Chef Michael Smith invites food lovers to P.E.I. for inaugural Fall Flavours fest

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By Lauren La Rose
THE CANADIAN PRESS

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TORONTO - Chef Michael Smith has become a familiar fixture in the homes of television viewers who have seen him whip up dishes for family and friends from the comfort of his Prince Edward Island kitchen.

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But later next month, the genial Food Network host is hoping for a guest list numbering well into the thousands as he extends an invitation to food lovers to visit his home province. It's all for the launch of a new event showcasing some of P.E.I.'s finest culinary fare.

Fall Flavours -- Prince Edward Island, a project of Tourism Charlottetown, is a fine food festival aiming to serve up a holistic approach to the province's cuisine, allowing participants to attend events to learn about and see food's evolution from its raw source to the dinner table.

Fall Flavours organizers have crafted an ambitious schedule for its inaugural year, offering more than 130 interactive culinary events over six days for visitors to indulge in.

Smith, host of "Chef at Home," "Chef at Large," and the new series "Chef Abroad" slated to premiere on Food Network in October, will don his hosting hat at various events during Fall Flavours, including Gala By The Sea and two culinary classes at the Culinary Institute of Canada.

He will also pay a return visit to his old kitchen at The Inn at Bay Fortune, featured in his series "The Inn Chef," to host Fortune Feast, collaborating with chef Warren Barr on the menu which will feature wine from P.E.I.'s Rossignol Estate Vineyards.

For those who don't have the chance to engage with food beyond the supermarket, Smith said he hopes the festival can help to bridge that divide and help individuals reconnect and feel less distant from their food.

"There's sort of a resurgence of interest in local food and in culture and how food relates to culture, and on Prince Edward Island, is very much a part of what life is like day to day, which is why it is a chef's paradise, and a wonderful place to go to experience food at the source, where it's produced and how it's produced and engage with it on that fundamental level," said Smith during a recent interview at a Toronto private dining room and cooking studio.

"That's really sort of the heartbeat of this festival . . . bringing people back to the origins of food and just how exciting it can be to understand where your food comes from and how it's produced and meet the people and learn the stories behind the things that we tend to take for granted."

Daytime activities at Fall Flavours include direct to source product experiences which will allow participants to get their hands dirty picking potatoes, digging clams, catching lobsters and learning how oysters are cultivated.

Visitors can also take part in interactive taste workshops like pickling and preserves or cheese and wine pairing.

Other educational activities including taste workshops offered by the Culinary Institute of Canada like Breads of the Old World and Smoking and Curing at Home.

More then 20 Island restaurants will offer table d'hote menus promising to give diners an educational and interactive experience with menu items featuring P.E.I. products and producers.

Cultural events at the festival range from free to $12, while culinary events, workshops and signature events range from $15 to $175. Direct to the source product events range from free to $80.

Fall Flavours runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 5.