County restaurateurs Alex McCracken and Steve Rowell are aiming to do more than just fill bellies at Fort Irwin’s Features Brasserie.
“I believe a restaurant’s true job is to educate their customers – a brasserie is something people in Haliburton County are ready for, but just don’t know it yet,” Rowell said. “People know what a public house is, they know the term ‘trattoria’, which is the Italian version. Brasserie is the French edition.
“We’re focused on fresh, from-scratch dishes that will change the way people think about simple food. Every time someone steps through the doors, we’ll be teaching them something new,” McCracken added.
The pair opened Features Brasserie July 15, taking over the space vacated by Till Death BBQ last fall. Before that, it operated for years as CC’s Suds and Grub. It’s open Thursday through Tuesday, for breakfast and lunch.
Rowell said the first three weeks in business have been something of a baptism by fire – with hundreds of cottagers in the area, and countless fans of McCracken’s dishes, the restaurant has been busier than expected.
The early success has validated Rowell’s decision to stay in the Highlands. The longtime local, who first moved to the County as a six-year-old and has returned following stints in Toronto, Stratford, and Alberta, had one foot out the door again this past spring before his childhood friend, McCracken, roped him back in.
Knowing he wanted to establish a permanent location where people could get food after 34 years of running his catering company, The In House Chef, out of his home kitchen, McCracken reached out to Rowell for advice. The pair had worked together for many years, first at the Pinestone and then the Wigamog Inn.
“We’ve known one another since we were 16 – I hired Alex as the executive chef at the places I’ve managed. He really knows his way around a kitchen,” Rowell said.
McCracken said he was always interested in cooking while growing up, learning many recipes from his grandmother. While out west in the 1990s, he befriended a chef, Christopher Clinton, who McCracken recalls watching on various cooking programs as a teen. Clinton took McCracken as an apprentice.
As well as sweet and savoury pastries and classic breakfast dishes and lunch classics like traditional British-style fish and chips, Features Brasserie patrons will also have the chance to try McCracken’s famed pickle soup – a recipe he’s carefully cultivated for years.
“Alex has had people come from hours away for bowls of that soup. It’s one of Haliburton County’s best kept secrets,” Rowell said, noting their mantra is quality over quantity. They’re partnering with local suppliers where possible – Oliver Zielke of JBean’s Roastery is providing the coffee, including a brew exclusive to Features. All maple products are supplied by Winterdance, predominantly known for its winter dogsled tours.
The pair plan to expand their operation into the evening eventually and have applied for a liquor license, which they hope to have by late summer. A sommelier by trade, Rowell said that will open the doors to even more unique events and offerings in Fort Irwin.
“I’ve got a great rapport with many small international award-winning Ontario wineries. They’re all dying to get up here, so we’ll be partnering with them for some dinner pairings. We won’t be stocking stuff from the LCBO – it’ll all be from craft brewers, vineyards and distilleries,” Rowell said.
“We’ve got a lot of expansion plans over the next two to three years. We see the potential here in Fort Irwin – as far as we’re concerned, we’re here for the long haul,” he added.
