Londonlicious is back for the summer, and we are thrilled to be part of it again.
If you’re new to it, Londonlicious is London’s twice-a-year food festival, presented by Growing Chefs! Ontario. It runs from July 24 to August 16 this summer, and the idea is simple: restaurants across the city put together special fixed-price menus, you go out and eat well, and in doing so you help support local. Every dollar raised goes back into Growing Chefs! Ontario, a London food-education charity that has spent nearly two decades teaching kids and families how to cook and grow their own food. Their programs reach something like 12,000 children a year. So yes, the peach cobbler is for a good cause. You’re welcome.
The whole point of the festival is to shine a light on local restaurants, growers, farmers, and suppliers, and to strengthen the ties between them. That happens to be a thing we care a lot about, so we leaned all the way in.
The Menu
Here’s what we’ve put together. It’s $55 per person for three courses: choose one app, one main, and one dessert.
To start (choose one):
Dutch Street Corn Dip. Charred Ontario sweet corn with Kampkreek Gouda from St. Marys, MC Dairy crème fraîche from Etobicoke, sweet peppers, herbs, and chips.
Fried Cheese Curds. St. Albert cheese curds from St. Albert, Ontario, breaded and fried. Simple, and exactly as good as it sounds.
The main event (choose one):
Stroopwafel Tacos (3). This is the one people are going to be talking about. Three tacos built on Schep’s Bakery stroopwafels from Norwich, with locally sourced summer slaw and a spicy sauce. Pick your protein:
- Crispy Chicken, from Maple Leaf (Mississauga)
- Heritage Pork, from Farmhouse Meat Market (Bluevale)
- Sol Cuisine Plant-Based Nuggets (Toronto)
Something sweet (choose one):
Peach Cobbler. Niagara peaches under a speculaas-spiced cobbler topping, made with 1847 Stone Milling flour from Fergus and St. Brigid’s Creamery butter from Brussels. Served warm with District vanilla ice cream.
Strawberry Shortcake. Heeman’s strawberries from Thorndale, St. Brigid’s Creamery butter from Brussels, and real Ontario whipped cream.
Read the Menu Again, but Look at the Place Names
Go back and count them. St. Marys. Etobicoke. St. Albert. Norwich. Mississauga. Bluevale. Toronto. Niagara. Fergus. Brussels. Thorndale. Every single dish on this menu is built from ingredients with an Ontario address, and most of them are from right around here.
That’s not an accident, and it’s not just for the festival. It’s the same instinct that runs through everything we do, whether it’s the food coming out of the kitchen or the bikes going out the door. Local is not a marketing word for us. It’s who we cook with, who we build with, and who we want to see do well.
Come Eat With Us
The menu is available for the length of the festival, July 24 through August 16. Bring a friend, bring the family, come after a ride or make an evening of it on the patio by the river.
We’d love to feed you. And hey, if you bike here, dessert basically cancels out.