Farmhouse Grill

On Saturday Jon and I found ourselves in Keene, Ontario with a few minutes on our hands. If you know Keene, you know there’s not a lot to do, so we looked for a place to have coffee and in the middle of a not-a-lot-happening place, we found the most amazing diner.

There it sat on the crosssroads of Keene’s main intersection – Farmhouse Grill. For 2 lovavores, this was the perfect place to sit and have our coffee. Jon turned off the road to park and out of the diner came a group of rather rough looking guys, they were a motley crew of hard core farmers for sure, almost made us city folk want to just drive by.

We parked the car next to a large tractor and more people came out of this little diner. We walked inside and it was packed. People were lined up at the counter ordering take-out coffee and more were seated, eating large platters of typical breakfasts of sausages, eggs and homefries.

We found a table and sat down. It was a busy little place, decor was exactly what I’d expected – I figured it would have to be casual and rustic to make its patrons comfortable and it was. The longer I sat and the longer I watched the activity, I found myself relaxing and warming to it. This place definitely had charm; at the very least it was completely organic.

Jessica, our waitress finally had a minute to come over. She brought menus and a cloth to clean the table. We decided we’d eat because the menu was absolutely irresistible! The Famished Farmer Special was the large meal we’d noticed when we arrived. Jessica tells us it’s popular, especially the homefries that are made from potatoes they peel themselves.

Jon was wavering between the Barn Raising Omelette and the Farmers’ Daughters Choice. I went for the Traditional Farmer’s Breakfast. All of the meat used in their restaurant is local. I’m not surprised, we were in Keene to meet a cattle farmer; this seems to be cattle territory.

I hear they’re famous for their Traditional Back Kitchen Burgers that Eva makes. Eva works the kitchen and often comes out to serve customers the meals she’s made them. Being totally unprepared for this place, I wrote my notes on a napkin.

If you’re looking for the real deal in country conviviality, then take a Saturday drive to Keene for lunch. Make sure your GPS takes you through the backroads and along the Trent River system for a great drive.


Farmehouse Grill
Located at the 4 corners in Keene
705-295-4242

A delicious day in Niagara

Niagara’s best cherries are in!

When a farmer calls, I go running like a puppy. Sue Pohorly, farmer and owner of The Fruit Shack in the Village of Virgil called, “the cherries are in”.

On the Pohorly farm there are two giant hoop rows and inside are beautiful cherry trees that bear the big, black, juicy, ultra-sweet cherries at farmers in Niagara don’t grow because they split with the least amount of rain. But the Pohorly’s protect them with their own hoop house so they’re guaranteed to be big and beautiful.

I went running down and sure enough they were on the counter; I wasn’t the only one there for the cherries, the line up was out the door!

The Good Shepherd is back!

As I stood in line I saw freezers stocked with frozen meat; chicken from the Poultry Barn in St Jacobs and beef from Gerber Meats – this is the meat from Franz and Denise Gerber formerly of the Good Shepherd! If you’re a Niagara foodie, The Good Shepherd will need no explaining.

It’s as close as we’re going to get to the Good Shepherd, Sue and Frank Pohorly were standing in the room talking to customers and explaining the quality of their chicken and meat products. It’s barbecue season I thought as I put some incredible looking tenderloin in my basket along with some bone-in chicken breast (I think boneless is next to flavourless!), packed up my cherries and headed home – window open of course, so I could spit my pits.

Once home I began unpacking and found a little brown bag. Sue is known for her amazing butter tarts and inside the brown bag were two of them. Wow, I went outside under the shade of the large maple tree and sat down. I was ready. I sunk my teeth into the overly large tart and the insides oozed out. There were soft raisins, yummy pecans and caramelized bits around to top of the flaky crust. These are the best, but you’ll need to get to The Fruit Shack before noon because there’s never any left after that.

How are you enjoying your summer?