North is Perfect for all your Wedding Needs

North Restaurant and Catering is the perfect solution if you are looking for a place to host a special event in 2011.

From wedding dinners and receptions, brunches, corporate events or birthday celebrations, North's wonderful and welcoming dining room, exceptional staff and award winning cuisine will ensure an unforgettable experience.

Also ask about our top notch catering team for your off-site events. We have experience catering alongside Muskoka's outstanding attractions and locals.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick reminder of our holiday hours:

December 24th - closed after lunch at 2pm

December 25th, 26th and 27 - closed

December 28th, 29th and 30th - regular hours for lunch and dinner

December 31st - closed after lunch at 2pm. We are catering a private function on New Years Eve

We wish you, your friends and family a terrific and safe holiday season.

Catering Brochure

We're hard at work getting our new Catering Brochure ready for the January Wedding Show at the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre. Watch for more details here or contact the Muskoka Steamship office for more information.

Kudos to our Front of the House Staff who have donated $140 worth of toys and food to the

Salvation Army.

And not to be outdone, one of our lovely kitchen team, Hodson Cumberbatch (i.e. Culture) has added $20 to the kittie.

Alain and I are very proud of our team - who want to help children and families have a safe and happy Christmas Season.

SEB Workshop

Andrew and I were very pleased to be invited for the third year to be among the guests at the Self Employment Benefit Program Entrepreneur Panel.

This is a great question and answer session where new entrepreneurs have the opportunity to ask established small business owners a variety of questions ranging from marketing and website queries to how to develop and good and strong relationship with your customers.

What a great group of 'students' - with some outstanding business ideas!

Economy Shoes

Troy Burtch with TAPS Magazine gave us a list of suggested pubs and microbreweries to visit in Nova Scotia. Half way through his list was a place called 'Economy Shoes.'

Wahoo, I thought! NOW we're talking a language I understand!

Well, folks, don't fall for this ruse! As all Halagonians know, and I quickly found out, Economy Shoes is a well known pub in downtown Halifax!

Pub Food

Ok - Here's something that I can promise will never be on a North Menu:

Deep Fried Pepperoni!

Alain spreads the Good Word of TAPS Magazine

In this photo Alain is in The Old Triangle Pub in Halifax, reading TAPS Magazine and enjoying a pint!

We used the recommendations of the Brew Master at TAPS to help us determine which pubs we should stop in at.

It was a long list!!!!!!!!!!

More Tasting Adventures

Alain and I are in Nova Scotia with our good friends Pat and Chip Loughead. This is a Canadian version of our trip to England last year where we searched for a Hand Pulled Pint of beer that Alain and Chip didn't like!

You can see from this picture that we are getting good at sampling! Here we have 2 ounce pours of six different beers from the Rock Bottom Microbrewery in Halifax.

We're closed for a little break

We will be closed from Sunday October 24 reopening Wednesday Nov 3rd.

This little break is giving us all a chance to rake our leaves, put on our storm windows and generally get reaquainted with our family and friends after a wonderfully busy season.

We are sorry if this causes you any inconvenience. We will be checking emails and phone messages thoughout the week.

705 687 8618

northrestaurant@gmail.com

Fall Fairy Tale Wedding in Muskoka

Check out ATV.ca for a chance to win a

2011 Fall Fairy Tale Wedding! North, along with Muskoka Steamships, Heather Douglas Photography, Event Decorator.com, Marriott Hotels and Blooming Muskoka have put together a chance to win a complete wedding package. Details on the ATV.ca website - click on the Contests tab.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to win a dream wedding with all components supplied by the best wedding team Muskoka has to offer!

North in the re:porter

Check out this article in Porter Airlines in flight magazine, re:porter. Pages 25 to 31 are all about why Muskoka is the place to be in the summer and on page 29 you'll find a paragraph all about North complete with quotes from Robbie!

http://www.flyporter.com/common/docs/reporter_10.pdf

New Wines Available at North

Andrew has selected some terrific new wines for our summer wine list. Come in and have a sampling of: Kenwood's Old Vine Zinfandel; Frog's Leap Rose; Featherstone's Sauvignon Blanc; Mosole Veneto's Pinot Grigio or Ontario Winery Twenty Twenty Seven's delicious Pinot Noir. Most of these wines are available by the glass, and our servers would be happy to provide you with a small sampling to assist you in your decision making!

