Fall feast to feature geese

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This article was published 11/09/2018 (2200 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the skies are filled with honking birds, it’s a sure sign fall is approaching. It’s also a sign it’s time for FortWhyte Alive’s Goose Flight Feasts. The annual event, which runs for several weeks, serves up a three-course dinner at the Buffalo Stone Café, coupled with a sunset view of thousands of migrating geese stopping in at the park’s lake on their way south.

The menu from Sept. 19 to Oct. 7 consists of a salad of baby greens with maple balsamic dressing, followed by your choice of entrée (beef bourguignon, seared steelhead trout, chicken breast supreme or creamy basil bucatini) and a dessert of lemon tart with glazed raspberries. From Oct. 10 to 21, it features arugula and sweet potato salad, with your choice of beef tenderloin, Arctic char, Italian pork belly or wild mushroom and pea risotto, and a dessert of spiced walnut cake.

There are three seatings — 5:30, 6:15 and 7 p.m. — and tickets are $55 for adults, $28.75 for children under 12 (price includes taxes and gratuity). To purchase, go to wfp.to/goosefeast or call Dana Forster at 204-989-8355 ext. 204.

FortWhyte Alive is located at 1961 McCreary Rd. For more details, see fortwhyte.org/events.

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The days of the annual Oktoberfest party at the convention centre are long gone (and likely barely remembered by the attendees of the boozy event), but the Club Regent Event Centre is hosting what promises to be a more civilized, but still boozy, event. On Saturday, Oct. 19, the inaugural Oktoberfest Beer Tasting Festival takes place at the casino, featuring samples of more than 150 beers and ciders at 40 booths.

The event also features live entertainment, traditional German fare and Oktoberfest-themed games and contests. Tickets for the 18+ event are $50.89 at Ticketmaster.ca; it gets underway at 7 p.m. Zicke-zacke, zicke-zacke, hoi, hoi, hoi!

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Does your family rave about your meals? Do dinner guests say you could be a professional chef? Why not put your kitchen skills to the test and apply to be a candidate on MasterChef Canada? The televised cooking competition — which pits home cooks against each other in an elimination format — is accepting applications for its sixth season at ctv.ca/MasterChef-Canada.

In order to apply, you must be an amateur — meaning you have never worked full time in a kitchen as a cook, chef or in food preparation, nor does your main source of income come from preparing and cooking food in a professional environment (i.e. restaurants, cafés, hotels) — and be free during the period of filming in fall/winter of this year.

The closest a Winnipegger has come to winning was in season 3, when Jeremy Senaris made it all the way to the finals before being beaten by Toronto’s Mary Berg. Last season, local real estate agent Johnny Rahim made the top eight.

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Good gravy! It’s time for the annual Poutine Cup, which takes place Thursday, Sept. 13, at Fort Gibraltar.

City restaurants — the lineup of participants includes Chew, One Great City, Winnipeg Squash Club, Assiniboine Park Cafe, Underdogs and Promenade Cafe — will be set up at outdoor stations around the historic site in St. Boniface to dish out their versions of the beloved Canadian concoction traditionally made with french fries, gravy and cheese curds. Past events have featured popular poutines with bison, prime rib and pickerel.

Gates at the fort at 866 St. Joseph St. open at 5:30 p.m., service begins at 6 p.m. Winners will be announced around 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $45 at wfp.to/poutinecup; they include three drink samples and all-you-can-eat poutine.

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The votes have been tallied and the defibrillators put away for another year’s Le Burger Week, and local brewpub Brazen Hall has done it again, taking home the Public Choice prize for its Polish-inspired Krakow Burger. Judges’ Choice — best overall burger as chosen by four anonymous and well-fed experts — went to Clementine’s Herb & Marrow burger, while Shawarma Khan’s the Khan Deluxe took home “Healthiest” Choice. Underdogs’ sweet and spicy Randy Savage offering — beloved by the Free Press’s panel of tasters — won Best in Show, which goes to the most esthetically pleasing burger.

jill.wilson@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @dedaumier