Since it was first opened by Brad and Katie Watt as Rare Grill House in 2007, Rare restaurant has been a staple in downtown Peterborough, recognized as one of the best fine-dining establishments in the city. Now, new owners Andrew Lewin and Mai Dong are building on that reputation with a new name, a new menu, chef tastings, and monthly events.

Last August, previous owners Tyler and Kassy Scott — who purchased Rare Grill House in 2019 — sold Rare Culinary Art Studio, as the restaurant was most recently known, to Lewin and Dong, who have relaunched it as Rare Restaurant and Bar.

Lewin’s previous roles both as a chef du cuisine and a sous chef have prepared him to take over Rare’s kitchen as executive chef. Dong, who was last year’s silver medallist at the Skills Canada National Competition after landing gold at the provincial level, is sous chef and front-of-house manager.

Though the duo are now co-owners of Rare, this isn’t the first time they’ve worked together. Lewin was Dong’s mentor while she worked with the chef — a world traveller with over 25 years of experience — at his previous ventures. Having just arrived from Vietnam to study culinary management at Fleming College, she was drawn to his ability to work with the Asian flavours and simple ingredients with which she had grown up.

“He’s the one I’ve always wanted to learn from,” says Dong. “Chef Andrew has travelled the world and has picked up the best techniques and skills from all over.”

Before Rare went up for sale, Dong had no intention of purchasing a restaurant. Inspired by her mentor, she was planning to travel after completing her studies before eventually returning to work in a commercial hotel kitchen. When she saw the Scotts were selling Rare, she encouraged Lewin to purchase it so he could have a kitchen of his own calibre.

“I encouraged him because it’s a four-season restaurant and he cooks such great food,” Dong recalls. “If he has his own restaurant, people will know who he is. When you work for others, it really limits your creations.”

She didn’t intend to be involved in the restaurant’s operation until she first stepped into Rare.

“I remember thinking ‘This is such a beautiful space’ and I just fell in love.”

She decided that co-owning the restaurant would allow her to not only continue to learn from her mentor, but would also give her the opportunity to practise what she had learned after graduating in 2022 from Fleming College — which has since announced Dong as the recipient of the college’s 2023 Alumna of Distinction award, recognizing outstanding alumni who have made significant contributions in their professional field and communities.

Together, the duo first opened the restaurant on August 31, 2022 — Dong’s 23rd birthday.

Though opening the restaurant was intimidating, Dong says it helped to have had the support of previous owners Tyler and Kassy Scott throughout the first few months of operation.

“We respect the history of the restaurant and we respect the people who originally built it and the people who’ve visited,” Dong says, adding they’ve worked “to earn the trust” of previous customers.

To honour the restaurant’s history, Dong says they’ve kept much of the feel of Rare but have added their own creations to the menu.

“We still have the best steaks in town, but at the same time we’ve put it in our own colours and our own flavours.”

Though Rare had continued to serve previous chef Tyler Scott’s original menu until a few weeks ago, the new menu introduces French cuisine-inspired delicacies you won’t find in other local restaurants — including crispy frog legs, roasted pig tails, and roasted bone marrow. Although some people were initially surprised by these dishes, according to Dong, they’ve since become some of the most popular items on the menu.

Along with steaks, entrées include Cornish hen, duck, pork, and salmon — all prepared by Lewin and Dong with fine-dining flair.

“We wanted to spice it up and we wanted to our own thing,” Dong explains. “Every single plate going out is beautiful.”

That includes the restaurant’s more traditional and affordable offerings, including a burger, a vegetarian pasta, and fish and chips.

“We’re fine dining but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have more affordable options,” Dong explains. “It lets everybody come in and not just when you’re celebrating an anniversary or a birthday.”

In fact, Rare offers something for almost every day of the week, including the Monday to Saturday happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. On top of that, Mondays offer half-price appetizers, Tuesday is Pasta Day, Wednesdays are half-price specials on house bottles of wine, and Thursday offers date nights for couples — including a three-course meal with wine pairing.

