Pescatarian Restaurant The Vine Captures Peterborough DBIA Mac + Cheese Champion Title

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One Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) title was not enough for The Vine as they have been crowned the Mac + Cheese Champion from the month-long Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival.

This is the second DBIA food/drink title for the Vine less than one year in business. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough DBIA.

This win is fresh off The Vine’s Caeser Fest crown back in August, less than a year after the pescatarian restaurant’s opening with their Kimchi Mac and Cheese.

“There’s no right or wrong way to make a mac and cheese and I think that's what makes this festival so special. The variety of flavour profiles you see in all the dishes are all unique and cater to different palettes. As a chef you can go traditional, or jazz it up and make it as crazy as you want,” said Tyrone Flowers, The Vine co-owner. “We’re so pumped to win and the thing is, mac and cheese is the ultimate comfort food and that’s what we specialize in here, so we are really proud to be recognized for that especially being a new business in the downtown.”

The Vine’s Kimchi Mac and Cheese winning entry. Photo courtesy of the Peterborough DBIA.

As this year’s winner, The Vine will receive a cheesy hand-crafted trophy, a sizeable donation to Kawartha Food Share in the restaurant(s) name and bragging rights for the year.

Second place was the El P’s Leek and Pesto Mac and Cheese followed by Crook and Coffer’s Croustade Macaroni au Fromage.

During October, 21 signature mac and cheese dishes were featured on local menus within the downtown restaurant scene for both dine-in and takeout as part of the month-long foodie competition.

Each participating restaurant competed for over 1,000 votes cast to become the Mac + Cheese Champion.

The winning recipe(s) from the previous year’s competition will be available online and a make-at-home recipe curated with local ingredients.

“Every year we see the chefs in our downtown business community take it to the next level and always surprise us with something new, exciting and drool-worthy,” said Amanda Bedford, DBIA marketing and communications coordinator. “We have an unmatchable culinary scene here in Peterborough and we’re so lucky to have that, everyone loves mac and cheese and I already can’t wait to dig into next year’s entries.”

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Local Nurse Authors Literature About Nursing Self Help With Book Launch This Tuesday at The Vine

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Local nurse of 18 years, Shawna Longford, has authored her first piece of literature, ‘Witness: Bring present for your patients, your colleagues, and yourself,’ and is holding a book launch at The Vine this Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The book’s cover. Longford graduated from Trent University in 2005. Photo courtesy of Shawna Longford.

The book was initially meant as a self-help book for nurses but could be for anyone with front-line professions, according to Longford.

“My intention was to support new people and help prolong careers,” she explained.

Longford has laid out in detail who the book is for:

  • Anyone who has served in a profession that has wounded them physically, mentally or emotionally

  • Those who understand the costs associated with the jobs that require duty and sacrifice

  • People who have experienced PTSD, moral injury, compassion fatigue and burnout

  • Someone looking for a way to sustain their career in healthcare or human services

  • Leaders and educators curious about ways to teach and support resilience

  • The recruitment and retention of nurses

Longford worked on the book four years ago and completed it this past summer. It was edited, written and printed locally with the help of five other contributors.

Books are available during the launch, with Longford doing signings. The Vine will have complimentary appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks during the event. Signature cocktails and other drinks are also available for purchase during the launch.

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Pescatarian Restaurant The Vine Takes Home the First-Ever Peterborough DBIA Caesar Fest Title

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Less than a year into the restaurant’s opening, pescatarian restaurant The Vine has already claimed the title of Peterborough Downtown Business Area Improvement (DBIA) inaugural Caeser Fest crown announced on Thursday.

Tyrone Flowers, Co-owner of The Vine (left); Naomi Duvall, local performance artist and Chelsea Day-Ross, front of house manager at The Vine (right) receiving the award for the inaugural Caeser Fest. The Vine opened on May 30. Photo courtesy of the DBIA.

The DBIA launched the competition on July 13 and ran until Monday.

There were 11 restaurants, cafés and pubs competing for the title and featured a specialty Caesar creation on their menus for restaurant-goers to enjoy and vote for their favourite. Over 800 votes were cast and The Vine won the top prize with their Papa Tom’s Classic Virgin Caesar.

The The El P’s Kimchi Caesar took second place with The Dirty Burger taking third with their Dirty Muddy Caesar.

“Who knew that the new kids on the block would be taking home the trophy for the very first Caesar Fest,” says Tyrone Flowers, The Vine co-owner. “We’re so humbled and we want to say thank you to everyone who came out to try our Papa Tom’s Caesar.”

The Caesar Fest was heavily promoted by local performance artist, Naomi Duvall. She was hired by the DBIA to play ‘Julia Caes-her’ to act as a town crier for the festival. She generated interest on the streets and in participating restaurants engaging the unsuspecting public on the festival's iconic drink.  

"Congratulations to The Vine on championing Caesar Fest,” said Duvall. “I appreciate how the community has been so engaged with my character and this program. I had a lot of fun developing the persona.”

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David Tuan Bui


Photos: New 'Plant-Forward' Restaurant The Vine Opens to the Public

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After three days of a soft opening last Thursday to Saturday, The Vine has opened to the public as a ‘plant-forward’ pescatarian-friendly restaurant. It is located at the former Electric City Bread Company location at 165 Sherbrooke St.

The menu showcases salads, soups, sandwiches, entrées and pizza. A brunch menu that also incorporates eggs and dairy is available on Sundays. Pitchers of Gatorade and Kool-Aid and a tater-tot waffle are ‘hangover specials’ that are featured in the brunch.

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David Tuan Bui


The Vine Bringing a "Plant-Forward" Pescatarian-Friendly Menu As Peterborough's Newest Restaurant

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Showcasing vegetables and incorporating seafood in a ‘plant-forward’ approach is the philosophy of Peterborough’s latest restaurant, The Vine which is having its soft opening over three days from Thursday to Saturday.

Flowers had the soft opening on Thursday and Friday with the brunch on Monday. Bookings for the first two days have already filled up. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The business is owned by couple Tyrone Flowers and Lauren Mortlock and is located at 165 Sherbrooke St. at the former Electric City Bread Company location. Flowers took a leap of faith when he discovered the business was closing down.

“Just on a whim, I came to look at it and then decided, 'You know what? We talked about this five years ago when we moved to up Peterborough that we wanted to open a place,'" said Flowers.

Flowers has worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years from dishwasher to head chef. He worked at the Publican House for four years.

The menu showcases salads, soups, sandwiches, entrées and pizza. A brunch menu that also incorporates eggs and dairy is available on Sundays. Pitchers of Gatorade and Kool-Aid and a tater-tot waffle are ‘hangover specials’ that are featured in the brunch.

Despite Flowers being a meat-eater, he believed offering a pescetarian-friendly restaurant and beyond would offer a different dining experience for Peterborough. He still strives to make plant-based ‘meat’ taste like the ‘real thing.’

“I was given the idea from a former colleague and we went with it,” he explained. “We did some research and we saw all the fun things we could do with making everything like all the vegan options seem real and everything so that's why we did it.”

He recognized the vast and diverse range of restaurants that already existed in town and that going pescatarian would be a unique take that would not trample on other businesses.

“There's already a bunch of great places in town that do the meat well, you've got some vegan restaurants too and we didn't want to step on anybody's toes by doing one thing so we decided, ‘Why don't we combine it?’” explained Flowers.

The Vine is having its grand opening on Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. The restaurant is currently trying to obtain its liquor license at the publication of this article.

The following are the restaurant’s operating hours:

  • Tuesday to Friday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

  • Saturday: 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

  • Sunday: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.

  • Monday: Closed

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