North now on Summer Hours

We're pleased to annouce that we are now on our summer hours of operation:

Monday through Saturday

Lunch 11am-2:30pm

Dinner from 5pm

Closed on Sundays

We look forward to welcoming you to North!

House Blend Coffee featuring artist Jack Zhou

Here is a look at our second House Blend Coffee Label. This label features the artwork of Jack Zhou.

Jack's work (and this coffee!) are available at the Auburn Art Gallery here in Gravenhurst, as well as here in the restaurant.

North on Breakfast Television

Gravenhurst did itself proud this morning with an amazing turn out for the Breakfast Television Broadcast!

Alain had a few minutes on air with Dina chatting about the restaurant and our new menu.

Dina and Kevin were in the restaurant for dinner on Thursday evening - what a lovely group of people!

Wouldn't it be neat if they could come back again next year?

We'll create an album on our Facebook page so you can see more photos of the terrific day.

Watch Breakfast Television and see North

Did you know that Breakfast Television will be broadcasting live from our Wharf here in Gravenhurst this Friday morning?

Please come down to the Wharf from 6am-9am and show BT's viewership what a great town we have!

And while you're there - join Alain as he prepares four mouthwatering meals from our new dinner menu.

North's New House Blend Coffee

We're excited to announce our new House Blend Coffee created and roasted specifically for North by Diesel House Roastery in Bracebridge.

We sampled three different blends created by Diesel House to our specifications and think we've got a winner. A combination of Bolivian, Peruvian and Honduran coffee beans, our roast is full of good, strong flavour without any bitterness. We think it will be the perfect finish to a memorable meal here at North.

We've also created labelling specific to our blend - and are proud to have partnered with our four favourite artists from Auburn Art Gallery here in Gravenhurst.

Pictured on this label is gorgeous work by Michelle Basic Hendry. Over the next week or so we'll reveal the other three artists' labels.

New Menu Reveal at North!

We had a wonderful group of people in the restaurant on Thursday night as Alain revealed some of his new summer menu - and two of our favourite Wine Merchants sampled 12 of their wines.

On the 'menu' was wild mushrooms with brandy cream, heirloom tomato tarts with tapenade and goat cheese, smoked sable fish, Brome Lake Duck Breast and porcini rubbed Angus beef tenderloin.

Some of the wine we tasted included a Chenin Blanc, a Frog's Leap Rose, a Viognier, Shiraz and Zinfandel.

The pairings were wonderfully successful, and many of those who attended tried food and wine combinations that were a resounding success.

Thanks to Andrew who organized the event, and to Chris from Cave Spring/The Vine and Malcolm from Rogers and Co. It was a wonderful night!

Your Mom is Priceless - and so is her meal on Mothers' Day

Sunday May 9th, 11am to 2:30 pm

Breakfast Breads

Sliced Fruits and Berries

Array of Seafood including Sushi, Ceviche and Smoked Fish

Display of Spring Salads and Crudites

Selection of Imported and Artisnal Cheeses

Traditional Eggs Benedict, Local Smoked Bacon, English Breakfast Sausages

Design-Your-Own Belgian Waffles

Hand-Carved Stuffed Leg of Lamb

Medley of Spring Vegetables

Display of Sumptuos Desserts

$35 per person, $12.95 children under 12

Reservations are Recommended

North Attends California Wine Tasting

Andrew, Kait and I attended a wine tasting at the Royal York Hotel on Monday afternoon.

We sampled some fantastic wines - all from California. It was really pretty overwhelming!! We needed to plan out our tasting strategy - there was no way we could have possible have tasted even 5% of all the wine that was available.

