New Menu Reveal

We had a terrific time at our New Menu Reveal on Wednesday night.

More than 40 people attended and enjoyed wonderful samplings of our new Spring and Summer Dinner Menu.

Thanks to our staff who worked so hard at putting this evening together.

A big thanks as well to Malcolm Marshall of Rogers and Co., and Chris Price of Cave Spring/The Vine who allowed us to sample some of their lovely wines throughout the evening. The menu is in full swing starting this evening, so some on by to try out our wonderful new flavour sensations. Full menu details are available on our northinmuskoka website, under the 'Dinner' tab.

Royal Wedding Celebration at North

We had a terrific time this morning at our Royal Wedding Breakfast!

A capacity crowd joined us at North to celebrate the Royal Wedding and dress up in their finery, fastenators and feathers!

Alain prepared a traditional English Breakfast complete with baked goods, Eggs Benedict, Black Pudding and beans.

We had a blast - and will share pictures as we get them back from our customers.

A special thanks to Amy at Cogeco who came to film the festivities!

See you soon, Culture

Our wonderful staff got together on Sunday to say 'See you soon' to Culture (aka Hodson Cumberbatch). Culture is heading back to Barbados on Tuesday, but we hope that it won't be too long until he is back working at North.

In this picture Alain is giving Culture a North t-shirt to wear while he is back home

Breakfast Countdown Begins!

Our team at North is very pleased to announce that we will begin serving breakfast on April 6th!

Watch here for mouthwatering menu details, hours of operation, etc.

Can't wait to see you!

Guess What We Do on Our Day Off??!

Alain and Iain puzzle over the ingredients in a homemade Green Thai Curry.

I vacuum!

Gravenhurst Chamber After Hours at North

We had an amazing turn out at the Gravenhurst Chamber After Hours Event last night. Co-hosted by Dawna Whipp from Raymond James and Valerie Ferguson of ProLaw Solutions, the evening brought together a wonderful selection of Gravenhurst Business Owners and their teams, Town Councillors and Chamber Staff.

Brea and Jodi did their usual bang-up job at organizing and promoting, and both Dawna and Val gave terrific talks about their businesses.

Alain and I were really pleased to welcome people into the restaurant, show off our winter restaurant projects - and annouce some exciting news - more on that later!

@northinmuskoka

Hey -

Are you following us on Twitter?????

@northinmuskoka :)

Alain Preps for March 18th

Reservations are coming in as

Alain and Sous Chef Jim are fast at work prepping for our re-opening on Friday.

Pictured here, Alain is creating a sample plate of a Tomato Salad with Onion and Basil Relish, Balsamic Glaze

Two Days Until North's Opening!

The menus are written,

The food is ordered,

The linen arrives tomorrow,

The Chefs are prepping,

The fridges are back on,

The beer and wine are chilling

and We can't wait!

New Paintings for North's Reopening March 18

Terry from the Auburn Art Gallery came over this morning to deliver some new paintings for our re-opening March 18th.

We'll share some shots of them over the next few days - and start with one of our favourites. Pictured here is a painting by Georgian Bay based Sharon Nix - called 'Day After Lent.'

Don't you just love these Cigar Ladies!

North in Fodor's 2011 Travel Guide

We're very excited to share with you our 2011 Fodor's Travel Guide review. North has received high praise from Fodor's and is one of their recommended dining destinations. Wahoooo!

'Since opening in 2007, North, located in the centre of Gravenhurst, has been praised as one of the best restaurants in Muskoka serving hearty Canadian fare making good use of local game and produce. The menu changes seasonally, but has featured pan-roasted wild boar chop with blueberry-port wine reduction and poached sable fish in a pickled ginger and champagne cream sauce. The small dining room, with high backed dark leather chairs and white table clothes paired with rustic-looking pine stained floors has a metropolitan-edged, farm-to-table chic. Despite its being one of the classiest establishments in town, the atmosphere is relaxed and the service friendly and approachable.'

Come and see the Finished Product on Friday March 18th!

This is the final shot in the 'Reno' series! Here you can see that the lounge area has been moved over to the bar (some of our wonderful customers who have been with us since we opened in 2007 will remember that this is where the lounge area was originally placed!)

We've just had confirmation that we will be the location of this month's Gravenhurst Chamber After Hours Event - hosted by Raymond James and Valerie Ferguson's Law Office- watch for more details here!

North's Reno is Complete!

And here is the completed reno - what do you think?!

The dining room is much more open now, and really lends itself to accomodating larger groups.

We're looking forward to opening the restaurant on March 18th so we can share it with you!

Lounge Area

With the wall down, we were able to move the lounge area - back over to the bar section of the restaurant. In this photo you can see that we haven't moved the lounge section (yet) - but you also get a sense of how much more space we have created by moving the wall!

Come and see the changes when we reopen on March 18th!

More Renos - Come and see on March 18

Here is another shot that shows the wall down.

You can see here that we moved the dividing wall over to run across the pass to the kitchen. This will allow our servers to have a larger work space, and should provide our customers with a little more privacy.

Renovations - See the results March 18!

As we get ready to reopen on MARCH 18th!!! - we want to show you what we've been up to.

