Urban centres are no longer the only places to find elevated culinary experiences. Chefs across Canada, and perhaps the world, leave the noisy city life to open restaurants in retrofitted buildings in small communities, looking to be closer to nature.
Chef Zach Keeshig’s latest endeavour, Nagaan, is his life’s work, packaged as a 17-seat restaurant in Owen Sound, a small town in rural Ontario. This is where he grew up, where his community garden is, and where he is elevating Indigenous cuisine to the global stage one 12-course tasting at a time.
Keeshig’s culinary training includes some of the best kitchens in Canada (Eigensinn Farm, The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette, Langdon Hall), but his unique culinary approach is deeply inspired by his Ojibwa roots (Nawash Unceded First Nation).
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All images by Kateryna Topol.
Foraging as a way of life
When fine-tuning his concept, Keeshig made a choice to use only local ingredients. A healthy portion of herbs and vegetables comes from a nearby community garden, some are sourced from local farmers, and many are found in the forest. Ingredients like citrus, coffee, or vanilla find their flavour counterparts in the woods. The forest offers a bounty of flavour, from wild leeks and onions to fiddle heads, Japanese knotweed, mustard garlic, and the three seasons of mushrooms, all growing in undisturbed natural environments.
Foraging season is at its peak in spring and summer. “At this time, we forage nearly every day,” he shared. “I’ll go out today because yesterday I noticed that magnolias were flowering. I’ll harvest and pickle them so we can have magnolia vinegar later on. They have an almost ginger-like flavour,” he added, pulling a pickled flower out of the jar with twizzers.
Each farmed or wild ingredient finds an array of treatments. Fresh, pickled, ground to a powder or made into a vinegar, these preserves help Nagaan’s team stretch the seasonal flavours through the winter months.
Embracing the game
Hunting and fishing have been a way of life for Indigenous peoples for millennia, and Nagaan’s menu leans into the tradition with wild game and seafood found in nearby rivers and lakes. “I wanted to use ingredients that our people were hunting and eating. So I asked hunters on the reserve to start shooting us wild geese, ducks, and deer”.
“I wanted to introduce more Indigenous businesses into my business,” he proudly admitted. Keeshig’s network of suppliers is one of the many ways in which he supports local communities, always sharing the story behind the ingredient with restaurant patrons, “giving the suppliers a bit of shoutout”.
One of the key proteins on this menu is bison. Indigenous to Canada, bison have a turbulent history, but due to the recent implementation of the Buffalo Treaty, their population is growing. Keeshig sources his from Snowy Creek Bison, and seeing this majestic animal firsthand was on today’s agenda. The farm, operated by a husband and wife pair, Lizette and Cornelius, is a bison heaven. Cornelius drove the two of us into the field past multiple enclosures, locking each one as we passed. Parked somewhere in the middle, we sat there for a while, observing the animals from a distance. “I drive out here daily and just sit and observe them for hours,” Cornelius shared, looking at his herd, wallowing in the grass like kittens.
Inside the restaurant
The restaurant feels like a homey cabin. Each hand-carved table has an etching of something they forage, artisan-made animal hides are hung up on the wall between shelves of preserves. Everything at Nagaan is custom-made by hand for the restaurant, from wood slab tables to plates shaped specifically to fit Chef Keeshig’s unique vision.
The real magic, however, begins with the first course. Each intricately plated dish is a work of art where the vessel itself often comes from nature. Plate after plate, Nagaan’s team presents explosive flavours with layered ingredients appealing to all five senses. The core menu stays the same, listed on a single sheet menu in English and Ojibwe. The individual ingredients, however, change seasonally depending on what’s fresh and available that day, making sure that every Nagaan experience is one of a kind.
Nagaan is a dry restaurant with uniquely delicious non-alcoholic beverage options are offered with each course, including the above-mentioned dandelion root coffee-like beverage.
Visiting Nagaan
The easiest way to reach Nagaan is by car, but in the absence of one, FlixBus goes directly from Toronto to Owen Sound with a few scenic stops. If you are staying overnight, Best Western Inn On The Bay is a short walk from the restaurant, has a pool with a view and a gym. Make it a weekend with a prolonged stay at The Inn at Cobble Beach on the lake or a fully private, Refurbished Cozy Farmhouse on 100 acres.
