{"id":1538,"date":"2018-12-17T15:52:28","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T15:52:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/?p=1538"},"modified":"2019-04-29T17:32:13","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T17:32:13","slug":"graffiti-market-welcome-to-your-new-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toquemagazine.com\/hello\/2018\/12\/17\/graffiti-market-welcome-to-your-new-local\/","title":{"rendered":"GRAFFITI MARKET: WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LOCAL"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

GRAFFITI MARKET: WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LOCAL<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

BY CHRIS TIESSEN<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018It\u2019s even better than I thought it could be,\u2019 I blurt out to restauranteur Ryan Lloyd-Craig between bites. \u2018And I expected it to be pretty incredible.\u2019 I chew some more, and thenlook down at my hands. They\u2019re definitelyactive participants in this experience. Melted mozzarella and brick cheeses run downmy index finger. Caramelized onion clingsto my thumb. I feel a bit of what must be braised collard greens on my face. \u2018You\u2019ve gotsomething on your cheek,\u2019 Ryan confirms witha grin, before adding: \u2018It\u2019s never easy eating one of these things neatly.\u2019 Nor should it be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of these things? Pizza. Detroit-style. Something I\u2019ve been dying to try since Munchies\u2019 Frank Pinello did an episode of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The Pizza Show\u2019 on the Motor City and its own unique pies. Extra thick but amazingly light crust with a crispy caramelized bottom. Toppings layered upside down. Rectangular- shaped from the blue steel pans in which they\u2019re baked. I\u2019m beginning to understand whymymom\u2013abitofafoodieherself\u2013 declares this pizza to be the most delicious in town. (She, of course, eats it with a knife and fork.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I take another bite. And let rich flavours ofpulled chicken and smoked bacon dance around in my mouth. Barbecue sauce mingled with roasted garlic aioli threatens to move from my palm down my wrist. \u2018We make it in-house,\u2019 continues Ryan, referring to the delicious sauce, \u2018with our coffee porter. Whichwe brew in-house.\u2019 He pauses, before adding:\u2018With coffee beans that are roasted in-house.\u2019A veritable circular food economy, then. AtKitchener\u2019s Graffiti Market \u2013 the most recentbrainchild of Ryan and his Ignite Restaurant Group business partner (and brother-in-law), Neil Huber.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The space is definitely something to writehome about. Indeed, with 10,000 square feet of craft brewery, bottle shop, produce market, vinyl outlet, ice cream parlour, pop-up stall, swag post and, let\u2019s not forget, restaurant,Graffiti is in a category all its own. \u2018And that\u2019snot including the roastery and bakery just across the hallway,\u2019 adds Neil, who has joined us for lunch. Bonkers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wipe my hands on a napkin and take a swig of something special: an \u2018Iron Horse Trail\u2019 IPA brewed (you guessed it: in-house) by Graffiti Market\u2019s very own Red Circle Brewing Co, and named after the converted railway line that runs beside the place. I\u2019m swept away by waves of tropical fruit with citrus and peach undertones. I look across the restaurant toward the brewery, which takes up a substantial portion of the far-left corner of the space, and spot Red Circle head brewer Brett Croft \u2013 perfectly cropped jet-black beard and all \u2013 and his right-hand man, the hulking Shane Denison, hard at work. I catch Brett\u2019s eye and, before I know it, he\u2019s on his way over with samples for the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First up: \u2018Isla,\u2019 a wet hopped pale ale that\u2019s brewed, Brett tells me, \u2018with New Zealand rakau hops.\u2019 Stunningly good. Next on board: \u2018Cherry Blaster\u2019, a gose with lactobacillus, coriander and sea salt. And cherries. Lots of cherries. \u2018Brewed with our friends at NickelBrook,\u2019 Brett notes of the stuff as he handsme a small glass. \u2018We aged it with three hundred pounds of Niagara sour cherries before dry-hopping it with galaxy and citra hops.\u2019 As I attempt to envision what three hundred pounds of cherries might look like, Ignite Restaurant Group\u2019s culinary director, Brian McCourt, who\u2019s also joined our table, jumps into the conversation: \u2018We try to incorporate as many of Brett\u2019s beers into ourrecipes here at Graffiti as possible. From the[aforementioned] barbecue sauce made with our porter, to our house mustards fermented with Brett\u2019s pilsner, to our mussels prepared with his blonde ale, to our bread baked with his porter \u2013 we try to maintain as much of a circular food system as possible.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brian continues: \u2018What we\u2019ve got here is special. A restaurant with its own brewery. A brewery with its own roastery. A roastery with its own bakery. A bakery with its own produce market. And a market with its own restaurant. All collaborating with each other in a way that hasn\u2019t been seen in these parts \u2013 or almost anywhere, for that matter.\u2019 Incredible, really. And spectacularly ambitious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018It wasn\u2019t always supposed to be this big,\u2019 Ryan remarks as he catches me gazing across the impressive space \u2013 which is itself planted<\/p>\n\n\n\n

firmly inside the even bigger expanse of Kitchener\u2019s magnificent Catalyst137 maker space. \u2018In fact,\u2019 he notes, \u2018our first visions of Graffiti Market were for an intimate pizzajoint at another location altogether.\u2019 Ryan continues: \u2018But the concept kept growing, and then the opportunity to locate at Catalyst fell into our lap.\u2019 He pauses, before adding: \u2018It\u2019s a good thing we went this big because even with a capacity of over three hundred we\u2019re getting slammed every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. Folks are waiting for tables up to forty-five minutes. And coming back again the nextnight \u2013 with friends.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I finish the last piece of my Detroit-style pizza and nod in affirmation, I recall a linefrom Shakespeare\u2019s Romeo and Juliet: \u2018He thatcannot lick his fingers goes not with me.\u2019 Ihave no trouble at all understanding why folks line up here, every weekend, for all of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n