Chef Spotlight: Mike McKeown, Prairie Harvest

Mike McKeown of Prairie Harvest Café in Saskatoon, SK

At Three Farmers, we are always looking for businesses in the food industry that are doing things a little differently and that hold true to some of the same ideals that we do. Our focus on natural, sustainable and traceable is paramount in helping us to build relationships with our end customers and providing them with products that they love, enjoy and trust. Chef Mike McKeown of Prairie Harvest Café in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is doing the same. At Prairie Harvest, customers dine on some of Saskatchewan’s best fare, from perogies, to local fish, to fresh made gnocchi - McKeown ensures consistency and most importantly freshness in everything that he serves. Prairie Harvest Café, is a young restaurant and only opened in Saskatoon in November 2011 but since its opening has garnered a loyal local following and generated a lot of buzz. Most recently, McKeown was featured on Food Network’s, You Gotta Eat Here – highlighting some key menu items like the turducken burger. The restaurant was also named one of Canada’s Top 50 Restaurants from vacay.ca and is ranked in the top 3 in Saskatoon’s restaurants on TripAdvisor. The changing menu at Prairie Harvest is indicative of their commitment to keep things local and seasonal. You can often find McKeown or his staff at the local Saskatoon Farmers Market purchasing the freshest tomatoes, local meats and of course, local oil. According to McKeown, ‘we use Three Farmers camelina oil everyday!’ Prairie Harvest Café staff use the camelina oil so often that they purchase it in bulk and have it delivered frequently. McKeown also believes that the philosophy of ‘using local foods’ is often overused and a lot of restaurants claim this, however don’t abide by it fully. The reason that McKeown adopted the use of Three Farmers camelina oil in his restaurant and often featuring it in dishes was to show his commitment to local. After all, it’s not often that you would see olive trees being grown in Canada. “The flavour of the camelina oil helps to boost that overall fresh flavour of a dish. It complements a lot of our menu items and we are now experimenting with using some of the flavoured oil in some of our summer salads.” If you’re in Saskatoon, or plan on visiting the Saskatoon area, don’t forget to make a trip to Prairie Harvest Café and see how this great chef is using our natural, traceable and sustainable camelina oil, after all, great food starts with the oil. Here is one of McKeown’s feature recipes with Three Farmers camelina oil.:

Vegan camelina and peashoot pesto