Visit Saskatoon in the winter, and taxi drivers tell you stories about people freezing to death in the northern Canadian prairie. Possibly apocryphal, the tales always end identically: The farmhouse seemed closer than it really was. Come summer and early fall, though, this city ranks among the great unexpected places for long weekends. The weather is temperate; locals exude small-city politeness and say “you betcha” with such gusto that you actually flash positively on Sarah Palin.
Saskatoon’s food scene has begun to pop, and the city-bisecting South Saskatchewan River serves as a focal point for seasonal activities — such as canoeing, which is a must-do and can be arranged through an operation called Canoeski (yes, it puts together ski trips in the winter, canoeski.com). Located 785 miles north of Minneapolis, Saskatoon is as surprising as it is charming.
We start off by checking into the James Hotel (rooms from $199, thejameshotel.ca), Saskatoon’s newish boutique, all done up in minimalist design and featuring a cool little cocktail lounge downstairs. A dude behind the bar, with his brown hair up in a bun, makes his own tinctures and insists on fresh fruit juices. Sipping superior Brown Derbies, we feel right at home. Having requested a riverfront room, we wake up to early morning views of tree-lined South Saskatchewan, and immediately get into the spirit of this place.
Foregoing a rental car, we manage to cover much of the city on foot, while springing for the occasional cab. Nowhere you want to go seems to be far from anything else. Saskatoon is known as a hub of festivals, and we arrive right on time for an event called the Dragon Boat Races. Designed as a fund-raiser for the local Heart and Stroke Foundation, the races bring 50 dragon boats into the water, manned by 22-person crews. They skitter down the river to cheers from crowds that line the banks and watch late afternoon encroach on their low-rise city.
That night, we make our way to a neighborhood called Riversdale. It’s loaded with hipsters, spotted with gang graffiti and running good and bad as you go from block to block. Of course it has the requisite coffee bars, highlighted by spiffy Collective Coffee (collectivecoffee.com) situated downstairs from a building loaded with creative entrepreneurs. Down the block, at Underground Cafe (430 20th St. West), Vinyl is for sale and the DJ favors Television and Pere Ubu. Cool new housing, which will soon include The Banks and The Edge — townhouses, condos and commercial spaces, punched up with primary colored panels on building exteriors — confirm the current ascent of Riversdale. This neighborhood also plays home to The Hollows (thehollows.ca), one of the best restaurants in town. It’s situated in an old Chinese place and serves modern Canadian cuisine (the steelhead trout with winter vegetables rocks). The owners were smart enough to keep the campy Sino stylings in place.
While the DJ scene in Saskatoon is never going to rival that of Vegas or New York (or even Calgary, for that matter), the place for dancing on weekends is the Spadina Freehouse (thefreehouse.com), a restaurant that turns into Sask’s cool night-spot at about 11 p.m. Never mind that the setting is a little low-key; there’s something sweet about hanging with local club kids — including one who might or might not realize that he presents himself as a cut-rate imitation of “Raw Power”-era Iggy Pop — while a DJ spins house-heavy sets and the cocktails flow in this once dry city that has done a complete 180. That change is underscored by local distiller Lucky Bastard (luckybastard.ca), which produces a gin that you’d rather not sully with vermouth.
The next morning, we stroll across Broadway Bridge to the Broadway District, where cute shops and bakeries abound. We settle down at Broadway Roastery (broadwayroastery.com) for cups of strong coffee and locally baked muffins. Then it’s back to the other side of the river for a quick run through Saskatoon Farmers Market (saskatoonfarmersmarket.com), where, inside, you get stunningly authentic Vietnamese summer rolls and perfectly gooey cinnamon buns, while brilliant cherries and sweet plums shipped up from Vancouver are to be had on the outside. The whole thing is soundtracked by a busking guitarist cruising from the Eagles to Elvis to Merle Haggard. Alongside him, a grill man named Johnny Hollywood makes pretty good brats and burgers.
We pass a battalion of food trucks situated near the Jet Ski races taking place on the South Saskatchewan River — and later discover that a recent change in law allows for restaurants on wheels — but there is no time to taste or tarry. We’re hustling to the Mendel Art Gallery (mendel.ca), the city’s art museum that had been recently endowed with a donation of 405 Picasso linocuts, to check out the local aesthetics and catch a documentary on Canadian abstract art.
That night, we preview a restaurant that has the potential to put Saskatoon on the food map. Dale MacKay, winner of “Top Chef Canada” and a Saskatoon native, is in the process of opening Ayden Kitchen & Bar (aydenkitchenandbar.com), named for his son. Besides his menu of elevated comfort food, he’ll be selling charcuterie, freshly butchered meat and a carefully chosen selection of cheeses.
MacKay gave us a sneak preview in his under-construction dining room. We eat pickerel that he and his executive chef caught one day earlier, terrifically earthy sausage and a cold cantaloupe soup infused with Thai spices that stick with me.
After a dessert of panna cotta topped by Saskatoon berries and flecks of candied ginger, we finish up with nightcaps at Duck Duck Goose (duckduckgoosetapas.com), a cozy, small-plate joint where the rail-thin, charismatic manager Aman Saleh has got to be one of the most welcoming men on earth. He recognizes me from an earlier trip, and says hello with a terrific hug. Following a round of his coffee shots — made with a dash of freshly ground espresso, espresso vodka and Frangelico that equals more than the sum of its part — he insists, “You really ought to move here. I’ll set up poetry readings for you in the restaurant. You’ll become a cult figure.”
A few more of Saleh’s shots, and I just might take him up on his offer.