From the pre-Confederation era to present day, a new book takes Canadians inside a time machine for a taste of some of the country鈥檚 most iconic restaurants over the last century and a half.
Gabby Peyton鈥檚 debut book 鈥淲here We Ate鈥� features 10 restaurants from each decade and delves into how Canadians鈥� dining trends evolved 鈥� from beef consommé at Auberge Saint-Gabriel in 1754 to nori-covered hot dogs at Japadog.
As Peyton was doing research for the book, the food writer and restaurant critic says she started to realize how much immigration changed the way Canadians ate.
鈥淚nitially, way back before Confederation, people were really eating for utility, so they kind of just were eating because 鈥� they worked downtown, they needed the lunch counter,鈥� she told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Tuesday.
鈥淏ut then, as different immigration waves, different socio-political changes happened, people started eating out for fun.鈥�
Organized chronologically, the book features a total of 150 restaurants across the country 鈥� from Victoria to St. John鈥檚. It includes essays, photos and menus of restaurants taken from archival collections and 15 recipes inspired or contributed by some of the featured restaurants.
鈥淲here We Ate鈥� also chronicles some longstanding eateries that are still open today such as Schwartz鈥檚 Deli in Montreal, established in 1928 by Reuben Schwartz, a Jewish immigrant from Romania, Mary Brown鈥檚, which first opened in St. John鈥檚 in 1969, and BeaverTails, which opened its first store in Ottawa in 1978.
The book touches on how there has been a lack of Indigenous restaurants in Canada over the years as well, but Peyton says that has slowly started to change.
鈥淭here were so many racist and bigoted business practices that existed that had all these barriers for Indigenous and First Nations restaurants,鈥� she said.
鈥淎s we have evolved and as we are moving forward, I think they have been able to showcase their own cuisine and have been uplifted by the community in a different way than they would have been in the past.鈥�
To watch the full interview, click the video at the top of this article.
