Kawartha’s Moose Tracks ice cream is the chef’s grocery splurgeIllustration by Kat Frick Miller
Speaking between the usual clatter of weekday prep at his restaurant, Chef Matthew Simpson recounts the two-year period when he didn’t shop for groceries.
He was in his twenties at the time, living and working in Toronto.
“You spend 12 hours a day cooking for people, when you get home it’s hard to want to do that for yourself. I would get home and just order take-out,” he says.
Years later, the 37-year-old is highly intentional about his grocery shopping, both for himself and his wife (who is also his business partner), and his restaurant.
At The Springwood, in Whitby, Ont., the couple imparted a shop-local mandate into the ethos of their kitchens since its opening in 2023. The beer and wine list is 100-per-cent Canadian. The couple also sources food for the restaurant from farms across Ontario, including Kendal Hills Farms, The New Farm, K2 Milling and Pristine Gourmet.
Owning a restaurant has meant making adjustments at home: the couple recently implemented a new system to help them grocery shop and cook fresh meals more often.
“I now start work earlier than my wife, and leave earlier, which gives me about an hour or two to prepare something before she gets home,” Simpson says.
As for buying locally for his home kitchen, he admits it’s easier during the spring and summer months at his local farmers’ market. Longo’s, he says, has also done a good job of highlighting local produce.
The family takes advantage of Sundays and Mondays, when the restaurant is closed, to buy and prepare a full chicken or some local vegetables or fruits he turns into pickles and preserves.
“We’re still learning to balance,” he says.
How I Save: It’s a common misconception that organic or farm fresh food is more expensive, but when you buy those in-season, it’s actually cheaper, which is why we buy in-season. It also allows me to be creative with how I prepare different vegetables instead of relying on the same recipes and vegetables all the time.
How I Splurge: A tub of Kawartha Dairy’s Moose Tracks ice cream.
The hardest shopping habit: Committing to using the groceries we bought and not letting anything go to waste is the difficult part.
How I’ve changed my eating habits: I’m trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into my diet. The Whitby Farmers’ Market opens in May and is just down the street, we tend to visit weekly in the spring and summer months, and find some in-season produce to cook.
Five items:
- Miami cut short ribs – $17.99 a pound: This cut of rib tastes great, and it’s generally a cheaper cut of meat than steak or other parts of the pork.
- 5 Brothers Cheese – Gunn’s Hill – $50 a kilogram: I buy this at a local cheese shop in Ajax called The Rustic Board. It comes from a farm in Woodstock, Ont. It can make a quick meal after work, since I don’t have to cook it, and I can add it with bread and some vegetables I’ve pickled and fruit I’ve preserved.
- Moose Tracks Ice Cream – Kawartha Dairy – $7.67: Once again, this is my splurge. It’s quintessential Canadian.
- Asparagus – Welsh Brothers Farm – $4.99 a bunch: We buy a lot of asparagus and sweet corn from this farm in Scotland, Ont., when it’s in-season. We typically buy it at a farmers market called MacMillan Orchards, and chuck it on my charcoal barbecue with salt, lemon, olive oil and some grated cheese to accompany a meal. Sweet corn at the farmers’ market is a good sign of spring.
- Strawberries – $4.99 a pint – I love a really good in-season local strawberry. The taste is completely different. They’re the first berries to pop up, so it’s a good sign that the season is changing and warmer months are ahead.
