Niagara Flavours: Recipes from Southwest Ontario's Finest Chefs. 2nd ed.

Marcia Sweet, former editor of the Queen’s Quarterly, is an
information consultant and freelance editor.

This book’s special attraction is that the recipes have been created
by chefs of establishments throughout the Niagara region. The second
edition of Niagara Flavours repeats the success of the earlier edition
and adds a dozen profiles of restaurants, several from smaller towns in
the region. This edition has been enriched by the contribution of wine
writer and educator Linda Bramble.

The book has a helpful introduction and a good index. The recipes are
arranged by course and well chosen for simplicity, available
ingredients, appearance, and interest. Some are dead easy (e.g., the
sauce for Blackshop marinated salmon). The photographs, one for almost
each recipe, are attractive and precisely labelled.

There are profiles of 45 restaurants, cafés, and bistros.
Unfortunately, the profiling of the restaurants is prosaic and
anecdotal. A rating system listing the price range and specialties or
philosophy of the establishment would have been helpful. One also
wonders what criteria were used in the selection process; the food at
Port Mansion Restaurant is hardly distinguished (perhaps it is here
because of its dinner theatre).

This attractive book will please “foodies,” whether or not they can
dine in Niagara. One can re-create some of the exhilarating atmosphere
of the region by creating the favourite meal of an outstanding chef.
Toast the result with a glass of a special Niagara wine.