My daily bread...
And just like that… we’re heading into the last few days of September.
What a beautiful stretch of fall weather we’ve had. Bright sunny days, crisp evenings, a little frost here and there reminding us that yes, fall really is here.
We’ve got just two outdoor Farmers’ Markets left before we wrap up another season, Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, and today we officially said goodbye to the Rise patio.
I snapped this photo early one morning last week as the sun was coming up, and I’m very glad I did. That little patio has been such a lovely part of our summer.
Don’t panic. I kept some of the tables and as long as Mother Nature keeps giving us these beautiful fall days, we’ll squeeze as many tables as we can onto the sidewalk. We’re not giving up outdoor coffee season that easily.
As I mentioned last week, we’re getting a new roof over Rise this coming week, and we decided it made sense to clear the patio to give everyone a little more room in the parking lot while the work is happening. There may be a bit more congestion than usual, so please bear with us.
Now… onto this week’s menu.
The girls have been giving me the gears because apparently EVERYTHING we make lately is Harvest This, Market That, Golden Something… and they have officially had enough.
Fair.
So this week I’m going to try very hard to come up with some new names.
Although, considering we just had a beautiful Harvest Full Moon last night, I feel like the universe is still on my side.
Here we go... another week at Rise.💛
Monday Morning at Rise ☕️
Doors open at 7am and we’ll be waiting for you.
The coffee will be going, the baristas will be ready, and the muffins will already be sitting on the counter when you crack open the door. From there, the pastry counter slowly starts filling up as the morning rolls along.
And this weather is definitely calling for something warm in your hands. Our house Pumpkin Spice Latte is happening, along with Golden Milk, chai and, of course, all your regular Birdy Coffee favorites.
And then there’s the BLT. With all the roof work happening this week, we’ve been warned that we may temporarily lose our gas.
DO NOT PANIC. THE BLTs ARE SAFE. We have Plan B locked and loaded, electric griddles are standing by and the BLT station will be armed and ready to go. There will be no interruption in BLTs on our watch.
Then we start filling the cooler…
First up Monday morning will be our Grilled Chicken Wraps, and then we’re getting right into this week’s salad bowls.
And this one is going to be GOOD.
We’re mixing quinoa with two beautiful gluten-free pastas, buckwheat and spinach along with vermicelli rice noodles, fresh spinach and loads of fresh veggies.
Then comes that Mango-Lime Vinaigrette we keep coming back to because it just works. Bright, fresh, a little sweet, a little tangy and ridiculously good with all those grains, noodles and vegetables.
And see those beautiful pink beets in the photo? We quick-pickled those on Friday, and they’ll be making their way onto the bowls too, along with toasted sunflower seeds and a big handful of fresh Balmoral Microgreens. Brian usually drops our microgreens off around 9am Monday morning, freshly harvested and about as local and delicious as it gets. We open the bags and they pretty much go straight onto your lunch.
I grabbed one of our salad bowls for my own dinner last week when I was racing out the door. And I have to say…
Damn. We make a good salad.
Sourdough line-up...
Monday - no sourdough loaves
Tuesday - Red Fife Country Loaf and Superseed Multigrain Loaf and Sourdough Bagels (Everything Spice & Pumpernickel)
Wednesday - Classic 60/40 Brown Loaf and Organic 100% Whole Grain Dark Rye Loaf and Sourdough Milk Buns and Bialys
Thursday - Light Rye Loaves
Friday - Red Fife Country Loaves
LUNCH AT RISE | WEDNESDAY • THURSDAY • FRIDAY
WEDNESDAY | SOUP DAY
Creamy Tomato & Veggie Soup
Those beautiful heirloom tomatoes are still coming home with me from the Farmers’ Market every weekend although I know our days with them are numbered. So while we have them, you’re going to keep seeing them weave their way through the Rise menu. Wednesday, they’re going into the soup pot.
This is definitely not your average tomato soup.
We’ll roast those gorgeous heirloom tomatoes to concentrate all that flavor, along with sweet red peppers that we’ll grill until they’re soft, sweet and delicious. Then we start adding vegetables, some puréed right into the soup to give it body and creaminess, and others actually grated into the pot so you get all that beautiful texture.
There will be a little cream, but not a ton. Most of that rich, velvety texture is coming straight from the vegetables themselves.
And because Wednesday has officially become Bun & Bialy Day around here, your tomato soup has options.
Grab one of our sourdough milk buns individually to have alongside your bowl, OR…go for a sourdough bialy.
We’re still playing with flavors every week, but this Wednesday I’m thinking CHEESE. Lots of it. Think of it as our Rise version of the ultimate open-faced grilled cheese which, really, is exactly what goes perfectly with tomato soup!
We start ladling Soup at 11am💛
THURSDAY | HOT LUNCH
Falafel Pilaf Bowl
Okay, Thursday. This one has been rolling around in our heads for a few weeks, and I think it’s going to be SO good.
We’re starting with a big, beautiful warm pilaf - rice, orzo, barley and lentils cooked in chicken stock with onion, celery and garlic, then loaded up with finely chopped roasted red peppers, spinach and lots of fresh herbs.
