What appears to be a tall, refreshing glass of sparkling water, is the Published Piña Colada, served on a clear ice spear. “One of my not-so-guilty pleasures is a Piña Colada,” explains Dylan. “It’s a perfect summer cocktail but I wanted to give it a little face lift”. The idea came about one night while the bar team was messing around with carbonated drinks. A guest had asked for a Piña Colada-esque cocktail and they wanted to create a total surprise. “I love the look of shock and wonder on someone’s face when they get served a drink that looks like one thing but tastes like another”. Then the idea of putting it on tap was floated, and the rest was history.

While the “how” of getting the crystal clear cocktail packed with those heavenly tropical flavors is a trade secret, Dylan did give a peek into the acid syrup which plays a crucial role. “Texture was a big part of this cocktail. The drink needed substance, which sugar is great for, but it needed to be balanced to appeal to everyone. Adding acid to our syrup was the answer. We use a blend of citric, tartaric, and lactic acids to create a more complex and dynamic “sour-ness”. Citric acid provides a nice base, binding everything together and mimicking a quick squeeze of lime. Tartaric acid is a little sharper, lifting fruity notes and mimicking that prickly feeling you get from a bite of pineapple. Lactic acid gives a subtle creaminess without making you feel like you drank a pint of milk.” This combined with two types of rum, and a little Published magic results in a bubbly and crushable cocktail that’ll make you feel like you’re sitting on your own private beach with your toes in the sand. Just please try to keep your shoes on while you’re here. 

Pressed & Polished was inspired by sake, and its light frothy finish makes it the perfect summer sour. “We love picking things apart and seeing what makes them tick,” explains Dylan. “We’ve been pouring some beautiful sake alongside our dishes for awhile, and with our love of all things fermented, this was a no brainer.” Rice is the primary ingredient in sake which is where this cocktail started. Baijiu and sōchū are both rice-based spirits at the centre of this cocktail along with a rich orgeat-type spirit made with rice milk. The freshness in the cocktail comes from melon juice that was acid adjusted for extra brightness. The name is a nod to steps of the sake making process, polishing and pressing the rice, and a cheeky reference to getting all gussied up to come out for a drink.

We’ll be continuing to infuse that summer feeling into cocktails throughout the next month; on the menu and with occasional features! Come by to try them all.  

The post New Summer Cocktails appeared first on Published on Main.

At Published we are constantly seeking out ingredients that are as local and fresh as we can get them and part of ensuring that quality is working with incredible suppliers and foragers that we’ve grown to know and trust. One of the wonderful foragers that we have the pleasure of working with is Abbey Ruscica who gathers a wide range of fresh wild ingredients around Western Canada – right now, you can find her incredible morel mushrooms on our menu! Even though she’s in the peak of her foraging season, Abbey took some time to answer a few questions about her foraging journey:

How long have you been foraging for morels?

I’ve been foraging since 2015 when I took my first trip to Ootsa Lake. When we arrived at the lake, we met the other pickers with the buyer and there was a boat ready for us to get to the pre-scouted path. We ended up picking so many it got me hooked – I loved being on the hunt, and the feeling of finally finding some is addicting. 

How did your journey with morels start? Why did you start foraging?

I had just moved to Dawson City, Yukon from Southern Ontario for a summer job, and while there I kept meeting people in town talking about how they were having a lot of success picking mushrooms. It sounded like my dream job! I have always been in nature and kept curious about plants and mushrooms, and I’m happiest when I’m in the forest. So, the next season I planned to go on my first morel hunt and adventure.

Do you remember the first time you tried a morel mushroom?

The first time I tried morels was on my first foraging trip, a friend in camp cooked them for us one night around the fire, just the way he liked them – with rice and veggies. He cooked them almost every night. A classic dinner with simple ingredients for camping and it was delicious!

How do you like to cook them?

I gotta say my favorite way to cook morels is in lots of butter with salt until they get that crisp on the edges, it tastes just like bacon! 

How do you know what kinds of places are good for morel foraging?

The most abundant patches for morels are the first year after a forest fire. They need a good amount of water just like most mushrooms so I look for valleys, rivers or swampy areas. The beginning of the season is important to look for lower elevation and they gradually grow higher up as the season goes on, so by the end of the season, they are much higher and harder to get to. 

Is there anything risky about foraging morels?

There are some risks for sure! Getting injured and being in the middle of nowhere is a big one. My dog, Bo is the best wildlife alert I could ask for, she keeps loud and lets the forest know we’re there.

Have you ever had a year where you couldn’t find any morels?

I’ve never had a summer with no morels at all, but some years a burn might not produce as many morels as I might have hoped for. Last year was a little rough, and the findings were slim but I’ve had mostly luck in my 7 seasons of picking. 

How has this year been for foraging?

This year has been great! Definitely one for the books. It’s been really consistent – I’m usually chasing fires here and there, wherever it’s producing the best but I’ve been in the same camp spot for around a month and it’s still going. We are crossing our fingers for more rain and that the weather treats us well for a longer season.

The post Morel Forager Q+A appeared first on Published on Main.

