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Local Mexican Restaurant Celebrating 20 Years In Business in Downtown Peterborough
/For two decades, La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant has been serving downtown Peterborough a taste of authentic Mexican cuisine as they are celebrating their 20th anniversary this year.
Sandra Arciniega, La Hacienda owner streaming her cooking classes as one of the services offered at her business. Photo courtesy of La Hacienda.
“Seems like yesterday when we opened our doors for the first time back in 2002,” reflects Sandra Arciniega, La Hacienda owner. “Those years when our town was not as multicultural as it is today, times when finding tortillas, avocados or any other Mexican ingredient were such a challenge.”
Dubbed as ‘a little corner of Mexico,’ the restaurant serves food that owner Sandra Arciniega grew up eating.
“Those times when I felt homesick, dreaming of tasting those memorable and unique flavours of home, that is when the idea of opening an authentic Mexican restaurant was born,” she explained. “The love for my culture and my passion about its food needed to be shared with family and friends around the table.”
Arciniega when she opened La Hacienda in 2002. Photo courtesy of La Hacienda.
The restaurant carries signature dishes such as enchiladas, Sopa Azteca (tortilla soup), locally-sourced cricket tacos and guacamole.
La Hacienda is a gathering place that celebrates the culture, creativity, and diversity of Mexico according to Arciniega.
The restaurant hosts events to bring Mexico to life in Peterborough such as Mexican folk dance, live mariachi band, Day of the Dead Night Gala and cooking classes on and offsite.
In 2018, Arciniega expanded with a retail store adjacent to the restaurant called Mercado La Hacienda. It sells a variety of Mexican products such as salsa, chips, and even crickets.
As part of its celebration, La Hacienda is re-launching its in-house artisan product line that offers items such as roasted salsa verde, mild salsa, salsa Macha, roasted salsa, salsa para enchiladas, pickled serranos, handmade tortillas and corn chips.
“I feel grateful and proud of what La Hacienda has become,” said Arciniega. “We are not only a restaurant but a destination that conjures up memories.”
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Couple Serving Up Tex-Mex In New Downtown Peterborough Restaurant
/It’s the first restaurant founded together by entrepreneurs Minal Burdrani and Sunny Dalia as they have brought the newly opened Poco Burro Mexican Grill to downtown Peterborough.
Burdrani (left) and Dalia (right) lived iN Toronto and Missisauga prior to moving to Peterborough in order to open Poco Burro. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The couple — who are also husband and wife — first opened the Tex-Mex restaurant at the old location of Jimmy Guaco’s on 343 George St. N. on Nov. 7.
They both had a background in business — Burdrani had studied digital marketing while Dalia studied procurement — and each of their families was invested in the food industry. The couple followed their passions which led to the birth of Poco Burro.
“Food is something that comes naturally to us and we wanted to really do something ourselves, said Dalia. “She (Burdrani) loves cooking food so we both decided for over a year and this is what we came up with. What we like the most is Mexican food, we can do it ourselves and we started learning about it for more than one-and-a-half years.”
“We always loved burritos and we thought we can serve it just because it's so highly customizable,” said Budrani. “If you're not in the mood for beans one day or meat, veg or go vegan, you can completely change according to your needs at that time of the day. That's what we personally like about burritos and we thought, 'Why not start with that?’”
The restaurant’s name translates as ‘little donkey’ in Spanish which also means burrito. Dalia and Burdrani originally wanted to use the English name for the restaurant but was already taken.
“He was so disappointed that I wanted this name and I cannot get it,” explained Budrani. "It (Poco Burro) rhymes so well and luckily we found a place in Peterborough, it rhymes with Peterborough so it was a win-win.
The majority of the food at Poco Burro is Budrani’s recipes including the sauces and salsa. Their signature protein, Spicy Chicken 65 is a homemade recipe that has been the top-selling product since day one according to Burdrani.
“It's basically marinated chicken in curry leaves, ginger, garlic and so many other things,” she said. “We focus on fresh ingredients and fresh small batches of salsa and sauces and hopefully that's what our main recipe is.”
Poco Burrito serves customizable burritos, quesadillas and tacos with nine proteins and vegetarian/vegan options. These options include pulled pork (carnitas), caramelized onion shrimp, Baja fish, chipotle tofu and more. Their sides include chips (with queso or salsa), soups and dessert.
The following are Poco Burro’s business hours:
Monday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Tuesday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Wednesday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Thursday - 11:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Friday - 11:00 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Saturday - 11:30 a.m. - 11:00 p.m.
Sunday - 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
United Way 'Adopt A Crop' to Fund Community Garden Project
/United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes (UWCKL) will be launching a new fundraiser on Giving Tuesday (Nov. 29), allowing community members and organizations to ‘Adopt a Crop’ through their community garden.
Photo courtesy of United Way.
Adopt a Crop will provide individuals and organizations with the opportunity to sponsor or “adopt,” a crop at Edwin Binney’s Community Garden, UWCKL’s food security and food literacy project. All proceeds will go towards the community garden.
