In the Great White North, a Touch of Green
Montreal is a famously wonderful eating town, and now the city's farmers, bakers, and restaurateurs are showcasing great local food producers who are using inventive new ways to grow year round without resorting to spraying pesticides or GMOs, and making food fun in any language.
Welcome to Out of the Kitchen, our ongoing exploration of the relationships that build and sustain the food industry. This year, we’re traveling the country to look at how sustainability has become a rapidly growing movement within the food world. Chefs at the forefront of this trend are introducing their patrons to local farms, fresh ingredients, and innovative dishes while farmers are educating chefs and consumers about where their food comes from and what it takes to grow the food served. Their practices and personal customer approaches provide a bigger impact to the community at large, hoping to create a better and more sustainable future for all.
1/13Fuschia Light District
One of the stars of the scene is Lufa Farms, which has turned rooftops into greenhouses and created a profitable distribution network for organic produce, meats, and goods regardless of the season, thanks to a combination of 21st-century know-how and old-fashioned food values. Lufa spinach starts off under grow lights in towers of perfectly maintained mini-environments. They can then be eaten as microgreens, or transplanted to rows where they'll grow bigger under natural sunlight.
2/13Popeye Heaven
Once it's big enough, Lufa's spinach is harvested, packaged downstairs, and delivered to customers, and the next round of veggies takes its places on the roof. The business originally started as a kind of CSA, where customers got what they got according to the harvest, but Lufa has adapted to the needs of its customers, and lets them customize their baskets.
3/13For Whom the Bell Peppers Toll
Bell peppers brighten up an overcast day in the greenhouse at Lufa Farms. The greenhouse lets the farmers grow even in the dead of winter at this northern clime–without resorting to pesticides or non-organic methods. Restaurateurs and customers benefit because they can get the variety they need without also ingesting harsh chemicals, or relying on carbon-heavy transport to bring their food from far-off places.
4/13Bell Curve
Recognize these? The bell peppers from Lufa Farms are engineered into serving as a vessel for goat cheese, ham, and Lufa herbs at Tapeo, a tapas restaurant in the Villeray neighborhood of Montreal. The restaurant loves to make use of Lufa ingredients when it can, which they credit with uplifting their dishes, both taste-wise and in terms of social responsibility.
5/13Tapeo Dance
Tapeo wasn't founded just to introduce the city to Spanish cuisine. It also likes to encourage people to share food, have conversations, and feel like part of a community. That's reflected in everything from their neighborhood recycling program to the way they source their food–sustainability being the keyword.
6/13No Skimping on Shrimp
The star of this shrimp dish is actually the organic tomatoes, which come from Lufa Farms. "With their greenhouse, the things you can normally only have in summer you can have all year around," says Tapeo owner Sebastien Muniz. "You see the freshness."
7/13Loafin' Around
Ancient grains grown in rural Quebec make for a delicious, hearty loaf full of flavor and perfect for sandwiches at Le Fromentier, which proudly calls itself Montreal's first organic bakery. Their dedication to using healthy local ingredients and traditional methods has helped it grow from a tiny one-man stand to a large bakery with a top-notch reputation.
8/13As the Oven Turns
A massive oven with a turning wheel is the workhorse of the Le Fromentier kitchen. Not even counting its commercial clients, the organic bakery has become so popular with a loyal following that it sells 40,000 baguettes and 50,000 croissants a year.
9/13Day by Day
Waxed bakery bags help the staff of Le Fromentier keep track of things each day of the week, ensuring their products stay fresh and tasty. Originally, the bakery's bread came in bags with poetry the founder wrote–organic ingredients to feed the body, and verse to feed the soul. "He really wanted to provide nutrition with organic ingredients that was also very good for your thinking," says Lucie Massinon, the bakery's head of business development.
10/13Nuts to Conventional Grains!
Sunflower seeds from Quebec farms give a distinctive crunch to hearty loaves. The bakery uses organic fruits and nuts for all its add-ins–sesame seeds, poppyseeds, cumin, walnuts, raisins, and, of course, sunflower seeds.
11/13Big Kahuna
Le Fromentier's buns make their way to Quebecois tummies in the Mile End neighborhood, at the popular hamburger shack Burger Royal. The bun "has to be able to stand up to the juiciness of our patties," chef/owner Sami Midani says. "A grocery-type bun can't do that." He's also a big Quentin Tarantino fans, and the Pulp Fictions stack of guacamole, locally sourced Monterey Jack, and chipotle mayo on Le Fromentier organic buns lend the sandwich a West Coast vibe.
12/13Writing's on the Wall
Burger Royal's sustainable credo takes pride of place in the dining room. Using organic ingredients, the best Quebec produce, and hormone-free, pasture-raised beef from four hours north of the city ensures that it remains true to its philosophy.
13/13Quality Is King
Midani sends out a Mushroom King burger to a customer. It's a daily special with a variety of sautéed local mushrooms, as well as an homage to the video games of his childhood. "None of what we do is based on economics–there's a lot of cheaper products out there, but you can taste the quality."