From the very beginning, our goal was to create a restaurant that was doing something different, but still familiar. A place for people to try new experiences, create new memories, and discover old favourites. Basically, a restaurant we ourselves would want to eat at.

To us, that’s a restaurant  with delicious food, but still good value; a place you could come for a snack on a weekday or splurge on a weekend with a tasting menu complete with truffles and caviar. We wanted to create something that’s always changing, always evolving, always growing.

I feel incredibly grateful for each and every member of our team that has helped us become who we are today, both past and present. 

I am so thankful for every supplier, farmer, and forager who has provided us with the goods to showcase and highlight on the plate. 

I’m thankful for living in a place that has so much beautiful wild produce  we can harvest and share.

We must also thank our guests, who have been so supportive of us through the various stages of the pandemic; the schnitzel and goulash days, the patio only service, the limited seating days and hardest of all, describing complicated menu items through a mask.

And to all of our friends in the industry, who have had our backs since day one, we appreciate you as well. 

I feel very honoured to stand at the top of this list, surrounded by so many talented chefs, teams, and great restaurants.

I feel energised, and charged by a huge validation – the work we’ve been putting in is being recognized. This is what we’ve been working towards since day one.

Now, it’s time to take a breath, appreciate this huge milestone,  then put our heads back down, and keep pushing on.

The post A Few Words from Chef appeared first on Published on Main.

As with our menu, our wine list at Published is constantly evolving; we focus on sourcing low intervention wines that tell the story of a passionate winemaker. This month we’re welcoming onto our list the delicious Willow from Guelph Ontario’s “ibi”, a wine project by the team at Revel Cider. Willow is a lightly sparkling, glittery pét-nat that is based on 75% Seyval Blanc, 25% Muscat Ottonel and 5% pear juice. Both grapes are fermented on their skins for 5-7 days to pull out beautiful colour and aromatics, then the pear juice is added at bottling to create a small amount of natural bubbles through in-bottle fermentation. Bottled without any sulfur additives, this beverage brings the funk, alongside notes of Meyer lemon, Bosc pear, dried pineapple, apple blossom, elderflower, and fresh sea air.  

Revel started as a cidery in 2014 born from a love of fermentation (something we at Published are also big fans of, whether in the kitchen or behind the bar). Founder, Tariq Ahmed is making some of the most exciting wines in the country. He started his journey into cider and wine making by experimenting with native yeast fermentation, allowing everything to ferment with the organisms indigenous to the fruit and within the cidery. The characterful native yeast fermentations found in ibi wines explore the endless flavours Ontario has to offer. Ibi’s winemaking combines farm-grown and foraged fruits, discovering what the fermentation process yields, and aiming to bring out the best of each ingredient. 

These wines are untethered, and wild! With an expansive and diverse menu like ours, we’re often looking for wines that can be adaptable. We’ve added Revel’s Willow to the list because it fits that notion. 

When you join us next, try it with the torched yellowtail, iceberg wedge salad or fried maitake mushrooms. While many of the flavours of our dishes are wildly different, this wine holds up to a diverse array of dishes and brings out the best in our cuisine.  

The post New to our Wine List this Summer: Revel Cider Co. appeared first on Published on Main.

Foraging is a team effort, with many of our staff venturing out far and wide to collect ingredients for the menu. Our talented pastry chef, Maddy Goreski, has been experimenting with what she’s collected around the city this past spring. With a careful and delicate hand, Maddy forages maple blossoms, wild beach rose, magnolias, sakuras, and salmon berries around the city, making sure to maintain the integrity of the plant. Sakura (or cherry blossoms) are a beautiful addition to have in the kitchen while they’re in season, they have an earthy, subtly floral flavour that work well in both savoury and sweet dishes, and because sakura flowers are ornamental, picking them doesn’t damage the fruit of the plant!

Maddy’s been playing with her foraged goods by drying, salting, and pickling her findings in small quantities. If you join us for a tasting menu soon, you may be lucky enough to taste our rose mousse made with Maddy’s foraged wild beach rose she’s been collecting this month, topped with candied roses. As Maddy’s foraged magnolias are being transformed into vinegars and syrups, and her foraged sakura is pickling, expect to see summer dessert features with vibrant meringues made from the vinegars, parfaits made from the syrups, and anticipate even more beautiful and elaborate garnishes and sauces.

In May, bar manager Dylan Riches used some of his spruce tips and beach coriander found locally, to create the Dirty Foraged Martini. It included vodka slowly infused with spruce tips, and a blend of dry vermouths that had been emulsified and strained with beach coriander, giving the cocktail a bright green colour, and a salty finish you might expect from olive brine. Expect to see more foraged ingredients in cocktail features this summer, like our elderflower wine we’ll be serving up chilled very soon. This past spring, Dylan and Chef foraged elderflower in Delta, some of which can be found pickled on our wagyu carpaccio or in the beurre blanc served with our lightly smoked Steelhead. Dylan fermented it for two weeks with champagne yeast to make an elderflower wine we’ll feature this weekend – you won’t want to miss this one. 

So the next time you visit Published, ask your server about tasting some items on the menu that include foraged ingredients and ask the bartender to shake up a cocktail infused with something from the wild!

The post Foraging at Published appeared first on Published on Main.