The Pizza Factory To Close After 42 Years Of Service

After 42 years of signature extra garlicky Caesar dressing, pasta and pizza, The Pizza Factory is closing its doors on Jan. 29.

BOUZINELO’S BRAND OF OLIVE OIL AVAILABLE AT The Pizza Factory CAME FROM HIS HOME VILLAGE OF KOUTSI, GREECE. THE TREES were planted over 50 YEARS AGO THAT MADE THE OIL. Photo by David Tuan bui.

The restaurant had posted a notice on its doors informing its customers of its closure next month. Peter Bouzinelos owned and operated the business since April of 1980, five years after arriving in Peterborough in 1975.

Since The Pizza Factory’s opening, it has remained in the same location, on the corner of Lansdowne Street and The Parkway.

THEIR CAESAR DRESSING IS SOLD IN JARS AND IS AVAILABLE EITHER AT THE RESTAURANT OR SELECT GROCERY STORES IN PETERBOROUGH AND THE SURROUNDING AREA Photo by David Tuan bui.

The Pizza Factory specializes in Greek and Italian food and offers specialties such as pizza, ribs, chicken, panzerotti and souvlaki.

They sell their own brand of products under the name ‘Peter’s Famous Foods’ such as their signature Caesar dressing, reputedly known for its extra garlicky taste.

They also sell olive oil where the olives are grown in Bouzinelos’s hometown of Koutsi, Greece and were planted over 50 years ago. The olives are harvested, hand-picked and cold-pressed by his brother who then ships them to the business for packaging.

Last June, the restaurant started selling two-feet slices of pizza — that was the largest in town — that stemmed from Bouzinelos’s son Kenny (who also works at The Pizza Factory). He got the idea from seeing other pizzerias in Toronto and New York and wanted to replicate that for Peterborough.

Gift certificates remain available at the restaurant but must be used by Jan. 29.

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Local Mexican Restaurant Celebrating 20 Years In Business in Downtown Peterborough

For two decades, La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant has been serving downtown Peterborough a taste of authentic Mexican cuisine as they are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.

Sandra Arciniega, La Hacienda owner streaming her cooking classes as one of the services offered at her business. Photo courtesy of La Hacienda.

“Seems like yesterday when we opened our doors for the first time back in 2002,” reflects Sandra Arciniega, La Hacienda owner. “Those years when our town was not as multicultural as it is today, times when finding tortillas, avocados or any other Mexican ingredient were such a challenge.”

Dubbed as ‘a little corner of Mexico,’ the restaurant serves food that owner Sandra Arciniega grew up eating.

“Those times when I felt homesick, dreaming of tasting those memorable and unique flavours of home, that is when the idea of opening an authentic Mexican restaurant was born,” she explained. “The love for my culture and my passion about its food needed to be shared with family and friends around the table.”

Arciniega when she opened La Hacienda in 2002. Photo courtesy of La Hacienda.

The restaurant carries signature dishes such as enchiladas, Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup), locally-sourced cricket tacos and guacamole.

La Hacienda is a gathering place that celebrates the culture, creativity, and diversity of Mexico according to Arciniega.

The restaurant hosts events to bring Mexico to life in Peterborough such as Mexican folk dance, live mariachi band, Day of the Dead Night Gala and cooking classes on and offsite.

In 2018, Arciniega expanded with a retail store adjacent to the restaurant called Mercado La Hacienda. It sells a variety of Mexican products such as salsa, chips, and even crickets.

As part of its celebration, La Hacienda is re-launching its in-house artisan product line that offers items such as roasted salsa verde, mild salsa, salsa Macha, roasted salsa, salsa para enchiladas, pickled serranos, handmade tortillas and corn chips.

“I feel grateful and proud of what La Hacienda has become,” said Arciniega. “We are not only a restaurant but a destination that conjures up memories.”

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Hometown PTBO: Pat Crough on Purchasing and Running the Corner Café and Retiring

This week on Hometown PTBO, Pete Dalliday talks Pat Crough, Corner Café owner about getting into the food industry, cooking history, purchasing and running Corner Café and his retirement.

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Peterborough Musicfest Launches Diner's Book of Restaurant Coupons

Saving at local restaurants has become easier with the return of Peterborough Musicfest’s Diner’s Book announced on Friday.

File photo.

The book is available immediately and has coupons for 56 restaurants for $25. It is a $600 value that allows the user to ‘buy one entrée, get the second half price’ according to a press release. Musicfest is offering a special of buying four booklets for the price of three.

Diner’s Books cost $25 and are available at the customer service desk at Lansdowne Place, Peterborough and the Kawarthas Tourism office on George St. or online.

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Ontario Restaurants and Bars Able To Serve Alcohol Starting at 7 a.m. for World Cup

Morning brews will be legal at bars and restaurants as the Registrar of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has permitted the sale of alcohol in Ontario to begin at 7 a.m. during the FIFA World Cup 2022 tournament announced on Friday.

File photo.

The sale is during the tournament that runs from Nov. 20 to Dec. 18 and is available only to all liquor sales licensees. This is due to the time zone differences in game broadcasts with some games televised in the early morning. The closing service time of 2:00 a.m. will remain unchanged.

This year’s tournament is in Qatar which is an eight-hour time difference from Ontario. Some matches can start as early as 5:30 a.m. for the province.