The project was started in 2019 on unused land on the Crayola Canada property. Over 50,000 pounds of produce have been donated to 20 organizations with food programs and 11 food banks in the last four years, according to UWCKL.
“Running a farm as a non-profit is a major investment of time and resources, we’ve been incredibly fortunate to have corporate and individual donors to help us with our work in tackling local food insecurity,” says Emily Beall, United Way for the City of Kawartha Lakes co-executive director. “This season we produced more food than ever before; over $40,000 worth of fresh produce that was donated into our communities across the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton. Adopt a Crop is an effort to involve the community more, while also ensuring we have the means to maintain the garden, grow nutrient-rich foods and provide educational opportunities.”
This fundraiser will be ongoing until all sponsorships are claimed for the 2023 growing season. Sponsorships will be available each year, with sponsors from the previous year receiving the right of first refusal to adopt their crop again.
There are 25 crops available for adoption. To learn more visit the Adopt a Crop website starting Tuesday.
The EL(P) and Capra Toro Declared Co-Winners of Second Annual Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival
/After a month of-long culinary competition, restaurants The EL (P) and Capra Toro have been crowned co-winners of the second annual Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival announced by the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) on Thursday.
Nathan Manwell, Capra Toro chef (left) and Danea Humber, The EL (P) head chef (right) sharing in both restaurants’ first Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival title win. Photo courtesy of the DBIA.
The EL(P) earned their win with a three-cheese chorizo ‘beermac’ while Capra Toro created a baked Birra Formaggio for their winning dish.
“It’s beer and cheese man. What’s better than those two ingredients?” said Eric Beyer, EL(P) sous chef. “Mix in some chorizo and a fantastic cornbread (made in-house) by resident baker Kelsey and the dish just sings.”
“We are just so incredibly blown away at being crowned top mac this year,” said Nathan Manwell, Capra Toro chef. “Last season we almost won, coming in second place. We are over-the-moon excited to bring home a win this time around.”
As the winners, both restaurants received a cheesy hand-crafted trophy, a sizable donation to Kawartha Food Share in their respective names and bragging rights.
Runner-ups included a spinach and artichoke mac and cheese dip from Champs Sports Bar, followed by The Black Horse Pub’s sweet potato mac.
During all of last month, there were 20 signature mac and cheese dishes featured in downtown restaurants as part of the competition.
Over 1,000 votes were cast to determine the top mac and cheese dish on offer.
The winning recipe(s) from both years’ competitions are available online.
Sam’s Place won the inaugural Peterborough Mac + Cheese Festival with a jalapeño bacon mac & cheesewich last year.
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Bobcaygeon Brewery and McThirsty's Launch Community Brew, Blackberry Raspberry Gose; Proceeds Support Local Charities
/Bobcaygeon Brewing Company and McThirsty’s Pint had the first official pour of their ‘Community Brew’ Blackberry Raspberry Gose beer to support local organizations within the Peterborough community launched on Friday.
(from left to right) Richard Wood, Bobcaygeon Brewing Company president, Christian Harvey, One City PTBO executive director, Katie Harting, McThirsty’s bartender and Matt Campbell, Bobcaygeon Brewing Company vice president of Sales enjoying the first-poured Blackberry Raspberry Gose from the tap. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
A dollar from every pint and 50 cents from each can sold is getting donated to select Peterborough charities
The first beer in the series, Blackberry Raspberry Gose is supporting One City Peterborough, an organization aiding those who have/are experiencing homelessness and/or criminalization.
The beer was brewed in collaboration with McThirsty’s bartender Katie Hartling. The drink boasts four times as much fruit as a traditional sour beer according to Bobcaygeon Brewery.
The Community Brew is available on tap at McThirsty’s Pint and the Bobcaygeon Brewing Company Taproom. Cans are available for purchase at both locations next week.
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The Mac And Cheese Festival Returns to Downtown Peterborough Restaurants
/The second-annual Peterborough Mac and Cheese Festival is back with 19 cheese-filled dishes to try this October.
Photo by Felicia Massey.
The self-guided festival encourages community members to participate however they like, from hosting a dish crawl with friends to takeout parties or even dining solo. Attendees can plan their festival route using the interactive Mac Map.
Restaurants will be competing again for local votes in hopes of becoming this year's mac and cheese champion. Foodies will be able to vote online for their favourite mac and cheese dish throughout the month.
There are a variety of options including the Forest Vegan Mac, the Crepes of Wrath Mac and Cheese Crepe and the El (P) Creamy 3-Cheese Chorizo BeerMac.
These unique macaroni dishes will be featured on the menus of local restaurants throughout downtown for the month of October. By the end of the month, one dish will be crowned champion.
The 2022 champion will receive a cheesy hand-crafted trophy, donation in their name to Kawartha Food Share and of course, a year’s worth of bragging rights.
Sam’s Place Deli speaking on last years’ victory. Photo by Felicia Massey.
