PtboCanada Restaurant Review: Electric City Gardens

Electric City Gardens
373 Queen Street, Peterborough
Reservations are recommended;
call 705-749-1909

Welcome to one of Peterborough’s hidden dining gems. Electric City Gardens offers an internationally inspired menu in an intimate, romantic setting that is relaxed and elegant. The owner, Chef Toby Tylor, approaches food with love and respect; he shops daily for local ingredients that are in season and every dish is made from scratch.

Friends of ours join us for dinner to celebrate a birthday. Toby greets us at the door with a warm smile and a hug, and escorts us to our table in the back room. Charming and homey, our table is adorned with gleaming silverware, candlelight and the menu, hand written on the white board, propped on a chair for our review. Chef Toby focuses his attention to a select few dishes each night, so while the menu may not offer numerous choices, rest assured that each dish is crafted with only the finest ingredients. And, lucky for us, because we are a party of four, we are afforded the luxury of ordering every item off the menu so we can taste it all.


I start my meal with the blue cheese, pear and dill salad; it is fresh, crisp and lightly drizzled with a creamy, citrus-infused dressing—a wonderful start to any meal. My husband savours a salad of field greens and mild, creamy goat cheese—as tasty as the ones we had in Barcelona—and our friend indulges in a steaming bowl of white bean soup loaded with fresh pepper and succulent pieces of ham. Toby carries the cheeses into the main courses, pairing the blue cheese with linguini for a decadent dish, and pairing the goat cheese with grilled shrimp and linguini for a more subtle, gentler dish (and may I add kudos to Toby for taking the tails off the shrimp before serving them). The Cajun salmon is cooked to perfection; flaky with just the right balance between flavour and spice. Tangy and dressed with smooth chutney, the Tandoori chicken is moist with a subtle hint of vinegar that works beautifully with the fragrant basmati rice.

 

At this point in the meal, we are beyond satisfied, but we are celebrating a birthday and no birthday is complete without chocolate. We dive into Toby’s new creation of chocolate cobbler: traditional apple cobbler, only better. This one is drenched in freshly made chocolate sauce and dusted with icing sugar. The result—thick and rich and chocolaty heaven— is such that the apples are almost lost in this version. The crème-au-pot is a sinful cup of a thick chocolate mousse topped of with fresh whip cream. My favourite of the evening though is the light and fluffy almond cheesecake on a coconut graham crust. And yes, it is as good as it sounds.

 

Tucked away on Queen Street a little off the beaten path of downtown Peterborough, Electric City Gardens is the perfect spot to nourish your soul with creative, delicious food and an eclectic wine list. Toby and his team provide wonderful individual service focused on attention to detail. We left pleasantly full yet hungry for more. We will be back.


[Reviewed by PtboCanada's food writer Tammy Simon]

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Video: Peterborough Disc Golf Club Dude Demonstrates Sport (New Season Kicks Off Next Week)

Local disc golf members have been in "spring training" at the zoo course, with the summer league starting next Tuesday. They are always looking for new members.

[chextvDOTcom; Peterborough Disc Golf Club website]

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Peterborough's Ann Douglas Asks Election Canada To Crack Down On Online Political Debates That Turn Into Personal Attacks

[chextvDOTcom]

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Video: Graham Hart Interviews The Peterborough Riding Candidates

[2011 Election Special]

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Peterborough Speakers Series "Visionaries of Change" A True Inspiration

Honourable Peter Adams

Recently, the Peterborough Speakers Series "Visionaries of Change" presented by the Greater Peterborough Health Services Foundation took place at The Venue. Seven speakers from the local area brought their personal stories of belief, courage, and inspiration to the stage to share with an audience of about 150 people. This event, which will now become an annual thing, raises funds for the five local Peterborough Networked Family Health Teams.

