The Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) is celebrating Canada’s favourite cocktail with the launch of Peterborough’s first-ever Caesar Fest, running from Thursday (July 13) until the end of July.
During Caesar Fest, 11 downtown restaurants, pubs, and cafes are featuring their own unique and savoury homages to this Canadian classic, including Caesar cocktails and mocktails and Caesar-inspired food dishes, all vying to be crowned Caesar Fest victor through online votes.
Invented in 1969 by restaurant manager Walter Chell of the Calgary Inn (now the Westin Hotel), the original Caesar cocktail combines vodka with clam and tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, and other spices to create a drink similar to a Bloody Mary but with a uniquely spicy flavour. Chell was inspired by the Italian dish of spaghetti alle vongole (spaghetti with tomato sauce and clams), and named the drink after his Italian ancestry.
The Caesar soon became uniquely popular among Canadians, especially those living in western Canada. According to the Mott’s company, which developed the clam and tomato juice Clamato around the same time the Caesar was invented (and which has become a key ingredient of the cocktail), the Caesar is the most popular mixed drink in Canada with an estimated 350 million Caesars consumed every year.
During Peterborough’s Caesar Fest, participating restaurants will serve up a variety of Caesar cocktails and Caesar-inspired dishes, from the classic cocktail to more adventurous concoctions.
Caesar cocktails and mocktails offered during Caesar Fest include Naka’s Shogun Caesar, Dirty Burger’s Dirty Muddy Caesar, the Black Horse Pub’s Hangover Cure, Wing House’s classic Caesar, The El [P] Kimchi Caesar, Turnbull Café’s Cheesy E-scape, The Vine’s Papa Tom’s Caesar, and La Hacienda’s Fiery Mexican Caesar.
Peterborough Caesar Fest Participating Restaurants
Caesar-inspired dishes include Kit Coffee’s Caesar Bruschetta Danish, Turnbull Café’s Caesar Chicken Wrap, Erben’s Dry Rub Caesar Wings, Erben’s Caesar Chicken Sando, and Boardwalk Game Lounge’s Bloody Caesar Salad.
The winning restaurant based on online votes will receive bragging rights and a hand-crafted Caesar Fest trophy.
Y-Drive Peterborough and Y-Drive Eats are sponsoring this event. To encourage festival-goers to leave their cars at home, Y-Drive Peterborough is offering 50 per cent off rides to Caesar Fest participating locations and Y-Drive Eats will be offering free delivery when ordering takeout from Caesar Fest restaurants.
“Caesar Fest is a really fun and new way to bring the continuous, multi-site food fest model into the summer patio season,” says Shivaan Burke, programs and engagement coordinator for the Peterborough DBIA, in a media release. “Downtown revellers can spice things up by making this a cocktail crawl and feel good about getting home safely thanks to our partnership with Y-Drive.”
The Peterborough DBIA has also contracted local performance artist Naomi Duvall to animate the program.
“People can look out for Julia Caes-Her ‘Rome-ing’ around downtown promoting Caesar Fest in real time, toasting the competition and partaking of the spoils,” reads a media release.
For more information about Peterborough’s Caesar Fest, including individual drinks and dishes as well as how to take advantage of the deals from Y-Drive Peterborough and Y-Drive Eats, and to vote online for your favourites, visit www.ptbocaesarfest.com.
