Ontario's artisanal cheese scene is flourishing. From Oxford County to Prince Edward County, the cheesemakers of our province are transforming local milk into wheels, wedges, and logs that are as inventive as they are delicious. Nutty Goudas. Caramelly Leicesters. Creamy Bries. Squeaky curds. And oh, so many more.
Some summers are measured in months. Ours are measured in festivals. Meadows (Fergus) in June. Hillside (Guelph) in July. Riverfest (Elora) in August. And, nestled perfectly between Hillside and Riverfest, the Fergus Scottish Festival & Highland Games – a weekend that feels a lot like Scotland, without the cost of cross-Atlantic travel.
We've been tight with the crew at Elora Brewing Co since the doors of this regional gem first swung open just over a decade ago. In fact, more than a few early issues of TOQUE were dreamt up over pints of 'Elora Borealis' at the far end of the brewery's long wooden bar. A lot has changed since then – at the brewery and at TOQUE – so we figured it was time to reconnect with old friends.
‘I feel as though the weight of the world has just been lifted from my shoulders,’ I say to Liz with a chuckle, dropping my well-traveled Filson luggage onto the cool, poured concrete floor. I exhale, take a slow look around, and then step fully into the spacious, design-forward oasis. It’s the peacefulness of the space that hits me first: it’s utterly serene, as though the entire suite has been acoustically tuned to quiet my thoughts.
I tend to think of hotel lobby bars as exotic sanctuaries: places where shrewd deals are made, great novels are written, stolen glances are met, and fashionable strangers – international jet-setters fresh off flights from distant ports of call – might be seen quietly sipping stiff drinks in dimly-lit corners.
‘I’m naturally inclined to be an artist,’ Tim remarks, pulling on the cigarette that hangs loosely from the corner of his mouth. ‘Everything else,’ he sighs, ‘is just effort.’
We follow the group ahead of us down the narrow flight of stairs from street level into the subterranean world below. Behind us, the humming sights and sounds of Elora’s Mill Street. Ahead of us, something completely different – yet no less inviting. The thrum of chatter, laughter, and The New Pornographers’ ‘Champions of Red Wine’ beckons us forward.
FOR MANY OF US, HEADING OUT ON A WEEKEND EXCURSION SO OFTEN MEANS ONE OF TWO THINGS: EITHER ESCAPING TO THE WILDS OF COTTAGE COUNTRY OR DIVING HEADLONG INTO THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF CITIES MUCH LARGER THAN OUR OWN. EITHER OF THESE OPTIONS MIGHT PROMISE GREAT TIMES, TO BE SURE. BUT THERE ARE OTHER POSSIBILITIES.
Friends. Almost nothing compares. Folks that you can get playful with, feel comfortable around, and do all sorts of adventurous things alongside. Over the past couple of years, TOQUE has managed to form a whole bunch of great friendships. With collaborators. Clients. Competitors. And readers.
‘Red Car’s here.’ And with those three (and a half) simple words, the TOQUE crew – along with twenty of our nearest and dearest – were whisked away into a warm May evening toward wide-eyed adventure, mayhem, and surprise destinations. Sprinkled with just a pinch of debauchery. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s begin at the beginning. At TOQUE headquarters.
‘This really did seem like a good idea when we first came up with it,’ I comment to Elora Brewing Company’s Jenna Harkness while we tread ever so gingerly across a thin column of slippery rocks toward a larger cluster of boulders in the middle of the river. A biting wind surges up my sleeves and down my neck.
Travel tends to sharpen taste. It introduces new ideas, uncovers unforeseen obsessions, and offers the occasional epiphany – nudging your sense of beauty and your grasp of craftsmanship in new directions. For Ryan LeClair, founder of Makoto Watch Company out of London, Ontario, it was travel – and specifically a trip to Japan – that transformed his infatuation with watch collecting into his initiation of a brand built on craft, restraint, and everyday practicality.
Almost nothing we carry defines us more clearly than the books in our bags: tactile objects filled with ideas and stories – testimonies to time well spent. They tag along with us, mark our days, and shape the rhythm of how we move through the world. In Uptown Waterloo, three long-standing independent bookstores – Carry-On Comics & Books (46 years young), Words Worth Books (42 years), and Old Goat Books (25 years) – offer distinct ways to build this bracket of everyday carry: a nostalgia-driven comic haven built for the thrill of discovery, a curated literary hub grounded in conversation, and a densely-packed used bookstore where the search is part of the reward. Together, these enduring fixtures map a reading life – charting not just what we read, but how we come to find it.
In my line of work – as writer, photographer, editor, regional explorer – EDC isn't a trend. It's infrastructure. Most days I'm in motion: tracing backroads toward a brewhouse, mapping my way to an artist's studio, or sliding into the corner of a coffee shop where I turn field notes into final copy and RAW files into photographs that will pop on paper. My office is wherever I set my bag down. My tools make it possible.
Stratford – and, by extension, Perth County – lends itself to takeaway. A coffee to carry, a sandwich in hand, something sweet tucked alongside – then out into the streets for window shopping, into the theatres for a performance, or down to the riverbank for a nosh.