Everything will be chopped nice and small so it all becomes one hearty, savory, ridiculously flavorful base.
Then we’re making falafel from scratch.
And because apparently we can’t just have plain falafel, ours will be Golden Beet & Quinoa Falafel. Crispy on the outside, tender inside and piled warm on top of that pilaf.
Then comes the cold stuff.
A big spoonful of tzatziki, because obviously.
And on top, we’re playing with a fresh little chopped salad that’s somewhere between a Greek salad, our dill-pickle relish and an olive tapenade. Cucumber, peppers, tomato, dill pickles, olives, fresh herbs and something bright and lemony to bring the whole thing together.
So you get warm pilaf + warm falafel + cold tzatziki + crunchy, briny, fresh salad all in one bowl.
Ohhhh, this is going to be good and we start serving it up at 11am.💛
FRIDAY | TGIF PIZZA
The Big Cheese
Apparently this is the week of cheese at Rise. And Friday, we’re going ALL IN.
We’re starting, as always, with our sourdough pizza crust and that creamy garlicky white base.
And then?
CHEESE. Dill Havarti. Aged cheddar. Emmental. Swiss. Manchego. Maybe a little smoked cheddar. And whatever other beautiful cheese we happen to find in the fridge Friday morning!
That’s it. Into the oven it goes, sourdough, garlic cream and an absolutely unreasonable amount of cheese.
The minute it comes out, we’ll lay ribbons of beautiful, paper-thin prosciutto over the top while everything is still piping hot, just enough to warm it and let it melt into all that cheese.
THEN we finish it Rise-style: Garlicky aioli. Fresh Balmoral microgreens. Those gorgeous heirloom tomatoes. Crumbled feta. Fresh cracked pepper. Vancouver Island sea salt flakes.
I mean… come on.
The Big Cheese coming out of the oven at 11am.💛
CHEESECAKE FRIDAY
Last Campfire of the season S’mores Cheesecake
You might be able to squeeze in another camping weekend or two, but we’ve been talking about this one in the kitchen for a while and decided this is the week for one last campfire.
And don’t worry, you don’t need to head into the bush, find the perfect roasting stick and sharpen the end.
We’ve got this one covered for you.
We’re building a s’more right into a cheesecake.
And we mean actually building it. Layer by layer.
We’ll start with a buttery graham cracker crust and our classic New York-style cheesecake, just a little less deep this week because we need to leave room for what’s coming next.
Once that cheesecake is completely chilled, we’re adding a layer of our house-made marshmallow, followed by a beautiful layer of dark chocolate ganache.
So when we slice into it, you’ll get:
Graham cracker crust.
New York cheesecake.
Soft marshmallow.
Chocolate ganache.
And we’re definitely not stopping there.
Friday morning we’ll pile it up with Chantilly, little house-made graham crackers, chunks of chocolate and tiny homemade marshmallows that we’ll toast until they’re golden, blistered and maybe just a little bit charred around the edges.
No tent required.
No campfire required.
No roasting stick required.
Just bring a fork.💛
AND THEN… I’M HITTING THE ROAD
Friday morning I’ll be at Rise bright and early, just like always.
I’ll get the bread into the ovens, make sure everything is rolling along and then I’m doing something I haven’t been able to do in a very long time.
I’m making myself a coffee, packing a couple of treats, a little truck picnic, and I’m heading to Calgary for the day.
I’m leaving Rise in the hands of an incredible team who have truly made this place their own.
We’ve had a lot of changes over the past few months, but somewhere along the way, everything just started clicking. These ladies are dialed in. They know their stations, they know each other, they know what needs to happen and every single one of them brings something different and valuable to this kitchen.
So naturally, I’ve loaded up the Friday schedule and practically EVERYONE is working.
Because if I’m going to leave town, I might as well do it on a Friday when we’re launching The Big Cheese Pizza, cutting into Last Campfire S’mores Cheesecake, baking everyone's favorite loaf and filling that pastry counter to the brim.
What could possibly go wrong?
Actually, I’m not worried one bit.
You know what they say… When the cat’s away, the mice will play.
And I sincerely hope they do.
I hope they crank the music too loud, laugh a lot, make some incredible food, pour the best coffee of their life and have an absolutely fantastic Friday together.
As for me, this isn’t quite a day off... I have an agenda.
There are meetings lined up with some incredible people whose products I would love to bring to Rise. There are businesses I’ve been wanting to visit that simply aren’t open on weekends. And somewhere in between all of that, I have a rather ambitious list of Calgary coffee shops, bakeries and little places I’ve been dying to check out.
There will be coffee.
There will be pastries.
There will be research.
There will most definitely be things coming home in the truck.
And hopefully, there will be a few new ideas coming back to Rise with me too.
Have an amazing week, friends.
I’ll see you Monday morning and on Friday, be nice to the mice.
I’ll be right back here next Sunday to tell you what I found in Calgary and what's coming out of the Rise Kitchen.💛
