An Ottawa food bank, known for thinking outside the box, selected the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards — which is also about exploring new ideas — as the venue to hold its fifth annual Parkdale Food Centre Gala.
This year’s fundraiser was a sell out, with 300 guests filling the entrepreneurial hub to enjoy a night of eating, drinking and catching up with their Wellington West and Hintonburg neighbours. The tickets were $125 per person, or $100 each for those who were on the ball and bought early.
Returning favourites from the culinary community included: Absinthe, Allium, Bar Laurel, Dish Catering, Supply and Demand, The Urban Element, Thyme & Again Creative Catering, and Stella Luna Gelato, along with Beyond the Pale Brewery and two new joiners: Stofa Restaurant and The Table vegetarian restaurant.
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Among the dishes showcased that night were smoked salmon, goat cheese and apple éclairs; mushrooms and escargot on toast; pig cheek tapas with rhubarb; lobster velouté; asparagus, radish and white anchovy bibb lettuce wraps; and poached pineapple, sour cream cake with salty meringue and nitro-frozen apricot.
The net total of roughly $22,000 raised will help the Parkdale Food Centre cover its summer grocery bills for the roughly 750 residents who visit the centre each month. The PFC also runs grassroots programs and activities to help community members gain better cooking skills and learn more about nutrition.
“We’re all about community,” Parkdale Food Centre board chair Len Fardella told OBJ.social at the gala. “Tonight is a good chance for people to get together. This is where everyone who works with the centre, supports the centre and volunteers at the centre has some fun.
“The centre is about bringing people together, around food, so the gala is the same idea.”
Seen from the PFC was its award-winning community builder and manager, Karen Secord, along with such board members as Hilary McVey, who’s in charge of fundraising, and prominent businesswoman Sheila Whyte, owner of Thyme & Again. The gala’s two main sponsors were Jeff Hill from BMO Nesbitt Burns and RE/MAX real estate broker Susan Chell.
Also sighted was Frazer Nagy, co-founder and CEO of Transparent Kitchen, a local startup that gives consumers a behind-the-scenes look at which farmers and producers a restaurant is using, as well as the ingredients that go into their dishes.
Last spring, the Parkdale Food Centre also chose Bayview Yards to officially launch its Growing Futures social enterprise that works with children, using hydroponic growing systems to produce fresh produce that can be sold to the local food service industry.
The program has expanded to 53 systems at 37 different sites, including schools, libraries and community housing neighbourhoods. Bayview Yards is home to three units.
The garden towers grow green leafy vegetables and herbs. Once the plants are harvested, they can be sold to restaurants to be added to soups, stews, sandwiches and salads.
The program teaches children about food, including where it comes from and how it’s grown, as well as helps youth to understand how money works, through their partnerships with local businesses.
— caroline@obj.ca
