DBIA Featured Post: The Pasta Shop

Located just on the edge of downtown Peterborough at 165 Sherbrooke St, the Pasta Shop is a hidden gem that needs to be discovered!

Locally owned and operated by "Pasta" Paul and "Saucy" Sue Leroux, the shop is in its 8th year of business. The Pasta Shop is exactly what it says it is—a Pasta Shop! It offers up to 80 different dishes that are ready for you to take home and enjoy. From fresh to frozen, this store is an Italian food lovers dream. Locally sourced poultry, eggs, and beef dominate the menu and help keep the feeling of community very much alive within its walls!

The shop is open 5 days a week, from Tuesday to Saturday and you will almost always find Paul in the back working away and Sue up front. They aim to be a "homemade with lots of love" type of experience. You can see the passion they have for what they offer in everything they create. This passion can also be experienced at downtown restaurants as The Pasta Shop is an important supplier to many.

As a smaller venue, they depend a lot on word of mouth and have been serving many of the same loyal customers for years. People come regularly from as far as Toronto and Ottawa to take advantage of what they have to offer as an alternative from the big city selection.

Paul and Sue absolutely love Peterborough and its downtown community. From its rivers and lakes to restaurants and entertainment venues, they think this city has everything to offer.

If you haven't been to The Pasta Shop yet, you're most certainly missing out!

For more on The Pasta Shop (165 Sherbrooke St.), go to:

Phone: 705.745.6080
@thepastashop1 on Twitter
Facebook page

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott

PTBOPics & Coverage: Canoe Museum Town Hall Meeting

There was a great turnout for the Town Hall meeting at the Canadian Canoe Museum last night (May 8th). James Raffan (Executive Director) introduced us to Jon Linton from TCI Management Consultants, whose team will be spearheading this redevelopment in conjunction with Reich & Petch (who have worked with museums in the past such as the Royal Ontario Museum, Canadian Museum of Nature and the Ontario Science Centre); the Architects and Designers; and KCI International (they've already completed successful fundraising efforts here in Peterborough), who will be crafting the fundraising strategy.

Jon Linton mentioned that they were hoping to engage as many people as possible with this study, to help develop the roadmap. By setting five benchmarks, they believe the Museum will prosper...

1. Location (visibility, accessibility, etc)
2. Good building design
3. Exhibits and programming (they believe each year a new program should be introduced to bring people to the museum)
4. Economic engine (they would like to pitch the museum as a driving force for Peterborough growth)
5. Loyal constituency (membership drive, etc)

The roadmap is as follows: They hope to complete the study by July 2013, which means the board can approve/decline in October; a Business Plan and Schematic Design will be drafted by January 2014; a fundraising campaign can run from March to December of 2014; construction will be from January 2014 to May 2017; and the Grand Opening is estimated to be July 1, 2017.

TCI is hoping to grow the museum on a national level, and attributes the popularity thanks to community pride and the fact that it is a hidden gem. If it is indeed built downtown, it could be a catalyst for downtown growth, and used as a package (i.e. with the art gallery and other neighbouring landmarks) as a package. To do this, they see the need to increase visitors and broaden the audience. The estimated construction cost is $41 million. The annual viewership at the current museum location is 25,000 people and they hope to increase it to 40,000 to 50,000.

TCI is still considering sites outside the downtown area and welcome feedback for alternate locations. One attendee asked if it was possible to consider Peterborough County (such as Hope Mill) instead of the City of Peterborough, and Jon Linton was more than happy to look into the matter as long as it met the five key benchmarks. Essentially, a proposed location had to consist of two key points: A downtown location + waterfront location or an outside location + waterfront location. Trent University was even been brought up in discussion.

Other considerations they envisioned focused on multiple use of the property (such as commercial or condo residences to offset the cost of museum). Downtown revitalization came up time and time again throughout the night and seemed to be key in their plan. Worst case scenario, they are still asking what can be done with the current location?

TCI felt moving the museum out of the Peterborough area would hurt it, although they are quite aware that parking is an issue downtown and that it is difficult to create a connection to a larger outdoors experience there.

Within the groups at our tables, we were asked to answer five questions that pertained to the positives and negatives of locating downtown, and asked for feedback on what we would like to see in a redesigned museum. Some of the popular feedback was...

• A greater connection to the Aboriginals
• Connection to day camps
• More interaction with kids
• Tie in to RT08
• Tie in to canoeing organizations
• A bigger online presence
• Programming to engage all ages
• Partnerships

And the one that got the largest chuckle from the crowd...

