The County Food Co: fresh, local, responsible, delicious

My parents own a building downtown Stratford, and one of the tenants in that building is The County Food Co., located at 38 Erie, just south of Ontario Street.

While I had been there a number of times, I found The County Food Co. really came in handy the days and weeks after our son was born. My husband and I were in no mood to cook yet we craved local-fresh, wholesome comfort food to nourish our joyful but exhausted souls.

The County Food Co. offers an extensive menu of a la cart dishes, which allows you to mix and match to create your own meal. It has a gorgeous salad bar, prepared sandwiches, local cheeses, meat and vegetarian dishes, dips, pies, breads, focaccia pizzas and desserts. I particularly love its grilled salmon fillet with lemon and herbs, as well as its sesame and ginger salmon fillet. Cooked to perfection and chalk full of savoury goodness and omega-3s.

The pot pies are known to miraculously cure the blues and the potato pancakes and tomato basil risotto cakes round out any meal, especially for those last-minute dinner drop-ins that your fridge or sanity aren't quite stocked for.

Chef/business owner Janet Ashworth graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York and she's built masterpieces in kitchens in Toronto, Denver and England. She's also been a caterer, food stylist for film and television, as well as a restauranteur. Her tasty fare has even gathered attention from Toronto Life Magazine, the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star.

She's also crackers about local food. You might see her gathering the freshest and brightest produce at the Stratford Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings. She supports local farmers and food producers and proudly displays them on her website.

And when she's not just buying local produce at the Stratford Farmer's Market, she's also selling it. Under the name Starfish, Chef Janet provides quality fresh fish to the Stratford area, complete with point-of-origin information for interested customers. Starfish strives to offer fish that come from sustainable and responsible resources, with an online selection list that's updated every Thursday afternoon.

And the list goes on. The County Food Co. also offers a unique Balance program, which is a line of single-serving meals designed to deliver balanced portions of proteins, carbohydrates and fats (also available in convenient frozen packages).

What's more, The County Food Co. welcomes its customers to bring their own containers, to help with disposable waste.

Fresh, local, responsible and delicious. These are the ingredients for 'real food.'

And really, what more could you ask for?

Small-Mart: go small or go home

I've always cheered for the underdog.

This could be why I find it so refreshing to discover a new local haunt, my favourite new underdog, that represents the antithesis of Walmart in every way.

The name of this place? Small-Mart General Mercantile. And don't you just dig it already?

Located at 121 Ontario Street in Stratford, Small-Mart carries quirky, retro-inspired gifts, unique candy, jewellery, design items and cool Canada-esque paraphernalia.

It proudly displays local goods too, some of which include Red Canoe Heritage Brands, Klockworks, Biko Jewellery, Canada Flip Books and the hot new return of the '70s Solair chair, made in Quebec. Small-Mart even partnered with McCully's Hill Farm to create its very own maple syrup.

Small-Mart owners Carrie and Jeremy Wreford, who also own Bradshaws in Stratford, insist that their hip new haunt isn’t a sneer at the big guy, but a cheer for the small guy, and a modern adaptation of the traditional general store.

Stratford, like many other communities (notably Guelph), has fought for years to keep Walmart out of the city, because of its urban planning issues (often located on the outskirts of town and re-zoned to serve its needs while wreaking havoc on the environment and congesting roads with traffic), global mass produced products that help drive prices down while threatening small business owners trying to make ends meet. Stratford's thriving downtown, which has been praised by planners and environmental groups north and south of the border, is just too important to the city to jeopardize.

Ah, consumerism. Isn't it grand?

At least we all have choices. And Small-Mart has become one of mine.