Farm Fresh Dining

Two culinary magicians have thrown their hearts and souls into a little café in rural Alberta

Story by Cait Wills

It’s 4:30 a.m., and highly likely that you’re still enjoying your mattress, unless you’re Tim Wood. Then, Saturday through Thursday, it’s time to get up and start another day as the proprietor of one of Alberta’s best kept culinary secrets: the Eco Café at Pigeon Lake.

Tucked into a village multi-use complex off Highway 13, the café is within a stone’s throw of a realtor’s office, post office and liquor store. Since Wood and his wife Deborah opened the café in Pigeon Lake, a hamlet of about 400 people on the shores of its namesake lake, approximately 105 kilometres southwest of Edmonton 10 years ago, they’ve been creating magic.

There’s an ornate sign above a glass-fronted door that reads, “Eco Café.” With its honey-coloured walls and hand-painted tables, one feels like a guest in a loved one’s kitchen, not an anonymous customer. On entering, the guest waits to be seated by one of the attentive and affable staff. While it’s unusual to have to wait in a country café, with only 10 tables inside or on the patio and a long list of customers, it’s a regular occurrence in the summer. “It’s not unusual to have a lineup the entire 12 hours we’re open,” grins Wood. 

It may seem inconvenient to first-time visitors, but repeat customers will cheerfully wait for a table in order to enjoy the food and the “get comfortable, relax and enjoy” ambiance cultivated and maintained by Wood and his staff. They are equally solicitous to a family of four feasting on a late lunch, that couple cooing in the corner and the Wilford Brimley look-alike enjoying a pot of tea and the daily newspaper. They’re all here for the same thing: Wood’s years of experience and love of food.

A couple of nights a week, Wood can also be found demonstrating the skills he’s honed over the last 30 years as a chef de cuisine at cooking classes in Rimbey, Ponoka and Bashaw. “I don’t know who they are,” Wood says wonderingly of another group of foodie fans who pack his lessons time and time again. But they obviously know who he is.

Wood’s culinary career began as an apprentice at the Westin Hotel in Winnipeg. From there, he travelled to Edmonton and participated in the culinary renaissance that surfaced in the 1980s. “There were several extremely high-end restaurants in Edmonton from 1975 to 1981,” he says, including La Suisse and Trumps.

Then came a little upstart called Moveable Feast, which Wood opened in 1981 when he was just 24. Despite the economic tumult of the early 1980s, the restaurant flourished, earning rave reviews from local critics (Judy Schultz, author and food columnist for the Edmonton Journal, was a fan from the first bite, Wood says) and national reviewers. But by 1987 his two children, Melanie and Cory, were fast becoming teenagers and needed parents who were present and available, not working 16-hour days on a regular basis. Wood decided to sell his restaurant and accepted a position at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology as an instructor in the cooking program where he remained for nine years. When the opportunity came in 1997 for Tim and Deborah to try something new, they didn’t hesitate. The kids were grown and it was time to get back to their gastronomic roots.

Fast forward almost 10 years and you will find a flourishing institution where regulars worship the food and first-timers vow to come back again.

Wood says his emphasis is two-fold: he makes a point to buy from Alberta farmers, and, when possible, to buy organic. The menu, though inexpensive (most items are under $10) reveals Wood’s high-end culinary roots. It includes the “Canadian Club,” which has Sylvan Lake smoked bacon, hot house tomatoes and turkey from a nearby farm. The burgers are made from extra-lean Angus beef that was born and raised in Alberta. And the menu’s pièce de résistance is the tourtière-style Game Pie, a blend of locally reared elk, duck and pork, served with sautéed new potatoes and organic vegetables. The café itself is filled to the brim with crafts made by regional artists. The food is showcased on hand-painted dishes and the walls are covered with art created by a deft - albeit elemental - hand. The atmosphere reflects Wood’s philosophy of “buy local,” whether the commerce is crafts or cows.

Wood says that the highlight of working with local producers came in the summer of 2006 when he and Deborah were invited to participate in the 2006 Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C. “It came at the very worst time of year for us - late June and early July - but we couldn’t turn down an opportunity to be part of history,” he says. “It was absolutely delightful to be there.” In addition to attending one of North America’s largest cultural festivals, Wood was able to promote his Alberta-made creations and extoll the virtues of his suppliers, while his staff, who “rallied to take care of the place,” maintained the café’s brisk summertime business.

Wood is expanding the business beyond the Cafe: he has teamed up with some of the producers from whom he regularly purchases meat to create specialty meat pies. “We have a bakery off-site where, right now, Deborah is the baker,” says Wood. “We have an order for elk pies from the elk rancher we use, and a shipment of beef pies which will be going to Calgary, Edmonton and Spruce Grove.” The pies are normally sold at local farmers’ markets, although Wood’s plans for future expansion may include a spot on his shelves for much more than meat pies.

Planned for a grand opening in October 2007 is Pigeon Creek, a six-acre development centred around Wood’s philosophy of sustainability and support of local economies. Plans include an expanded Eco Café, a commercial kitchen which will “produce value-added food products from fruits and vegetables to livestock raised at Ecofarm.” The retail and commercial components - which will run largely on solar and geothermal energy - will include a food store and organic bakery. Wood hopes the development will show that supporting local producers within a “green” business model can be financially viable and environmentally sound.

So it’s the end of another very long day for Wood. After the café closes at 8 p.m., he cleans up in time to make it home for his 10 p.m. coffee date with his wife. “Deborah has a mocha and makes me a latte and we catch up for about 45 minutes,” says Wood. Then, the cycle begins again with another day and another chance to create, educate and build upon an already flourishing business. “We’re building a community here,” he says. “We’re becoming environmentally and socially responsible. It’s the only thing to do…it’s the right thing to do.”

Repeat customers will cheerfully wait for a table in order to enjoy the food and the “get comfortable, relax and enjoy” ambiance.

Where the Buffalo Roam

If you’re looking for a low-fat, low-cholesterol alternative, cruise over to the Farmers’ Market in Edmonton’s Old Strathcona. There, you’ll find Larissa Helbig, owner of Thundering Ground Bison Ranch, a 30-head cow/calf operation in Calmar. Helbig has been raising bison - an extremely lean meat that is pop--ular with the health-conscious - for eight years.

“We’ve found that ground bison and steaks are very popular,” says Helbig. She says the meat has a full, rich flavour. A variety of cuts including roasts, steak and sausages are available at her booth. “Bison is high in protein,” Helbig says, “and in iron, which is especially good for people with iron deficiencies.”

Ground bison is a popular starter choice for people wanting to try bison meat for the first time. Helbig says it can be used in recipes that call for ground beef, turkey or pork.

Click here for the Beany Bison Chili recipe.