The Winnipeg Free Press is launching a new newsletter on the latest food and drink news in Winnipeg and beyond. If you would like to receive future editions of Dish in your inbox, just click here to subscribe to the newsletter.
Gourmands, hop heads, foodies, wannabe chefs, oenophiles and everyone else who likes to keep tabs on all things delicious: welcome to the inaugural edition of Dish, a newsletter about what’s cooking in the culinary world and what’s brewing in the drinks industry — both locally and beyond.
My name’s Ben Sigurdson, and one of the many things I do at the Winnipeg Free Press is write about wine, beer, spirits and all that good stuff. My fellow Free Press scribe Eva Wasney, meanwhile, writes plenty about food (and a whole lot more) for the arts and life department. (She’s also a burgeoning superstar video chef for the Free Press’ Homemade feature — read on for more).

Meet the hosts of Dish: Ben Sigurdson writes about wine, beer and spirits, while Eva Wasney writes about food and more. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen some take a heightened interest in cooking as a way to cope/pass the time. My partner got her starter — er, start — early with the sourdough craze. We’ve dabbled with all manner of new recipes over the last year. Our living room looks a bit like a grow op, with herbs, tomatoes and more under grow lights on a rolling rack waiting to be planted outside.
The current restrictions mean dining out indoors or on a restaurant patio is out. The industry is clearly struggling, with many barely scraping by. I’ll admit I’ve not felt brave enough to eat out for over a year, although I’ve done my best to order heaping helpings of delivery and takeout from new-to-me and go-to eateries. It’s just not the same.
On the drinks side of things, it’s no less rocky. Local brewery tap rooms reopened briefly, only to shut down for in-person drinks yet again with the most recent restrictions, forcing a pivot back to curbside pickup and delivery.
Popular outdoor watering holes such as The Beer Can, the Common and Cargo Bar, as well as the soon-to-open Garden at 955 Portage Ave. and Times Changed Outside, are watching the mercury rise with the case count and hoping for the best.
There will be no main public tastings for the Winnipeg Wine Festival or Flatlander’s Beer Festival this year; instead they’ll likely pivot to virtual events, similar to the way the Winnipeg Whisky Festival did in March.
I’ve taken part in more than my fair share of virtual tastings, parked in front of my laptop with miniature samples in hand. It works, but the clinking of glasses and camaraderie are certainly missed.
And while the current situation ain’t great, maybe it won’t be all doom and gloom in the long term. A handful of new Manitoba restaurants and breweries have opened (as much as they can) in the midst of the pandemic. Closures have been minimal. Vaccines are getting in more arms. People have to eat, many like to enjoy a drink or two, and they’ve got to get their fill somewhere.
Eva and I (with help from our Free Press pals) will keep you up to speed on all things food and drink via this newsletter. We can’t quite break bread and raise a glass in person yet — in the meantime, here’s hoping Dish will satiate your cravings.
Ben Sigurdson, Drinks writer
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