After a few hours we had to declare defeat, but we decided to end on a high note and give our senses a parting treat by sampling a Silver Oak Cellars Cabernet, listed at $135/bottle. What a wonderful way to finish off a fabulous afternoon!

North's Inviting Coffee Shop and Lounge

Come on in to the coffee shop and lounge side of the restaurant and enjoy a great cup of coffee and a made-to-order sandwich. Relax on our inviting furniture, read a great magazine and soak up the sun!

Our coffee shop and lounge is the perfect place to meet a friend or enjoy a moment or too of peace and quiet!

North Restaurant - Exciting Action Shot!!!!!

Wahooo! I bet you're sitting on the edge of your seat looking at this action filled picture!

This is another shot from our seed planting workshop at Grenville Farms last weekend.

I've included this shot in our blog because it gives me a sense of how much Diane and her crew love what they do. During this time of year, Diane and her crew plant thousands of seeds a day so that their customers will have a steady supply of produce throughout the season. Just think about that the next time you're eating a salad with Grenville Farms' lettuce, or freshly sliced tomatoes and basil from the farmers' markets around the area.

Grenville Farms Planting Workshop

Our Catering Coordinator, Kait and I went to a terrific workshop on Sunday. Held at Grenville Farms in Severn River and organized by Savour Muskoka, this workshop took us through the step by step process of planting seeds, potting out and the correct soil mix for each stage.

Host and our favourite organic farmer Diane shared her hard earned secrets and expertise on how she grows such amazing produce in our Muskoka climate.

We had a lovely spring day - enhanced by this year's chicks and baby lambs, and met and networked with some like-minded people wanted to support our local producers. We can't wait for the growing season to get in to full swing so that we can feature Grenville Farm's produce once again in the restaurant!

Doing our Homework

Alain and I were lucky enough to travel with good friends to England in March.

We managed to visit 20 pubs in 9 days (a record that Alain is quite proud of!). We drank nothing but 'hand-pulled' pints, tasted some wonderful food and read some creative menus. It was refreshing and invigorating! You'll see some influence from this trip on our summer menu that will be revealed in May.

Easter Brunch at North

Join us on Sunday April 4th from 11am to 2:30pm for our delicious

Easter Brunch.

Alain and his team have created a delicious menu. This was a very popular event last year - reservations are recommended.

Basket of Breakfast Pastries

International Cheese Selection

Sliced Fruit and Berry Platter

Salad Station

Seafood Platter

Roast Beef Carving Station

Eggs Benedict, Waffles with Berries and Cream

Bacon and Sausages

Dessert Station

$35 per person

$12.95 children under 12

I met last week with James Murphy, Manager of
Savour Muskoka. I was interested in renewing our membership, and wanted info on what Savour has planned for the upcoming year.

While I explained to James that our busy summer season precludes us from participating in some of the group Savour Muskoka events, I discovered that Savour Muskoka continues to refine the value of its product while balancing the diverse needs of its members.

With the G8 coming to Muskoka this year, Savour will be kept busy promoting local product, producers and vendors such as ourselves.

Alain and I look forward to continuing to build our relationship with Savour Muskoka.

We had a wonderful day on February 20 celebrating Graeme Murray and his Paralympic achievements. You would have been so proud of Gravenhurst! Fifty or so of us gathered in front of the Opera House where we posed for pictures with Graeme and Sumi (one of the official Olympic Mascots). We then paraded up Main Street - proudly we waved our Canadian flags and shook cow bells. People came out of their stores to cheer Graeme on, cars honked their horns as they drove by.

Once we got to the restaurant we stood outside around a firepit on the patio, put our little faces up to the spring sun and loudly sang Oh Canada (mostly off key!) Inside we had decorated with banners, Gr 2 posters and the cutest little Olympic torches made by Gr 1 kids. One of our town councilors said a few lovely word of introduction and then Graeme spoke with such sincerity about his pride in our town and his genuine appreciation of our support.

Graeme has gone off to the west now and is preparing with his team for the Parlympics which will begin in a few weeks.

Good luck Graeme and Team Canada!

