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I promised to cover Riverside Tavern and I remembered another saucy stop too so those will be covered in this blog post topic.

Riverside Tavern in East Windsor is a great stop for fabulous pizza. We head there a lot after volleyball (go Shoosh!) and I enjoy a pepperoni and feta pizza with a plate of Riverside’s own sauce for dipping. To describe it I would say that it is a cross between a dipping sauce and homemade BBQ sauce. Along with the regular house sauce, Riverside also does a honey garlic sauce; both are $6 for a jar. Stop in to 488 Lauzon Road (at Wyandotte) any time for this item that is always in stock.

If you are feeling a bit more Meditteranean then head out to 3 Gyros in Amherstburg. Treat yourself to a yummy Tzatziki made from natural ingredients for $6.95. If you are looking for a dressing, try Greek (no additives or preservatives) or meditteranean (zero fat) for $3.99 a bottle. The dressings are now also available at Wal-Mart Superstores from B.C. to Northern Ontario!

3 Gyros also has a Gyros Kit that they will be promoting more in the future. The Ontario lamb comes right from Schwab’s. Stay tuned as we learn more!
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3 Gyros, Riverside Tavern, sauce

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It seems like a lot of local Asian restaurants are starting to produce their own sauces. I cannot really buy them all right now to try, but I have assembled this list so we all know where we can start:

• Red Sail Restaurant – hot sauce is $10 for the bottle and bring it back whenever you like to be refilled for free!; sweet & sour sauce is $1.50 for the small bottle and $3.50 for the large bottle
• Thai Palace – lots! peanut, thai palace, pad thai, ginger garlic, curry, red or yellow hot sauce, salad dressing; most come in two sizes, ranging from $2.99 to $8.99; stop in and they will mix up the sauce for you; gift baskets are available for mother’s day and you can add pad thai noodles and recipes to make a complete meal
• Thai Silk – stop in for garlic ($8), peanut ($8), spicy basil ($10), or their most popular sauce, ginger salad dressing (4) which is light and has no preservatives

Click on any of the restaurants above to visit their website to get more details on opening hours and menus.

I have been to most of these restaurants and the food is always outstanding (the staff are friendly too which is very important to me). It is nice to know that I can now take the sauce home and try to recreate some of those dishes.

If you try any of these sauces out, be sure to leave some feedback here!
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Red Sail Restaurant, Thai Palace, Thai Silk, sauce

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How could we discuss sauce without mentioning one that everyone is probably familiar with (not just here but around the globe)? Heinz turns 100 this year and the sauce that is found in 80% of households in Canada is still made right here in Essex County.

Here are some great Heinz facts that reinforce how supporting a local producer can impact the community:

• Contracts with growers to buy 270,000 to 300,000 tons of Ontario-grown tomatoes a year
• The town’s largest employer with 750 employees (1,000 employees during peak production)
• For every job in the plant another 3 spin-off jobs are created in the community
• About 75% of what is made in Leamington is sold in Canada

You can learn more about the Heinz Company from the Windsor Star article, Heinz, Leamington mark 100 years of sweet success, or visit their website.

And of course, you can buy Heinz ketchup at just about any food store in Ontario.
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Heinz ketchup, Leamington

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I will have to write a completely separate post about the wonderful pasta that Windsor Ravioli sells (yummy and cheap!) but since we’re talking about sauce…

On my last trip I was delighted to see that there were two new items (at least new to me!):

• Marinara Sauce – $3.75 (tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt, black pepper, onions, oregano, parsley)
• Barbecue Sauce Hot (ketchup, mustard, white vinegar, sugar, salt, red/black pepper, garlic powder, chili powder)

In fact, their website lists all these sauces: Meat Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Red Clam Sauce, Alfredo Sauce, Rose Sauce, Marinara Sauce, Pizza Sauce.

Again, as with other local producers, there are no additives in the sauces.

