Garden — first course
Whatever came out of the Interlake beds that morning, barely cooked.
- Vegetables from Wildfire Farm, Teulon
- Fermented in-house since the autumn
- Vegan by default
- Served cold
From Course 1 vegetable, raw and pickled
Seven courses · one seating · twenty-eight seatsOpen in the Old Town since 2017Bannatyne Ave · a walk from the Concert Hall
Everything on the plate grew within a day’s drive.
A seven-course prairie menu that changes with what the Interlake growers, the Lake your city fishers and our own cold room can actually give us that week. One seating a night, twenty-eight seats, no substitutions we cannot make honestly.
- Seven courses, $145 per guest
- your region pickerel, bison, wild rice and saskatoons
- Wine pairing from a mostly local list
- Dietary needs handled if we know four days out
4.9 from 720 reviews · nine years in the Exchange
Prairie sourcing
Named farms on the menu
Pairing flight
Five glasses, mostly local
One seating
Twenty-eight seats at 6:30
Menu changes weekly
Whatever actually arrived
This week's menu
Seven courses, and where each one came from
The shape of the menu holds; the contents move with the season. Below is the menu as it stands this week, with the producer named on every course, because that is the part worth knowing.
Water — pickerel
Pickerel cured lightly, with cucumber and a broth of its own bones.
- Gimli co-op day-boat pickerel
- Cured four hours, never overnight
- Broth from the frames, poured at the table
- Contains fish
From Course 2 Lake your city, day-boat
Bread — sourdough and cultured butter
One loaf per table, out of the oven ninety minutes before service.
- Red Fife wheat, milled weekly
- Starter running since 2017
- Cultured butter, two-day ferment
- Second loaf always yes
From Course 3 baked at 3 pm
Fire — bison
Bison sirloin over birch coals, with last year's saskatoons.
- Ashern bison, whole-animal purchase
- Birch coals, no gas
- Saskatoons picked in July
- Served medium rare unless told otherwise
From Course 4 over open flame
Field — wild rice
Wild rice, toasted, with mushrooms and a broth of dried morels.
- Whiteshell hand-harvested rice
- Mushroom broth, no cream
- Vegan on request
- The most-asked-for dish we serve
From Course 5 hand-harvested
Sweet — saskatoon and honey
A honey custard and a saskatoon tart, in that order.
- Honey from hives north of the Perimeter
- Two plates, not one
- Contains egg and dairy
- Alternative available with notice
From Course 6 two small plates
Last — coffee and something small
Coffee roasted in the North End, and one bite to finish.
- Roasted in your city's North End
- Ground to order
- Herbal alternatives available
- No charge for a second cup
From Course 7 with the bill
How dinner unfolds
From booking to the last cup
- 1
You book
Sixty days of calendar, a card to hold the seat, and a note about anything you cannot eat.
- 2
We shop
The menu is finalised on Monday around what the growers and the fisher actually have.
- 3
You arrive at 6:30
The whole room sits together. Coats taken, water poured, first course inside ten minutes.
- 4
Three hours later
Coffee, the bill, and a cab if you want one. We never rush a table out.
28
Seats in the room
7
Courses on the menu
41
your region producers we buy from
9
Years in the Old Town
The tasting menu
One menu, three ways to drink with it
The food price is the same for everyone in the room. What changes is what is in the glass, and whether you want the cellar involved.
The menu
Dinner as it stands, water included.
$145 per guest, seven courses
- Seven courses
- Bread and cultured butter
- Filtered still and sparkling water
- The table for the whole evening
Menu with pairing
The menu plus the wine chosen for it.
$240 per guest, food and five glasses
- Everything in the menu
- Five glasses, poured with the courses
- Mostly local, always explained
- Non-alcoholic version at $200
Menu with reserve pairing
For when the occasion is the point.
$310 per guest, cellar selections
- Everything in the menu
- Five glasses from the reserve list
- Older Okanagan and Niagara bottles
- Twelve seats a week only
Prices are per guest and exclude gratuity and GST. A card holds the reservation; we charge $75 per seat only for cancellations inside 48 hours, because at twenty-eight seats an empty table is the whole evening's margin.
Reviews
What people write afterwards
4.9 from 720 reviews · nine years in the Exchange
“We went for an anniversary and stayed three hours. The pickerel course was the best thing I have eaten in this city, and nobody once made us feel hurried or under-dressed.”
“I told them four days ahead about a shellfish allergy and they rebuilt two courses rather than just removing something. My wife's plate and mine arrived at the same time and looked equally considered.”
“Expensive, and worth it once or twice a year rather than monthly. The wine pairing is where it gets steep — the food alone with a bottle from the list is the better arithmetic.”
Service area
Finding us
We are on Bannatyne between Main and Albert, four minutes from the Centennial Concert Hall and eight from the Burton Cummings. Most of the room comes from these neighbourhoods, and a good number walk.
- Old Town
- Downtown
- Eastside
- Central Village
- Historic District
- Central District
- Market District
- Riverside
- Riverfront
- River District
- Garden District
- North End
If a course does not land, tell us that night
Cooking this specifically means occasionally missing. If a course is not right for you, say so while it is in front of you — we will replace it or take it off the bill, that evening, without a discussion about it. What we cannot fix is a complaint that first appears in a review a week later.
FAQ
Asked before booking
Something not covered here? Call Demo phone between 3 and 5 pm and you will get the person who keeps the book.
Is there a vegetarian version of the menu?
A full one, and it is not an afterthought — four of the seven courses are already vegetable-led. Tell us when you book. A vegan menu also works with four days' notice; without that notice the bread and the butter are the problem.
Can we come for just a drink?
No. There is one seating and one menu, and the bar exists to serve that room. There are three good places for a drink within two blocks, and the host will happily point you at them.
What should we wear?
Whatever you would wear to a friend's dinner party. There is no dress code and there never has been. People arrive in everything from suits to work clothes and nobody is treated differently.
How long does dinner take?
Around three hours, occasionally three and a half. If you have theatre tickets at 8, this is not the right night — tell us and we will find you a Tuesday instead.
Twenty-eight seats, one seating, sixty days of notice.
We take the whole room at 6:30 and cook one menu. That is why the kitchen can be this small and the produce this specific — and why a Saturday in December needs booking in October.