Three Fires Vineyard and Restaurant Caldwell First Nation Ontario
The development of this new vineyard was truly a gift received from the Creator. Not long after purchasing land, Caldwell First Nation were surprised to find existing vines, including chardonnay and riesling varieties. After exploring the possibility of wine-making in consultation with wine experts, the band council agreed to move forward with the development of their own organic winery.
Leading the charge in establishing Three Fires Restaurant is award-winning Executive Chef Bill Alexander, who learned about traditional Indigenous cooking from his Mohawk mother. With the goal of offering a truly enjoyable and authentic experience, he plans to offer organic fare, pairing wines with traditional Indigenous and locally-sourced foods. In a recent interview with SAY Magazine, Alexander described just how Three Fires Vineyard and Three Fires Restaurant are redefining what experiential tourism looks like.
SAY: What is the story behind the name Three Fires?
Alexander: The Three Fires name draws from history and comes from the many
Chef Billy Alexander
significances of fire to Indigneous Peoples. For the restaurant, we have narrowed it down to three. First, fire represents our oldest ways of survival—living, cooking techniques, smoking, drying, the curing out process, and the heat and warmth associated with it. The second is how fire can be regenerative—how we once used fire for controlled burns, which promotes regrowth and rebirth. It’s something we’ve done in our culture for our entirety. The third has to do with the spiritual side. It represents our crossing over from the physical world to the spiritual world, walking through fire as a natural
Located on their traditional lands enroute to Point Pelee, Caldwell First Nation has embarked on building the gold standard of Indigenous tourism. This includes the development of Three Fires Vineyard, the first Indigenous winery in Eastern Canada, as well as Three Fires Restaurant, which will be the largest Indigenous restaurant in the world. After years of research and planning, Three Fires plans to officially open their doors in the fall, showcasing the stories of Caldwell First Nation through wine and food.
purification of our spirit. For me, it represents survival, regeneration and the spiritual side of our two worlds that truly govern and dictate who we are as people in this world.
SAY: Tell us more about the state-of-theart restaurant that is currently being built. Alexander: It is a beautiful building that will operate as a world-class restaurant with all of the benefits, and the look, of a winery. Three Fires is located on a marina property owned by Caldwell, so it showcases incredible waterfront views. The restaurant offers capacity to seat 650 people, including 400 people on our ground level and rooftop patios. With our restaurant being so big, it creates many opportunities for fluidity in our business and to do things year-round, featuring our wines and creativity, and welcoming events of all sizes.
SAY: How will experiential tourism be different with Three Fires?
Alexander: We are setting ourselves up for the e-commerce side of things, which includes building a unique online and inperson experience, as well as developing our online restaurant reservation system. Telling our stories is such an important part of Indigenous culture, so in addition to all of the other tangible activities available here, like access to the marina, voyageur canoes and medicine walks, we are trying to create a very interactive experience from a culinary perspective. We plan to offer more virtual experiences: wine and food shows, cooking and pairing aspects, and master cooking classes that feature both our Indigenous ingredients and wines. The hope is to be able to ship these items to people for them to partake from the comfort of their own homes with the guidance and experience of our culture and how we tie our Indigenous food and beverage together. The online platform should be ready to launch later this summer just prior to the restaurant opening.
SAY: Talk a little bit about the vineyard and selection of wines that will soon be available.
Alexander: There’s a lot of work that’s happened in the vineyard this spring. We recently planted seven acres of vines and completed all of the ground work in preparation for the planting of another 13 acres next year. As for the wine, we bottled five varieties last year: 2020 Riesling; 2020 Chardonnay Musque Skin Fermented White; 2020 Chardonnay; 2019 Cabernet Franc; and a little something different for Southern Ontario—a 2020 Riesling: Chardonnay Musque Pet Nat. It’s a newer trendier thing we’re seeing; however, it’s one of the most original ways to do it. The Pet Nat predates champagne, but not a lot of places do it because it’s a totally different technique and process involved. We want to continue to get creative with our wines and do some different things in the coming years than what people might expect.
SAY: What do you love about what you do? Alexander: As a chef, I get to show the importance of food and how these gifts from the Creator have been used for thousands of years, and I get to put a modern spin on it and make it accessible and attractive to today’s world. We are in an interesting time right now because there is a lot of interest in Indigenous culture. There are so many great stories that coincide with food. We want to share the stories of what it was like for the Caldwell people on their traditional lands, a piece of history that makes people view their food and beverages differently.