Billy Alexander
Executive chef and culinary advisor, Caldwell First Nation Caldwell First Nation opens restaurant and the first Indigenous-owned winery in Eastern Canada.
“Call Indigenous cuisine a trend if you want,” says Billy Alexander, executive chef and culinary advisor for Caldwell First Nation, in Leamington, Ont. “But if Indigenous cuisine is a trend, it’s the oldest food trend in North America,” he quips. “We have been here for a minimum of 14,000 years and living this way for that and longer.”
From charcuterie to seasonal eating to sustainable approaches to growing and harvesting food, some of the most popular food trends of the past two decades are foundational to Indigenous cooking. “Our culture has shaped many cultures’ ideas of food,” agrees Alexander.
Ontarians can make that connection for themselves sometime this fall when he and Caldwell First Nation open Three Fires: an Indigenous Culinary Experience along the north shore of Lake Erie (now known as Leamington, Ont.). The restaurant and event space, which overlooks Sturgeon Creek, aims to be a showcase for Indigenous cuisine and hospitality. And it’s being done on a grand scale: Three Fires can accommodate over 600 guests. (The opening is contingent upon construction restrictions due to COVID-19 being eased.)
The menu offerings will be seasonally inspired and make use of local ingredients. There will be game, but Alexander wants to dispel the myth that Indigenous food is entirely carnivorous, so there’ll be vegetarian and vegan offerings, too. He also plans to incorporate traditional medicines into food, adding sweetgrass to preserves and sauces.
Serendipity saw Three Fires gain a vineyard. After Caldwell First Nation won its land claim in 2020, they discovered two and a half acres of vines, and upon assessing the viability of the plot for wine cultivation, planted more grapes. The organic Indigenous-owned winery will be the first in Eastern Canada. For Alexander, the vineyard adds a future-facing element to the overall experience of Indigenous cuisine and hospitality he hopes to create: “We will do it in a way that speaks to who we are.”