PEOPLE — AND JUDGES — VOTE ORILLIA’S ECLECTIC CAFÉ AS ‘BEST BURGER’ AT HALE GRAND OPENING SUNDAY IN GRAVENHURST

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — The judges have spoken — twice — and the “Best Burger” at yesterday’s Hale Muskoka opening is a local sear-ious smash-up success.

Chef Melanie Robinson’s slider was a play on two dishes: a traditional Bahn Mi sandwich and a bowl of noodles.

The Orillia Eclectic Cafe owner says she submitted her humble offering to the five celebrity judges — and a huge horde of hundreds of hungry dinner guests who also voted.

There were five chefs grilling for the top trophy. The runner-up was Chef Joe Friday.

Chef Melanie Robinson serves up the winning entry to judges in the Best Burger competition. A Vietnamese-French inspired offering that also garnered the most raves as the People’s Choice winner. Photos Mark Clairmont MuskokaTODAY.com

Robinson said today “the Eclectic Cafe style is to take unusual ideas and smash them together, pun intended.

“So flavours were full-bodied with garlic ginger, miso, scallion, chili crunch and pickled vegetables.”

All the chefs started with 3.5 oz. Rowe all-Canadian beef patties.

As for winning, “it always feels great to surprise people. Being voted first by the very esteemed judging panel as well as winning People’s Choice Award was a huge win on all fronts.”

The Eclectic Cafe and catering has been in operation for the last seven years in Orillia at 39 Mississaga St.

“Where food comes from local farms and customers feel like family.”

Joe Friday took away the runner-up prize with his bun-a-petite garnishing team loading on all the top toppings.

‘Who can eat 5 burgers?’

Lisa and Mark Kean are avowed carnivores.

They love their burgers and eschew fruits and vegetables as much as is real.

But: “Who can eat 5 burgers?”

That was their dilemma as they chewed through entrées by competing hot and sweaty BBQ chefs and their garnish-topping buna-petite teams.

It was like a Calgary Stampede pancake breakfast. A dozen burgers sizzling at a time.

Food tickets were $45 for the long lineups, but site admission was free to wander and buy wares from vendors.

There’s a couple more events like this year and next year more frequent market days are planned.

Lucas Rowe, whose company provided all the grub on the grills, said read meat sales are “doing fine,” despite cows being chased off the plate by chicken.

“In fact they’re up.”

The new “Marketplace Flavours Venue” was teeming with tire-kickers who enjoyed another outdoor option on the Muskoka menu, which offered everything from bagels and macrons to beer and of course Arnold Palmer’s choice of drink on the 19th hole — 8-year-old Goldie Barash-MacGillvary’s lovely cold natural lemonade and ice tea.

Lisa Kean, of Gravenhurst, take a burger break while wondered how she’d ever get through five slider burgers to judge a winner. Tough job, but somebody had to do it.

Nice problem to have

Hale owner Eric Abugov was thrilled with the grilled response.

“This was the kick off event and we didn’t anticipate the deluge of folks that we saw.  We don’t anticipate surges such as the one we had on opening day for future events,” including a full slate next year.”

He admitted to hearing about parking and traffic jams along Bethune Drive North at Hwy. 11.

One neighbour who called this morning lauds the new business cited safety concerns and suggested renting parking space from the nearby vacant summer school bus yard.

“We have heard and we did have two shuttle busses,” replied Abugov.

“We’re on it though.”

Barn-raising concerns also pop up

Other residents hate to see plans for the end of the old Simpson farm barn to be replaced by a modern event centre and commercial kitchen.

“I think it is great that he has a new business going, but I think it is too bad that his plans include tearing down an historic barn,” emailed one.

“Another piece of local history will be gone,” emailed a third.

They wondered why the local landmark doesn’t have a Municipal Heritage Committee designation.

The Market Place land vendors area may not soon be dominated on the horizon by the historic urban barn, one of the last in Muskoka close to a town’s core.
The inside of the venerable old building has housed hay and farm implements for generations of the Simpson and Draper families.
Till the cows come home. Not long now. Some wonder if it’s too late to have it declared a Gravenhurst heritage site.
Owner Eric and creative director Manny Neubacher were hot, but happy, with Sunday’s soft opening.
Matthew Elsirafy and partner Jessica Agbolade came from Brampton with a half dozen burgers to taste and pick a winner.
Jeff Tiemens accepts a copy of Bracebridge chef Charmaine Broughton’s cookbook “Delicious Doable” from the judge after he bid more than $1,200 for a BBQ used in the contest. Proceeds went to local charities.
Contestant Paul Boehmer takes a break from the grill to allow Lucas Rowe to watch over the dozen patties on the grill at a time.
Where’s the beef? Here’s the beef. Rowe meat patties were the meat du jour Sunday for all five chefs at Hale Muskoka’s opening BBQ and contest judging.
Laura Foreman, whose son Chad helped build the Hale Muskoka site, shields herself from the searing sun with a perfect parosol.
Goldie Barash-MacGillvary mixes an “Arnold Palmer” for a couple of kids as Ali Lawee takes orders from the eager and thirsty customers.
Helen Chang, left, and her neice YJ Hong-McParland serve Korean beef and sushi to Arielle Ackford, who’s hanging out in Burk’s Falls this summer making and selling macrons with her friend Lindsay Nichola.
Melissa Douglas kept everyone hydrated with a canoe full of ice cold water.
Bride and bridesmaid? Nope. Crystal Collins and friend Tara Rayner, of Gravenhurst, bought beautiful bouquets of flowers from one of more than a dozen or more vendors selling wares.
Shawn Legault walked away with a flat of fresh, red ripe, mouth-watering Ontario strawberries.
Burger winners hoisted the first Hale Muskoka hardware after judges announced their pick of the patties.

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