A separate menu is available for occasional Sunday brunch buffets, including on Father’s Day. The menu puts a twist on the traditional brunch menu, offering an avocado toast that’s topped with a torched salmon and the French toast with matcha coconut. Favourite brunch bevvies, like mimosas and espresso martinis, are also available.

For a change from the restaurant’s regular menu, Rare also hosts chef tastings with a different theme each month. Previous tastings have featured Mexican and French cuisine, while just last month, guests were able to taste Dong’s award-winning dishes from last year’s Skills competition. At the end of June, Rare will provide a five-course tasting menu of “scallop bliss” with wine pairing.

Like the menu, the dining room itself offers the best of both casual and upscale, with the opportunity to book private dining and catering for special events. An open-concept kitchen lets guests watch Lewin cook up their meals and provides a space where they can learn from him.

At a special event last month, guests were invited to watch as Lewin made fresh ramen, while coming up in June, Dong hopes to host a spring roll night that will invite guests to come in and roll their own.

These events are part of Dong and Lewins’ efforts to create a space that feels less like a typical restaurant and more like an opportunity to come together and celebrate food.

While Dong describes Rare Restaurant and Bar as being “like a studio,” she and Lewin decided not to keep the previous name of Rare Culinary Arts Studio to avoid confusion from guests. After previous owners Tyler and Kassy Scott renamed their original restaurant from Rare to Rare Culinary Arts Studio last year, they no longer provided regular dinner service.

“We do want to redefine what a restaurant is,” Dong explains. “It’s not just to come in, eat, and go out. Food is an art. Why do you have a studio for any other art like music and painting but not a culinary studio?”

Rare Restaurant and Bar is currently open at 166 Brock Street in downtown Peterborough. Visit www.rareculinaryartsstudio.ca to see the dinner and brunch menus.

To learn more about upcoming events and chef’s tastings, follow Rare Restaurant and Bar on Instagram and Facebook.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with Rare Restaurant and Bar. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

The New Canadians Centre is encouraging Nogojiwanong-Peterborough residents to sample the flavours of the world during the Multicultural Food Crawl in June, leading up to the non-profit organization’s second Canadian Multicultural Festival from June 23 to 30.

The festival includes Canadian Multiculturalism Day on Tuesday, June 27th. First celebrated in 2003, Canadian Multiculturalism Day is dedicated to celebrating the diverse cultures that make up Canada. The New Canadians Centre supports more than 1,000 newcomers every year from over 90 countries and speaking more than 60 different languages, and each of them bring unique customs, music, dance, food, sports, and stories that contribute to a vibrant community.

For the Multicultural Food Crawl, the New Canadians Centre has teamed up with the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) to highlight international dishes available at 10 restaurants in downtown Peterborough.

The participating restaurants are Bhojan Indian Cuisine and Bar, Brothers Pizza, Curry Mantra, Dirty Burger, La Hacienda, La Mesita, Levantine Grill, Milk and Tea Shop, Naka Japanese, and Poco Burro / Poco Gelato.

Until June 30, for every $10 you spend at one of the participating restaurants, you will receive a stamp to add to your Multicultural Food Passport. Passports can be picked up at any of the participating restaurants or at the New Canadians Centre’s office at 221 Romaine Street in downtown Peterborough.

Everyone who collects six or more stamps by the end of the month will be entered into a draw to win one of three $100 Boro gift cards that can be redeemed at downtown businesses.

Participating Restaurants – Multicultural Festival Food Crawl

“Downtown is the place to go to try flavours from around the world in Peterborough,” says DBIA executive director Terry Guiel. “We love that this partnership with our friends at the New Canadians Centre continues to highlight the multiculturalism that exists within our downtown restaurant scene.”

