Whether you are looking to gorge on gourds, pound poutine, feast underneath flying flocks of fowl, or drink craft beer in your best puffy vest, Winnipeg has a culinary event for you this fall.
And since that lede officially fills our rhyme quota for one article, how about we just get into it – and all in chronological order at that.
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ManyFest Food Truck Wars (September 7-9, Memorial Park at Broadway)
One sad thing about fall is that it also signals the impending end to Winnipeg’s food truck season. Luckily, there’s ManyFest’s Food Truck Wars, where you can get one last dish from 41 different food trucks.
Food Truck Wars is the best time to see the majority of the city’s food truck fleet in action – which at last count was sitting at 52 trucks and food carts – while you’ll also get to add your say (via a voting card) on whose truck reigns supreme.
For the past three years Kyu Grill has taken the People’s Choice category with their inventive Heroshima grilled-skewered sandwiches, while the three Judge’s Choice categories have continued to be hotly contested.
(A note of advice from a former Food Truck Wars judge – if you are to eat from all 40+ food trucks in a two-day period, you are going to pay for it. So please follow our 2018 Food Truck Guide and narrow down your choices so you can eat responsibly).
The Poutine Cup (September 13, Fort Gibraltar)
While the fifth annual Poutine Cup is technically sold out, there’s still a chance that a limited number of weather dependent tickets could/will be released the day before the event (here’s that link).
If you can get a hold of one of these tickets, be prepared for more potatoes, gravy and cheese curd than seems possible, as your $45 will get you ten wildly different types of poutine from the ten competing restaurants. We’ve been lucky/gluttonous enough to be one of the Poutine Cup judges since the event’s inception, and every year it keeps on getting more inventive. Just check out what we wrote about it in 2016 and 2015 if you need more enticing.
Goose Flight Feasts at FortWhyte Alive (Wednesday to Sunday, September 19-October 21; three sittings 5:30 p.m., 6:15 p.m. and 7 p.m.)
Year-round FortWhyte Alive provides one of the best dining ambiances in the city at the Buffalo Stone Café. Come autumn, the whole scene – with its lake-overlooking dining room and patio – is next level, due to dining companions that include thousands of fowl who flock to the wetlands during sunset.
There will be magic in the air via the sounds of geese honking, wings flapping, and a serene swish of feathered bellies hitting the water, all while you savour a three-course meal that includes mains like seared steelhead trout with corn relish, sour cherry gastrique and sprouted lentil succotash (Sept. 19 – Oct 7), or Arctic char with sauce vierge, crispy gnocchi and green beans (Oct 10 to 21).
Each night features a choice of two starters and four entrees, while the desserts all sound worthy of shaking your tail feathers for.
Tickets are $55 for adults and $28.75 for kids (12 and under) and can be purchased here.
Birds and Beer Flights at Oak Hammock Marsh (September 25, 6:30-9:30 p.m.)
Bird is also the word at Oak Hammock Marsh, which is celebrating 25 years this fall.
This vital wetland north of Winnipeg serves as a migration stopover for many avian species, and during the Birds and Beer Flights event you’ll get to sample brews from some of the city’s best breweries along with locally grown cuisine whilst watching the migrating waterfowl descend upon the wetlands at sunset.
On the craft beer side, you’ll have reps and beers from Brazen Hall, Devil May Care, Farmery, Fort Garry, Half Pints, Kilter, Little Brown Jug, One Great City, Oxus, Stone Angel, Trans Canada, Torque and Winnipeg’s newest brewery, Winnipeg Brew Werks. On the food side of things you have Bothwell Cheese, Danny’s Whole Hog and Watersong Farms – whose sustainably farmed steelhead trout is most excellent (especially when you cook it skin-side down in a hot cast iron to create that crispy fish skin – aka. lake bacon).
Tickets are $40 “for drinkers” while Oak Hammock is charging just $20 for all you responsible designated drivers out there. You can purchase tickets here.
Manitoba Brewers Oktoberfest (Sept 29, 3:30-7:30; Stone Angel Brewing Co.)
Even more local craft beer is coming together for Prost! 2018 – Manitoba Brewers Association Octoberfest.
Held in Stone Angel’s parking lot, guests can sample multiple beers and a cask (which one lucky participant will get to tap!) from Barn Hammer, Brazen Hall, Devil May Care, Farmery, Half Pints, Kilter, Little Brown Jug, One Great City, Oxus, Stone Angel, Torque and Trans Canada while, in true Bavarian fashion, there will also be bratwurst.
This is the very first time that the MB Brewers Association is throwing an Octoberfest event and tickets are only $35 (which also gets you a t-shirt) and $45 (which gets you early access to the party and the opportunity to be that lucky cast cracker).
UnCommon Pours V03 (October 4, 6–9 p.m.; The Forks Market)
Switching from beer to wine, The Common inside The Forks Market is once again bringing in one of the world’s top sommeliers, Veronique Rivest, for an evening of epicurean excellence.
Rivest will be on hand to reveal and explain The Common’s new wine list (which she is constantly curating) while she’ll be providing wine pairings to accompany a multicourse meal prepared by some of the best chefs/restaurants whose kiosks can be found within The Forks Market.
Tickets can be purchased here.
Prairie Grid Dinner Series (Oct 4, 6:30-10:30 p.m., Union Station)
Rounding out our list, Canadian culinary website Eat North is hosting the second installment of their Prairie Grid Dinner Series. This one, titled From Dawn to Dusk, will see some of the prairie’s most talented chefs come together to make a five-course meal replete with prairie drink pairings and Canadian beef canapes to start it all off – all while accompanied by live music.
This year’s lineup of chefs is Michael Robins of Winnipeg’s Sous Sol, Jessica Young of Winnipeg’s Elements, JP Pedhirney of Calgary’s Bridgette Bar, Seven Broche from Beaumont, AB’s Chartier, and Thayne Robstad and Beth Rogers of Saskatoon’s Hearth. For drinks, there will be gin from Eau Claire Distillery from Turner Valley, Alberta, while Winnipeg’s pepō ceramics will be providing the serving platters – amongst several other prairie culinary equipment artisans.
Tickets are $140 (general dinner and drink pairings) and $175 (which will include a limited-edition Prairie Grid t-shirt, $10 of which will go to the Rainbow Resource Centre).