Any municipality is allowed to begin liquor service to remain to start at 9 a.m.

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Santa Claus To Appear At Dr. J's To Fundraise For SickKids Hospital On Dec. 18

Santa Claus is coming to Dr. J’s BBQ & Brews for to have his picture taken for a meet and greet in a charity fundraiser for SickKids Toronto on Dec. 18 announced on Thursday.

Last year, Dr. J’s operated their Santa Calus event by appointment only. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

Last year, Dr. J’s ran the same event in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association. They chose SickKids as the recipient of all fundraising proceeds as it holds sentimental value to owner Addison Brown and his family.

“This year, we have chosen a charity very close to our hearts, and one our family will soon get to know all too well,” he explained. “You may have heard that the Brown family will be expanding with two new little members, one of whom will be needing a little extra attention from the wonderful team at SickKids Toronto.”

Photo courtesy of Addison Brown.

“We feel so fortunate to have such wonderful care available to us and we are looking forward to giving back this Christmas,” said Addison.

Santa is appearing from noon until 6 p.m. for photo opportunities with a five-dollar donation. Gift wrapping is also available from Dec. 16-18 with any monetary donation.

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Capra Toro Giving Away 72 Free Meals On Sunday To Those Needing a Helping Hand On Third Anniversary

UPDATED: 4:35 p.m. on 18/11/2022

Capra Toro is continuing their annual tradition of giving away 72 meals to those needing a helping hand in celebration of its third anniversary this Sunday.

Last year, the restaurant gave 24 meals for its second anniversary. Auto Connect Sales and J&L Services footed the bill for an extra 24 meals each respectively totalling 72. The latter has matched Capra Toro’s 24 meals as well as Mike's Tattoo & Piercing totalling 72 meals.

The restaurant is encouraging anyone to contact them through Facebook or Instagram to write a brief message to anyone deserving of a meal.

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The EL(P) and Capra Toro Declared Co-Winners of Second Annual Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival

After a month of-long culinary competition, restaurants The EL (P) and Capra Toro have been crowned co-winners of the second annual Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival announced by the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) on Thursday.

Nathan Manwell, Capra Toro chef (left) and Danea Humber, The EL (P) head chef (right) sharing in both restaurants’ first Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival title win. Photo courtesy of the DBIA.

The EL(P) earned their win with a three-cheese chorizo ‘beermac’ while Capra Toro created a baked Birra Formaggio for their winning dish.

“It’s beer and cheese man. What’s better than those two ingredients?” said Eric Beyer, EL(P) sous chef. “Mix in some chorizo and a fantastic cornbread (made in-house) by resident baker Kelsey and the dish just sings.”

“We are just so incredibly blown away at being crowned top mac this year,” said Nathan Manwell, Capra Toro chef.  “Last season we almost won, coming in second place. We are over-the-moon excited to bring home a win this time around.”

As the winners, both restaurants received a cheesy hand-crafted trophy, a sizable donation to Kawartha Food Share in their respective names and bragging rights.

Runner-ups included a spinach and artichoke mac and cheese dip from Champs Sports Bar, followed by The Black Horse Pub’s sweet potato mac.

During all of last month, there were 20 signature mac and cheese dishes featured in downtown restaurants as part of the competition.

Over 1,000 votes were cast to determine the top mac and cheese dish on offer.  

The winning recipe(s) from both years’ competitions are available online.

Sam’s Place won the inaugural Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival with a jalapeño bacon mac & cheesewich last year.

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Lakefield Caterer Bringing Wales and Farm-To-Table Food Background to Peterborough County

Wales’ Josh Keepfer had culinary training in Venice, London and Charleston, N.C. but since making Lakefield his home roughly four years ago, he’s brought his background into Kitchen Farmacy, a farm-to-table catering business for Peterborough County.

Chasley Keepfer (left), Hadley Keepfer, 4 (middle) and Josh Keepfer (right) examining the five acres of vineyards full of developing grapes. The family owns roughly 40 ducks to act as natural insecticides. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The business was launched in 2018, Keepfer said Kitchen Farmacy is reflective of his farm life upbringing as a child and with on-site farms at restaurants he worked in Wales. He wanted to bring that same experience of food into Peterborough County.

“I've been very lucky and very fortunate growing up as a child to be living on a farm and experiencing farm life,” said Keepfer.

He says the farm life helped him appreciate where his food came from and the effort needed to create it. The products at Kitchen Farmacy are locally sourced through several businesses, farmers and butchers.

“We used to go out and feed apples from the orchards to the pigs and knowing that we needed to get them fat and juicy for slaughter. I know it sounds gruesome but it's part of kitchen life and part of being farm to table.”

Keepfer moved to Peterborough Country after meeting his wife Chasley in Whistler. She was from the Lakefield area and moved to Lakefield with her to start a family and eventually open the business.

Kitchen Farmacy offers take-home meals, a catering service and meal plans with all the food made on site. The business also has its own winery called Cheeky Duck Vineyard consisting of five acres behind the catering service building. The winery has five different varieties of wine such as Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay where grapes were planted last year.

The business wants to expand with a new on-site restaurant next spring however few details were released. The restaurant will offer wine tasting from their vineyards.

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