As part of the Multicultural Food Crawl, locals and visitors alike are invited to stroll the streets of downtown Peterborough on Saturday, June 24th for Flavours of the World Sampling Day. Between 12 p.m. and 7 p.m., each of the participating restaurants will be giving out free samples of some of their favourite and most diverse dishes.

Some of the sample dishes showcase traditional techniques and cooking methods, like the karaage chicken sliders that can be sampled at Naka Japanese. Karaage is a Japanese cooking technique in which food is marinated before being deep-fried and, in the case of the Naka samplers, put into a mini-sandwich. Owner Susan Tung describes the sampler as a “Japanese version of a fried-chicken sandwich.”

“I’m very passionate about expanding the amount of diversity in Peterborough,” says Tung, explaining why she was eager to participate in the Multicultural Food Crawl. “The more options we have here, the more people we can cater to and make feel welcome in our community. It’s really important to highlight the different foods we have here that people don’t even know about.”

Some of the participating restaurants are new businesses that see the Multicultural Food Crawl as a great way to introduce themselves to the Peterborough community.

“We are a new business trying to set up in the community and giving a sample is a good way to show people what they can expect from us,” says Minal Budrani, co-owner of Poco Burro Burritos.

At Poco Burro, June 24th samplers will feature tastings of their burrito fillings, including two of their most popular proteins, the homemade Spicy Chicken 65 and their vegetarian tangy chickpea. Gelato from their new venture, Poco Gelato, will also be available for sampling.

“The sampling day on June 24th gives the restaurants an opportunity to showcase special recipes from their culture, and also gives community members a chance to go around and experience a variety of cuisines,” Guiel says.

For Chef Om Patel, owner of Dirty Burger, Flavours of the World Sampling Day is an opportunity to feature items on his menu heavily influenced by his Ugandan and Indian heritage.

“It’s rare to see these items at a burger joint, so we want to showcase that and share this heritage,” he says.

That’s why Dirty Burger will be serving up vadas, which Patel calls an “Indian street food staple,” that involves frying a potato patty with a chickpea batter and serving it on chutney. His vadas are vegan, gluten-free, and — Om assures — not as spicy as the ones typically served in India.

Other tasty treats participants can expect to find on June 24th include La Hacienda’s esquites (Mexican street corn), La Mesita’s Mayan cupcakes, Bhojan’s Indian cumin-spiced lemonade, Curry Mantra’s samosas and spring rolls, Levantine Grill’s lentil salad and stuffed grape leaves, and more.

The New Canadians Centre is encouraging participants to share their love of Peterborough’s international cuisine by voting for their favourite restaurant in the Multicultural Food Crawl and by tagging the New Canadians Centre @newcanadianscentre #multiculturalfoodcrawlptbo on Instagram or Facebook.

The New Canadians Centre and the DBIA will draw two votes and two social media posts at random, with each of the four winners receiving a $25 Boro gift card.

The New Canadians Centre’s Canadian Multicultural Festival, running from June 23 to 30, kicks off with a Family Zumba Party from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, June 23rd at Quaker Foods City Square in downtown Peterborough. Organized in partnership with the City of Peterborough, the event features free face-painting, henna tattoos, giveaways, and more.

The festival also features a “Try It” Series to introduce participants to dance, cooking, sports, and crafts from across the world facilitated by experts in the community and newcomers who share a love of their cultural traditions. The five-part series runs from June 26 to 30 at the New Canadians Centre, the YMCA, and Quaker Foods City Square.

Marking World Refugee Day on June 20, there will also be a panel discussion called “Healing and Hope – Reflections on Refugee Experiences in Canada” from 6 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 27th at the Peterborough Public Library.

For event details and updates about the Canadian Multicultural Festival, visit nccpeterborough.ca/multiculturalismfestival/.

This branded editorial was created in partnership with the New Canadians Centre. If your organization or business is interested in a branded editorial, contact us.

This story has been updated with a new date, time, and location of the Family Zumba Party kick-off for the Canadian Multicultural Festival.