Visit them at 2427 Dougall Avenue, call 966-3180 or visit www.windsorravioli.com

Time to share a recipe. My friend and I used to frequent a bar that had an interesting dish that quickly became our favourite so here it is:

Spicy Fries

• French fries
• Sour cream
• BBQ sauce (Windsor Ravioli sauce or your fave!)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Jalapenos

Once your fries are cooked, pile the other ingredients on top in the order written above. Enjoy!
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Windsor Ravioli, sauce, spicy fries

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Until I find out more about the Dairy I will continue on with “Sauce Month”. There are a lot of sauces and dips around our region so I hope to cover as many as possible. I am pretty sure that there are many more out there that I have not found, so keep sending me your suggestions.

Some I will combine, especially if they are similar…and that is exactly what I will start with.

So after a visit to the deli I decided to try Valerie’s Original Flavours as they had a nice display and it is local. The sauce was great but something about the packaging looked familiar. I put that aside and we enjoyed the sauce; a great deal at $4 for the small jar and $10 for the large jug. I called the phone number on the jar to ask some questions…in particular, “Why is it important that you do not use additives or preservatives?” (I find that a lot of locally produced food is like this since our producers are concerned about quality and if a product is not meant for long-distance travel, many additives are not needed…a big win-win for us!). Anyway, I never got a call back but that happens with a lot of these small companies (definitely one of my pet peeves as someone in marketing).

A while later I realized why the packaging is familiar to me. The same size jars and jugs are available with a different sticker: Tunnel BBQ Sauce. The price is a bit higher at Jeff’s Meats (Walker Road) but similar at Zehrs. Then I saw a Windsor Star article and I found out what was going on. I cannot find that article again but here’s a snippet from a later story:

In 1970, Chris and Valerie [Stoiantsis] took over control of the restaurant [Tunnel BBQ] along with Valerie’s brother Thom Racovitis and his wife. Chris and Valerie sold their shares in the family business last year to Racovitis.

They then started selling their own line of competing sauces called Valerie’s Original Flavours.

Tunnel BBQ’s current owner, Thom Racovitis, is suing the former co-owners as his claim is that the recipes for the sauces stay with the restaurant. Obviously the Stoiantsis’ disagreed. I never did hear what came of it…maybe it is still in the courts.

Look for both sauces at most Zehrs stores and Tunnel BBQ products at Jeff’s Meats on Walker. My deli (Olde Riverside Schwab’s) is sadly gone and I will find out today if the Schwab’s on Tecumseh Road carries anything.

With this great weather you will probably want to try one of the sauces to put on the grill!
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Jeff's Fresh Meats, Tunnel BBQ, Valerie's Original Flavours, sauce

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The sauce feature this month will be on hold slightly as I bring more important news…

The Lakeside Jersey Dairy that I wrote about previously may close!

According to the Windsor Star article, Last Local Dairy Struggles, the dairy may close as early as June 1st. Not only would that be a great loss for local food, there will be the loss of jobs as well as the loss of a community icon with lots of hisory.

There are only 5 small dairies left in Ontario and we should be supporting the one that is closest to us. The milk is purchased from local dairy farmers and packaged fresh and sold that same week. The quality is superb and they sell a variety of products to suit many needs (1%, 2%, homogenized, cream, chocolate milk, etc.).

Can’t get to Leamington? Mark’s Fine Foods in St. Clair Beach sells some of the products and if you call ahead, he can order in whatever you need. Fans are busy getting a list together of other stores that carry the milk; I will post that when I get it. There is more in the works too so I will keep everyone posted.
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Lakeside Dairy, Mark's Fine Foods, milk

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April will be sauce month and I am looking forward to discovering as many local sauces as I can. Be sure to send me your suggestions…hopefully you tip me off to some new ones.

We are off to the sold out 100km Dinner at Three…A Tasting Bar this evening. This is a great event that the restaurant is putting on with WindsorEats.com. Alistair, the chef, is committed to local food and tries to use as much local product in his restaurant as possible. I am especially looking forward to the perch dish and the bread pudding dessert!

Hope to see you there!
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100km Dinner, Three, WindsorEats.com, sauce