• Have Justin Trudeau/Justin Bieber make a guest appearance

If you couldn't attend last night's meeting, you still have time to complete the online survey to provide your feedback.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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PTBOPics: Wild Rock Annual Women's Night

Women with a passion for cycling and the outdoors gathered at Wild Rock Sunday night for their annual women's night, which was catered by Brio Gusto. Here's some pictures we snapped...

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Watch Peterborough Young Professionals Gather At A Group Pub Night

And rock out to The Black Eyed Peas while you do it.

[YouTube; Peterborough Chamber]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Opening Soon: Ashburnham Ale House Is Coming To East City

Originally a laundromat on Hunter Street East, the building next to the East City Foodland is under renovations and will become a pub/café called the Ashburnham Ale House. Expected to open within a month, it is the new location of the rebranded Ritz Deli North.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

DBIA Featured Post: Plush Boutique

Anchored directly in the middle of downtown Peterborough’s “Fashion District”, you will find The Plush Boutique at 384 George St N. Locally owned and operated by Mike and Shelby Watt, Plush is the second of three stores this successful entrepreneurial couple has opened on George St (the others are Flavour Fashion and Save Our Soles). Coming from out of town to study at Trent University, Mike decided to stay and put down roots. After opening Flavour in 1999 to a great response, he would open Plush Boutique as a store for young professionals looking for quality clothing that makes them stand out in a crowd.

Offering brands and styles not found anywhere else in the city, the aim of the store is to specialize, be exclusive, and offer quality clothing that not only shows impeccable craftsmanship but respects the heritage of the brand being presented.

As the face of the brand, you will find Mike at one of his shops at least 3 to 4 days a week. When he isn’t on the floor advising on style, he is in the office or on the road finding new looks that suit each of his shops. His always friendly and welcoming staff is specially trained to help with detailed looks that customers are trying to put together. Often you will find Plush holding “fit clinics” for brands where brand reps will be on site to provide info to interested buyers. These are always a hit.

Plush is also involved with charity work in giving proceeds of sales at various times of the year to various local causes. As a locally owned business, Plush realizes the value in assisting the community it operates in and working to sustain it while pushing for growth in all aspects. Buying local has a very deep meaning for everyone involved.

Learn more about Mike Watt and Plush in this video.

For more on Plush (384 George St N.), go to:

Theplushboutique.blogspot.com
@plushbtq on Twitter
Facebook.com page
Phone: 705.741.1812

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott

PtboPics: Downtown Farmers' Market Opens For Season

Nice to see the Louis Street parking lot being utilized again as a community hub, as the Downtown Farmers' Market kicked off for the 2013 season on Wednesday.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt] Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Silver Bean #TweetUp On The Water!

Our DBIA featured business of the week, Silver Bean, opens today for the season. To top it off, there is a #BeanUP from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m and they now carry Kawartha Dairy Ice cream!

"@michelleatfoca: May 1st is now officially my favourite day of the year: @silverbeancafe and @ptbowedmarket both open today!" Yeah!!!

— Silver Bean Cafe (@silverbeancafe) May 1, 2013

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

Middle Eastern Restaurant Ariyana Opens In Peterborough

Peterborough now offers a taste of Afghanistan, as Ariyana has opened at 396 George St. (George & Hunter). Go check it out.

[pics via @maryammonsef]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.

DBIA Featured Post: Silver Bean Café

Located in Millennium Park along the Otonabee River just off the intersection of King and Water in downtown Peterborough, the Silver Bean Café (100 King St.) is known as “Your waterfront cottage in the city”. Owned and operated by Andrea and Michael Vanderherberg (parents of 1 1/2 yr old son William, pictured below being held by Andrea), and along with 10 staff, the Silver Bean has become a sort of community hub and gathering spot for locals to sit back and enjoy great fare and company along the river.

Purchased in 2003 by Andrea, the café has recently acquired a 10-year contract with the City of Peterborough at their location. By doing this long-term lease, it has encouraged them to upgrade and expand their products—most recently, they put in an ice-cream parlour based on a survey they put out last season asking their customers what they wanted.

They offer a wide variety of quality food, which is locally sourced as much as possible, from simple sandwiches and salads to great espressos and other drinks—all of which can be viewed on their website.

They gladly host baby showers, birthday parties, weddings and theatrical events, and are open for business during Ribfest and the Purple Onion Festival. They aim to please and to make customer's experiences memorable. The Silver Bean Café opens for the season on May 1st, so head on down to discover this secluded gem in the heart of downtown Peterborough.
 

For more on The Silver Bean Café (100 King St.), go to:
Silverbeancafe.com
@silverbeancafe on Twitter
Facebook page
Phone: 705.749.0535
Email: andrea@silverbeancafe.com

For more on Downtown Peterborough and the Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA), click here.

—By Aaron Elliott