There is an expression that goes “the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.”
The same could apply to North Bay because people appear to be loving the city's first Poutine Feast.
As of Friday night, numbers for the four-day event which began Thursday are quite impressive.
“I think we’re getting close to 15-hundred people a day if not more. We’re scrambling for product now because we were really hit hard,” said Susan Jones Poutine Feast event coordinator
“It is very much a Canadian food. We use real cheese curds from St. Albert’s cheese in southeastern Ontario. And of course, lots of fries and gravy.”
People sit at picnic tables tasting some unusual yet apparently tasty poutine concoctions.
“I went to the Upper Deck and picked the holiday special. It is basically Thanksgiving in a box,” laughed Lee-Anne Carew.
“It comes with fries, stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, cheese curds, and gravy. Honestly, it tastes unbelievable. Every bite you take is perfect. It is delicious. North Bay loves its poutine so they will definitely do well here.”
Dawn Ward tucked into the bacon double cheeseburger poutine.
“It is pretty darn good. I got it from Fat Les’s chip stand, and I can see why Les calls himself fat,” laughed Ward.
“There’s some hamburger, some cheese, bacon, green onions and obviously your curds, your fries, and your gravy. It absolutely tastes just like a cheeseburger, but you’ve got your fries in there too so it's like you ate them all together. It has been fun, and I think this is going to go over really well in this community.”
Meaghan Rancier selected the pulled pork poutine from Herbert’s Fries.
“I’ve never tried it before, and it is very good. It has pulled pork, barbecue sauce, cheese, gravy, and fries. I would have it again, 100 per cent.”
Christie O’Donnell and her young family were one of many families treating themselves to some specialty poutine.
“We had a good time. There’s a lot of different vendors. That bus over there has an upstairs that you can go and sit-down in. They let the little guy go up and have a look out the window. He’s never seen a bus like that, so he thought it was pretty neat,” said O’Donnell.
“The food was delicious. We went to Fat Les’s and my husband had the bacon cheeseburger and he really enjoyed it, and I had one with deep fried pickles in it. It was also really good.”
Poutine Feast is in its second year, but this is its first time in North Bay.
Eight vendors set up shop at Lee Park; five poutiners and three others selling lemonade, ice cream, and donuts.
“Contests are held at poutine events every week. So, a lot of people have awards from say Montreal, and Ottawa on Sparks Street. We give out first, second and third place every week in every city we go to,” explained Jones.
“We travel throughout Ontario. In the winter we contact the cities and find out where we’re welcome. We go from Cornwall to Windsor to Sault Ste. Marie to North Bay.”
It is early in the season, but North Bay crowds are already having a positive impact on business.
“Especially because of the weather this year. North Bay is probably at this point, our best stop. I think everyone is very excited. It is something different. A lot of people haven’t had variations of poutine that we offer. The vendors are loving it.”
As it grows, Jones would like to add to the family like atmosphere.
“For example, a car show or some other show to add on to Poutine Feast would be nice. We would like to be exclusive for food, but other than that we would love to add on to it and bring even more people here.
Sunday’s hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Then they pull up stakes and head to Sault Ste. Marie.