We've been busy this winter doing some renovations in the restaurant. The most noticable one is removing the wall that divided the old shop area and the restaurant as a whole.

Posted over the next few blog entries will be a series of pictures showing you the work that Alain did, and the outcome.

We're really pleased with the results, and we hope we will be too!

The Actual Bed Race

Here is the actual bed race, held this last Saturday.

That's me on the bed - which was by far the best place to be. You can see how tuckered out my team mates are! They'll have me on a diet before the race next year!

Poor guys - they had to run the race twice - as they pushed just hard enough in the first round not to be eliminated!

Congratulations to Radcliffe Autobody - who won the race fair and square!!!

North Joins Gravenhurst Chamber of Commerce for Bed Races

Robbie was lucky enough (or crazy enough!!) to join the Gravenhurst Chamber of Commerce in the Winter Carnival Bed Races.

The bed races and other events were filmed by City TV's Breakfast Television and The A-Channel as The Town of Gravenhurst kicked off the first day of its Winter Carnival celebrations.

North will also be at the Gravenhurst Opera House on Friday night providing Guinness braised beef ribs and decandent brownies during the street hockey games, opening cermonies and children's entertainment.

North Hosts Savour Muskoka AGM

North is very pleased to be hosting Savour Muskoka's AGM Sunday February 27 from 4-7pm>

We'll post photos and more menu details so you can appreciate what terrific farmers and producers we have here in Muskoka!

North Participates in Gravenhurst's Winter Carnival

We've got a big week coming up here in Gravenhurst with so many exciting events scheduled for our winter carnival Friday Feb 25 -Sunday the 27th (check out the Town of Gravenhurst website for all the details).

North is excited to be serving breakfast for the Breakfast Television Crew Friday morning at the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre, and then serving Guiness marinated ribs Friday night at the Opera house during the street hockey game between the OPP and Volunteer Fire Department.

Come by to both events - we'd love to see you, and there is always plenty of good food and good company!

February 12 - Valentine's Dinner!

'

Well, thanks to everyone who watched our Facebook Page and followed us on Twittter.

Thanks to you we have just two spots left for our Valentine's Dinner on Saturday night!

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek Number 8

Smoked Brome Lake Duck

Grilled Partlet Pear

Baby Spinach with

Citrus Vinaigrette

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek Number 7

Supreme of Organic Chicken Breast

Wild Mushroom and Tomato Couscous

Buttered Broccolini

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek

Number 6

Romaine Hearts,

House Made Caesar Dressing,

Shredded Grano Padano,

Garlic Crustini

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek

Number 5

Pan Seared Scallops,

Madeira Cream,

Arugula Salad

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek

Number 4

New York Striploin,

Red Wine Veal Reduction,

House Cut Fries,

Crisp Onion Frites

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek

Number 3

Smoked Brome Lake Duck

Grilled Partlett Pear

Baby Spinach

Citrus Vinaigrette

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek

Number 2

Steamed Fresh Atlantic Salmon

Braised Artichoke Hearts, Heirloom Tomatoes

Purple Potatoes, Capers

Valentine's Menu

Sneak Peek

Number 1

Pan Seared Ostrich

Canadian Port Reduction

Lyonnaise Potatoes

Ratatouille Bundles

Valentine's Menu at North

Valentine's Day is being celebrated Saturday February 12th at North.

Watch for sneak peeks of the menu starting February 1st

Gravenhurst Opera House

Had a great meeting today with Brad Rundle, Manager of the Gravenhurst Opera House (gravenhurstoperahouse.com) and Jeffrey and Michael with Mode Function Event Planning (modefunction.com).

We look forward to working with Brad as he brings weddings and corporate events to this amazing and historic venue!

Thank You!

And a really big thank you to the fellows at
Mode Function who did an amazing job designing our booth at the Muskoka Wedding Show this weekend.

Weddings, corporate affairs, private functions - Mode Function, located here in Gravenhurst, can meet and surpass all of your design and rental needs.

Muskoka Fairy Tale Wedding

Today we met Melissa, winner of the A-Channel Muskoka Fairy Tale Wedding promotion.

This amazing prize package includes premium vendors that will provide catering, venue, flowers and photography.

Melissa's wedding will be on October 1st here in Gravenhurst - and we can't wait to work with her!

Wedding Show

Just finished the first of the two days at the Muskoka Wedding Show being held at the Muskoka Boat and Heritage Centre.

What a terrific show- a wide range of vendors, delicious food samples, free seminars, a great fashion show and fantastic door prizes.

If you are in the area on Sunday - drop in and have a stroll around this great event!

Mazzaro's

Well we have found another terrific spot - Mazzaro's Italian Grocery.

With an amazing selection of wines, meats, cheeses, prepared foods, house made pasta, freshly baked breads and pastries, it is Disney World for adults!

If only it were located closer than St. Petersburg, Florida!

Another first!

For those of you who follow our blog or 'Find us on Facebook' - you'll know we tried deep fried pepperoni when we were in Lunenburg.

Too be honest we never thought we'd come across something more unusual - until today.....

Chocolate Covered Bacon anyone??!!!!