Smokes Poutinerie: bringing a Quebec classic to the world

One of the many Smokes Poutinerie in Toronto, located at 218 Adelaide Street West

Fries, cheese curds and gravy, the hallmark of any good Canadian stereotype. You can just picture it, us burly lumberjacks riding our snowmobiles across the frozen tundra towards our cities of hockey and poutine. But we all know deep down this stuff just isn't true. It’s not like Canadians have restaurants that exclusively sell poutine…Oh wait.

Smokes Poutinerie has quickly become one of our most popular locations to eat in downtown Toronto. With over forty-five locations all across Canada, Smokes has taken on a life of its own during its quick assent to greatness. 

Ryan Smoklin, CEO and founder of Smokes Poutinerie takes great pride in what he does, and works everyday towards his goal of one day reaching ‘poutine domination’ as he calls it.

Ryan might have started the company, but he attributes his success within the poutine industry to none other than the face featured in and on every Smoke’s Poutinerie door; Smoke. 

This is one iconic face that quickly took on a life of his own after the first restaurant opened in 2011.

‘Smoke is the man, he is the brains. He is the spiritual leader, that’s why his name is on the buildings. He is not a character. He feeds me all the ideas nightly”.

                             

The true face of Smoke’s Poutinerie, Smoke might be stuck in the 80’s but he makes some great poutine.

At three years old, Smoke’s is a very new player into the fast food community and has been met with a wide degree of competition from other companies trying to catch onto the trend of fries and gravy. 

“I’m loving it. They are spending tens of millions to make a mainstream product out of a company I own. It’s cool to see knock offs happen and the big boys chasing”.

With a menu featuring twenty-eight different types of poutine including the chicken bacon ranch featured below, Smokes is a perfect example of taking the phrase ‘why improve on a good thing’ and giving it a good shake.

Stop it, we can hear you drooling

International poutine lovers are in luck as well, as Smoke’s as already started expanding out of Canada. 

“We’re just about to open our first location off the sunset strip in Hollywood. Australia and the UK are next on the hit list, we’re in full steam baby!”

One question that just had to be asked was how many potatoes Smokes Poutinerie went through. As it turns out, the answer was A LOT. 

“We go through about 4 million pounds of potatoes per year, that’s about 80,000 per location. We plant our own potatoes in PEI, we actually have our own field”.

The many faces of Smoke, a true Canadian at heart

In summary, if you’re not allergic to French fries and you have a heartbeat, you should really give Smokes Poutinerie a shot. It is well worth the visit. 

Blog edit: after publishing this post, we found a slightly strange chart; according to StatsCan, potato production has heavily decreased since 2003, but the value of those farms has gone way up. Potato farmers? Whatever you're doing to convince us of your worth ... it's working. Strangely.

The Distillery Historic District

It is nearly impossible to map out Toronto's niche nooks and crannies without in some way mentioning the Distillery Historic District. While it usually caters to tourists, the district keeps buzzing in the winter, with cafes serving warmer, more 'winter-y' fare.

The Cafe Uno, for instance, stays open year-round by changing their selections to compliment the temperature.

"We do a lot of grilling on the barbecue in the summertime, especially on weekends," said John Sloan, one of the owners of Cafe Uno. "We try and have more soups and comfort foods in the winter months ... the food gets lighter as the heat gets more intense."

John and his wife, Lise Sloan, have owned the Cafe since 2011. 

"It's much quieter this time of year, of course ... right now it's very, very quiet."

The Distillery Historic District originated in spirit in the 1830's, with Gooderham and Worts brewery. James Worts never lived to see William Gooderham brew his first batch of whiskey in 1837, sadly. Then, after 150 years of sweet alcoholic business, the Distillery became Canada's most sought-after film location.

The one you'll see now? It opened in 2003, after a detailed renovation project - and is curently home to small businesses and art galleries.

One such, the Arta Gallery, specializes in international art, but can also be rented out by local independant artists. One artist, Lori Molnar, started painting as hobby two years ago.

"I used to be an interior designer," said Molnar. "I guess that's where it's from, with colour [and] shading."

Molnar, along with three other artists, rented out the Arta for two weeks. She was encouraged by her teacher to showcase her art, and in two weeks, sold 

"One fellow came in yesterday morning, and bought three of them," said Molnar. One, the poppy-filled Remembrance, is one of Molnar's favourite pieces.

A map of the Distillery Historic District, with the Arta and Cafe Uno, can be found below.

Snakes and Lattes

For those bored with the same-old, Toronto’s Snakes and Lattes deals a full hand of tabletop games, cards, and coffee - a perfect combination for the all-age rabble at Bloor and Bathurst every night. Subtle puns aside, there are few places in Toronto as atmospherically sublime as the little game shop.
Once there, with the crowd of people quietly murmuring between shelves upon shelves of game boxes, its popularity is evident. According to Chris Matheson, a veteran employee at S&L, it’s like that every night.

This is Chris.

“We are busy every night," Matheson said. "Monday to Sunday, every night we’re busy - and then Saturday all day, and Sunday, pretty much all day.”
The entrance fee is five dollars, and you can stay as long as you want (for all those Axis and Allies players out there). You’re given regular service, besides the whole “let’s play Settlers of Catan over chocolate milkshakes” thing. They have nearly every board game you’ve ever played, a few you’ve only heard of, and that one Star Wars game that should have never been published but was, because, as we all know, cross-developed money-makers can’t go wrong.

A valid reason to keep a pocket knife handy.

Unlike their recently opened “Snakes and Lagers” spinoff (on College Street), Snakes and Lattes is a family-oriented location. While many of the regulars are young adults, Matheson is quick to point out how diverse the cafe’s visitors are.

“We get a broad age range … anything from younger kids to people in their forties. Families come here with their kids. It’s actually a pretty broad spectrum.”

For first time S&L gamers, it goes like this: show up early. Snakes and Lattes opens at 11 a.m. and goes well into the night (past midnight from Thursday to Saturday), and they don’t offer reservations; if you’re looking to get seated immediately, arrive before two. As a courtesy, if no seats are available, they’ll take your number and text you as soon as one becomes empty.

Comes with more of a ‘pub-like feel’ 

than most Toronto pubs.

Pro tip: food/drink and Cards Against Humanity should be handled with caution. I’d avoid scalding drinks entirely while playing, unless you’re a veteran at handling both.
Because some players just aren’t satisfied with playing the same game on a daily basis, regardless of how utterly badass checkers can be, Snakes and Lattes is constantly getting new games in. Some are so good, the staff themselves can’t put them down.
“I’m all about this two player game right now; it’s called the Duke,” said Matheson. “We actually have a Duke League happening in the store between the staff right now, because we’re totally obsessed with it. It’s sort of like chess; its a board game, played on a grid. Very similar to chess.”

Snakes and Lattes is located at 600 Bloor Street West, near Bathurst station. For full information on Snakes and Lattes, along with their menu, click here.

The full audio for the interview with Chris is here: