Taste of Canada is an opportunity to experience uniquely Canadian food and drink. With a selection of delicious options, Canada Day in New York has something for everyone to devour. Grab a coffee and donut or eat a tasty bison burger with some poutine on the side. Bring your own blanket and treats or sample creations by Mile End Deli or unique treats flown in and assembled by Perfect Picnic NYC and available for purchase.

Grab a basket and checkered blanket and come down before the concert to enjoy a Canadian style family meal!

The Great Canadian Picnic

(Naumberg Bandshell, Central Park 10:30AM - 6:00PM)

Canadian culinary products and personalities welcome New Yorkers to inaugural al fresco meet-up picnic-fashion in Central Park June 29. Showcasing the best of culinary Canada, the inaugural Great Canadian Picnic welcomes everyone to a special gathering in the afternoon of June 29. Hosted by Canadian culinary personality Joshna Maharaj and Perfect Picnic NYC, special picnic parcels of Canada’s culinary best will be available for purchase in the park for an incredible value.

Given Canada is an inspired backdrop for dining outdoors – from the Rocky Mountains to the Toronto Islands to the Prince Edward Island beaches – Canada Day International is delighted to invite New York to an authentic, best-of-Canada picnic in the park with engaging Canadian culinary personality Joshna Maharaj from Toronto, Ontario. Food activist and journalist Joshna Maharaj hosts the afternoon with tips on great dishes to pack and share outdoors. Maharaj will be demonstrating her favourite potato salad recipe. A special guest presenter is Noah Bernamoff, founder of Mile End Delicatessen.

Perfect Picnic NY Baskets, Canada-style!

Together with Canada Day New York, the city’s new and popular picnic catering company Perfect Picnic NYC is crafting a special Canadian themed picnic for purchase at an incredible value representing authentic, artisanal goodies from across Canada to enjoy with others celebrating the best of Canada – from music to hockey to Mounties and more. Special picnic items include products from:

Waldorf Astoria New York rooftop garden honey and lavender shortbread cookies
Canadian Chef David Garcelon, Director of Culinary Waldorf Astoria New York
https://www.waldorfastoria.com

ACE Bakery Baguettes
Traditional French white bread — with a creamy fully developed flavour and a perfectly crisp golden crust — are always a favourite at any meal, from a casual picnic lunch to an elegant dinner party.
https://www.ace-bakery.com

Kicking Horse Coffee
One of Canada’s most popular organic coffees, Kicking Horse offers blends and single-bean varietals that come from the best coffee-growing mountains of the world. All roasted for optimum enjoyment.
https://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com

Raincoast Crisp Crackers
These fabulous artisan raincoast crisps are baked with care in small batches from scratch using the finest-quality ingredients. Great to nibble on their own, they really shine when topped with a favourite dip, cheese, or antipasto.
https://www.lesleystowe.com

Neal Brothers Maple Bacon Potato Chips
Organic, delicious and inspired by Canadian favourites — maple and bacon — Neal Brothers has perfected and package for you.
https://www.nealbrothersfoods.com

Green Walnut & Grappa Preserve
The Preservatory @ Vista D’oro Farms Ltd. created this preserve with Green Walnuts grown on its Langley, British Columbia farm. Picked in July on Bastille Day, before the nut forms, then mascerated in Brandy for 9 months, before they are pressed off and sent to the Preservatory. The walnut brandy is then used in our flagship wine D’oro - a fortified Walnut Wine. A heady combination utilizing the now dried and brandy infused green walnuts, combined with farm fresh apple jelly, sugar, lemon juice and finished with a dose of Grappa. Perfect on a charcuterie board, pairing with cheese or to really up the ante on a burger!
https://www.vistadoro.com/

Figs & Walnut Wine Preserve
The Preservatory @Vista D’oro Farms Ltd. hails this preserve as its bestseller since they began selling it, 10 years ago. It’s a perfect pairing for Blue cheese, but does well with almost any other cheese. Makes a killer vinaigrette when combined with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil, salt & pepper.
https://www.vistadoro.com/

Holy Crap Cereal
This cereal is certified organic USDA, gluten-free, lactose-free, sugar-free, salt-free, vegan, certified kosher- and tastes great. The name is unusual, but Holycrap cereal is what customers called the amazing taste when it was HapiFoods cereal, so they changed the name and had a 1,000% increase in sales. Its three main ingredients are some of the oldest perfect foods known to humans. no GMO, USDA organic certified, Kosher certified, chia, hulled hemp hearts, organic buckwheat, cranberries, raisins, apple bits, and cinnamon.
https://www.holycrap.ca

Almond Butter Crunch
by Fraser Valley Gourmet of Surrey, British Columbia
Katherine Geiger has always had a love for baking - chocolate and candy making in particular. It was this fascination, in fact, that resulted in the fortuitous acquiring of a basic almond butter crunch recipe in the 1980’s. This premium, handcrafted candy offers unrivalled flavour and nothing artificial.
www.fraservalleygourmet.com

Ethical Bean Coffee
Ethical Bean aims to make the best fair trade certified organic, environmentally happy coffee on the planet. https://www.ethicalbean.com

A limited number of baskets will be available for purchase at the Park on June 29 or can be ordered in advance online at https://www.perfectpicnicnyc.com.

Also served at the park are delicacies from Mile End Deli as well as Alchemy Creamery’s custom Canada Day creation (a maple flavor) in a signature push-pop “magic wand,” Fixation (chocolate chai), and Apple Cinnamon created especially for Canada Day New York.

Joshna Maharaj & Noah Bernamoff to host Big Canadian Picnic

Our celebrity chef for Canada Day New York is Joshna Maharaj! Maharaj is a busy chef with big ideas about good food! Joshna’s strong social justice and sustainability ethics flourished during her time as the chef at The Stop Community Food Centre, where she created and facilitated innovative and delicious community food programming, putting a grassroots kitchen on par with the rest of the kitchens in the city. In addition to teaching, writing, recipe development & television appearances, Joshna also speaks with groups of students about food and sustainability, consults with community organizations about grassroots-level food programming, and even led a troop of chefs to city hall for a deputation in support of a city-wide food strategy.

Joshna recently completed a project at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, focusing on serving patients and their families locally sourced, wholesome, homemade food. Joshna was a speaker at the 2011 TEDxToronto conference, and the Toronto Star named her as one of the 12 people to watch in the city for 2012.

Operating since 2010 out of a tiny storefront in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, Noah has simultaneously managed to bring newfound respect for old world recipes and springboard the future of the modern delicatessen. Nominated for Rising Star of the Year by the James Beard Foundation and Zagat’s “Top 30 Under 30” restaurant professionals in 2011, and critically acclaimed by Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Saveur, The New York Times and New York Magazine, Noah and his crew at Mile End smoke, cure, bake and pickle Jewish comfort foods entirely in-house with great attention to tradition and authenticity. Noah recently opened a second Mile End location in NoHo, Manhattan, and released with his wife Rae “The Mile End Cookbook” in September 2012.