Here we will pro­file peo­ple in this province who have helped to shape the way we eat, cook and think about food.

Rebecca LeHeup-Bucknell, connector

Rebecca LeHeup-Bucknell

Rebecca is the Executive Director for Ontario Culinary Tourism, in this role she is respon­si­ble for build­ing rela­tion­ships with farm­ers, com­mu­ni­ties, chefs, brew­ers, vint­ners, bak­ers and fish­ers all over the province. From a cran­berry bog in Ottawa to a rus­tic lodge in Elmhirst — Rebecca con­nects media, chefs and pro­duc­ers with Ontario’s food sources.

Where did you start out in the food world?

My career with food began as a bus girl out west – in Kelowna. I moved on to be a server and then a bar­tender in Prince Edward County (at the Waring House Barley Room Pub), then went on to do licensee and LCBO deliv­er­ies for Grant Howes at the County Cider Company. We (Grant and I) ended up going into busi­ness and restored a 1860’s pig barn into a tast­ing room and retail store. I owned and oper­ated the retail space that fea­tured arti­sanal Canadian foods and unique giftware.

What changes have you seen over the years in how the peo­ple you meet feel about local farm­ers and food?

In my work with Taste the County in PEC from 1998 to 2008 I saw a remark­able shift in people’s inter­est in farm­ing. I have seen an increase in small scale farm­ers that are grow­ing heir­loom vari­eties, grow­ing bio­dy­nam­i­cally or organ­i­cally and rais­ing rare breed ani­mals. I have wit­nessed a new wave, a sense of pride for our agri­cul­tural com­mu­nity, a desire for peo­ple to be more con­nected to the land. Now I real­ize this wave was not spread­ing just over my home County of PEC but across the province – it’s won­der­ful and makes me very emotional.

What is your favourite vegetable?

I love aspara­gus but will only eat it when it’s in sea­son (and then I eat it almost daily!). Then the first spring greens and sweet peas fol­low and it really seems like there could be noth­ing bet­ter but WHAM! corn, toma­toes, car­rots and other the other sea­sonal good­ies come on. I guess what I’m try­ing to say is my favourite veg­gie shifts with the sea­son. I’m really dig­ging beets and roasted root veg­eta­bles right now.

farm ani­mal?

The pig. I love pork. What more can I say?

sea­son?

The fall is my favourite sea­son – it always has been (I was born in the fall). I love the har­vest sea­son, the colours, the crisp fresh air. I will say though that I will always enjoy the fact that we have four sea­sons in Canada (even if I don’t like being cold!). Change is good. It makes us appre­ci­ate what has been before and what we have to look for­ward to come.

Where are some of your favourite places in Ontario for food/drink?

I am con­stantly falling fur­ther in love with Ontario. It is a diverse and inter­est­ing place to live. I do my best to NOT fre­quent the same places over and over again because there is so much to explore. Of course, I have a very soft spot for PEC because I have spent most of my life con­nected to it. Some favourites of mine include:

Bar – The Drake (T.O.) and Down the Street (Stratford)

Restaurant – Amuse Bouche (T.O.)  and Harvest (PEC)

Family din­ing – Buddha Dog (T.O., PEC & Collingwood)

Coffee – Ms. Lily’s Cafe (PEC) and the Dark Horse (Spadina loca­tion in T.O.)

Farmer’s Market – Stratford (dur­ing Savour Stratford)

Picnic Spot – Sandbanks Provincial Park (PEC)

Farm gate – The Good Sheppard (Niagara) & Vicki’s Veggies (PEC)

Cheese Dairy – Fifth Town Artisan Cheese (PEC)

Brewery –  Beau’s (Ottawa)

Winery – Norman Hardie and Sandbanks Estate Winery (PEC) and Stratus and Southbrook (Niagara)

Ice Cream – Mapleton’s Organic Dairy (Elora & Fergus)

Follow Rebecca’s culi­nary dis­cov­er­ies on twitter.com/OntarioCulinary