Tracey Groombridge with Laura Kennedy & Julie Brown

Katherine sharing her stories about her trek to Mt. EverestI had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Katherine Barron, who at 16 years old completed the Everest Base Camp Trek in October 2010. Katherine joined the Royal Canadian Army Cadets at age 12 after hearing a presentation and immediately knew it was the right fit for her.  She discussed her challenges and triumphs that she faced as she prepared for such an experience not even knowing yet whether she'd be one of the 16 people chosen. Once chosen, anticipation and nervousness grew and even the day of departure they all had to pass one last fitness test before boarding the airplane—which unfortunately sent two people returning home. Katherine set off on this once-in-a-lifetime journey for 17 days. Throughout the trek, there was a constant rollercoaster of emotions and physical exhaustion with the long days, illness and lower oxygen levels with being at such a high altitude. Katherine hopes by sharing her story of the difference cadets has made in her life and the opportunities she has had will encourage other youth to join and discover the discipline and dedication she has experienced.

John Hastings chatting with guests from the evening.Canadian Kayak National Team member John Hastings captivated the audience with footage of his kayak journeys over the years and how driven he's been to pursue his dreams, despite the challenges that he has faced. Yet he continues to strive harder to accomplish all the goals he has set for himself.  

I was so honoured to be in the company of such wonderful people for the evening. It was definitely a reminder that we are capable of being resilient and to not let obstacles we are faced with force us to give up. Rather, those obstacles should only be a motivator to get the best out of what life has to offer us.  

Thank you to all who made this event happen and I already look forward to next year's event and the stories that will be shared to inspire us all.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre Hosting Fundraising Yard Sale Saturday

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Learn How To Network At Peterborough Fast Track Business Event Tonight At Comfort Inn

The Peterborough Fast Track Business Group is hosting a free event tonight at the Comfort Inn from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. This meeting will have an interactive networking session where you will learn how to improve your networking skills.

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Fleming Says Bye Bye to Water Bottles On Earth Day (First College In Canada To Do So)

Fleming College had a decision on its hands when its food services contract was going to run out. When deciding on how to proceed with something as simple as providing water to the students, the push to cut down on the waste that plastic water bottles caused was already in motion. A marketing campaign had been started by students to encourage using more tap water, but as the students graduated, the campaign lost some steam.

In 2009, however, Fleming Go Club (Green Objectives) took the initiative to continue the campaign and take it a step further—to remove plastic water bottles all together. Fleming Student Council started by going bottle free and from there in January 2010 began on a larger campaign. The Lindsay Frost Campus also started discussing going water bottle free. Fleming Go pitched their petition and proposal to the executive and it was accepted, which means on April 22nd, Earth Day marks the first day no bottled water will be sold at Fleming—making it the first college in Canada to ban the sale of bottled water.

A reverse osmosis station was built (see pics below) and now Fleming is the first Canadian school to implement one full time. Students can now fill up their own containers for free at any time.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Roller Derby Makes Their Pitch To City Of Peterborough

Cindy Moffitt discusses Roller Derby with the committee, with team members there for support.

Last night, the new Peterborough Roller Derby league sat down with the Peterborough City Arenas, Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee in a meeting to give them a sense of what their sport brings to the community, and to try and secure a local venue to play at. Roller Derby founder Cindy Moffitt (aka "Lucid Lou") says the games would bring revenue to the city not only in ticket sales, but from opposing teams who would need lodging and food. Plus, "girls like to shop!", adds Moffitt. Even though it is considered an "extreme sport", the current style of Flat Track Roller Derby isn't as aggressive or related to the poor image of Roller Derby of old, Moffitt conveys.

Ken Doherty, Director of Community Services, was very interested in the dimensions of the playing field as he had a few potential places in mind in the city. The main issue, however, is that Peterborough's arenas are 97 percent booked during peak hours (3 p.m. to 11 p.m.). There is potential to secure a venue down the road as the City assesses whether to add a second pad at the Memorial Centre or when future arenas are built. But that might not happen for a long time.

The committee will now convene and review the findings from the meeting and see what they can do.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

[Related: Peterborough Roller Derby Fundraiser May 7 At The Red Dog; Why Peterborough Roller Derby Can't Find A Venue To Play In City (And More News On This Growing Sport); PtboPics: Peterborough Roller Derby League Roll Into Second Practice; EXCLUSIVE: PtboCanada Reveals The Logo For The Peterborough Roller Derby League; Awesome Trailer Promoting Peterborough Roller Derby League]

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