Soo exciting - just 3 days until our send off for Graeme! Things are coming together nicely - the local businesses and community groups are all chipping in the ensure that this is a big success!

Check out a terrific article by Allyson Snelling in the Gravenhurst Banner that outlines the day's events.

We hope to see you at North!

We had a Blast!!

Thanks to everyone who shared their Valentine Weekend with us. We were sold out for both Saturday and Sunday nights, and sadly had to turn away some guests.

Our servers had a wonderful time meeting some new people and chatting with some familiar faces, and Alain and his terrific kitchen team did an amazing job and created some new dishes that guests have requested show up on a permanent basis on our menu! I'm sure we can oblige!

Thanks again!

Join North Restaurant and it's community neighbours as we celebrate Graeme Murray. Graeme will head off with the Canadian National Sledge Hockey Team to the Paralympics in Vancouver in March.

North invites you to the restaurant on Saturday February 20th at 3:30 for hot chocolate and home made cookies. Local schools will be on hand to sing O Canada, give Graeme banners and good luck posters to take to Vancouver. Graeme will sign autographs and have his Paralympic Gold Medal and World Cup Ring on hand. Call the restaurant for more details 705-687-8618

Find us in many locations

There are many different ways to find us on the internet! Find us on Facebook at North Restaurant and Catering. In the Welcome tab of the Video Tourbook of the Town of Gravenhurst website (gravenhurst.ca), by email at northrestaurant@gmail.com and join our emailing list to receive event and menu updates.

Keep in touch with us in either of these ways, we always like to share our passion with you!

Class Success!

Another successful cooking class last night. Participants boned chicken without any incident! (WAHOO!), then learned the secrets to leak-free Chicken Kiev!

(Pictured here, Alain plates dinner for those who attended the class.)

More and more Alain and I feel like we're having good friends to our home when we have these classes. Conversations at dinner run the gamut, from food, Julia Child - 'Bon Appetit!', tough times in high school and how to move to Gravenhurst. Last night's conversations were reaching new levels of interest! Worth the price of admission just to spend a night with these soo interesting people.

Thanks to everyone who attends!

Valentine's Menu - Offered February 12th, 13th and 14th

Join us for our Special Valentine's Day Menu

Offered Friday Feb 12th, Saturday 13th, Sunday 14th, 2010

Pan Fried Herb and Panko Crusted Artisan Goat Cheese

Jalapeno Red Currant Jelly, Moroccan Lentil Salad

$10

Wild Caught Colossal Prawns

Celeriac and Ginger Slaw with a Hint of Thai Curry

$26

Salmon Saltimbocca

Wilted Spinach with Sundried Tomato, Vegetable Biryani Rice

$26

Porcini Rubbed Angus Beef Tenderloin

Foie Gras Paté, Truffle Red Wine Sauce, Buttered Rapini, Fondant Potatoes

$38

Chocolate Paté

or

Belly Ice Gelato Trio

$8

Prices do not include taxes and gratuities

This menu is offered in conjunciton with our traditional dinner menu

Second Cooking Class

Tonight is the second in this month's series of cooking classes. Tonight Alain will show participants proper knife techniques (sharpening, caring, butchering, etc.) Class members will then learn how to create 10 different cuts from a chicken, and use the breast to make Chicken Kiev. After the class, I will join classmates and Alain in the dining room while participants enjoy the fruits of their labour!

This is the second year we have run classes in February - seems like a great time to beat the winter blues, enjoy good company and learn some new skills.

The class next Tuesday celebrates Valentine's Day - with the men cooking for the women! More on that later

Here we go!

Well - technology keeps moving forward, and apparently I don't!

Seems as though there are more ways to skin a cat than I am using! Everything I read says businesses need to have a blog - and so - here it is.

I'll use this space as best I can to keep you up to date on what's happening in the restaurant, events, special menus, staffing additions, trends we're seeing, and where you might be seeing us!

Our son Andrew and his girlfriend Kait have got us on Facebook (become a fan - North Restaurant and Catering). We have a good sized emailing list, great marketing inside the restaurant, and now - A BLOG! Huh!