of the area and its community, shaped by this factory and its cheese production.

Choose from fifty varieties of cheese or pick up some fresh curds from the cheese shop, open seven days a week. If you’re in town during the third week of August, don’t miss the food and festivities at the famous Festival de la curd (Curd Festival).

Location: 150 St. Paul Street C, St-Albert

Details: visit the website for information and operating hours

Southwestern Ontario

Forrat’s Chocolates

Chocolate lovers won’t want to miss this chance to satisfy a likely childhood fantasy—touring a chocolate factory and sampling the wares! Francophone company Forrat’s Chocolates specializes in pralines, truffles, caramels and many other delicious treats, each of them carefully crafted by chocolate artisans.

Take a tour of the chocolate factory at Forrat’s Chocolate Studio, and then purchase treats to take home. You can also purchase their goodies at Forrat’s Chocolate Lounge, where you can indulge in specialty crepes and chocolate fondues.

Locations: 

• Forrat’s Chocolate Lounge, 60 North Centre Road, London
• Forrat’s Chocolate Studio, 2190 Dundas Street, London

Details: Open year round

Haliburton Highlands to the Ottawa Valley

Hugli’s Blueberry Ranch

Hugli’s is a true country experience for the whole family, with a farmhouse to visit, corn maze to explore, berries to pick (and pumpkins, and Christmas trees), not to mention the pies, cookies and jams available at the store. Plus, Hugli’s makes over 20 flavours of fudge. This sweet, creamy and chocolatey treat is a favourite in Ontario’s traditional kitchens and roadside souvenir shops! Hugli’s also has an ice cream counter.

Location: 2139 Greenwood Road, Pembroke

Details: Open from May to the end of December

Algonquin Park, Muskoka and Parry Sound

Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery

They say Bala is the cranberry capital of Ontario! Cranberries are grown in a shallow body of water and then turned into wine. Guests can taste some and pair them with local cheeses, or go hiking or snowshoeing in this natural haven. Come help with the harvest in the fall. In the winter, you can skate on one of the frozen ponds, and in spring, maple sap is harvested for maple syrup. Note: The patio is open year round.

Location: 1074 Cranberry Road, Bala

Details: Open year round

Grey, Bruce and Simcoe

Chez Michel

The reputation of the French bistro Chez Michel (named after the founder and former owner, Michel Masselin), more to do in the region. Onion soup, steak fries, rack of lamb, crème brûlée – and other more North American choices – will make you salivate.

Please note, the “Gourmet to-go” menu, the lunch menu or even the take-out family feasts include hot dishes as well as sandwiches, the ideal scenario for a picnic. The chef suggests that you call or introduce yourself – the take-out menus require a wait which is easily managed by walking around the village.

Location: 150 Mill Street, Creemore

Details: Open year round