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Celebrating 15 years
“Time does fly when you are having fun”, goes the old saying. Well, managing and operating a restaurant day after day for 15 years is not always fun, as you can imagine. There are regulatory bodies breathing down our necks, inflation in the marketplace, finding and maintaining staff members and lately, of course, the Covid pandemic. We are still here and many of you make it worthwhile to remain in business and continue serving the community. Over the years, we have seen people come and go, the elders of the community pass on and the kids who came in with their parents as babes in arms flourish into teens. We…
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Alert to Party Time 2024
Greetings to all party organizers for fall 2024. Every year, you folks get in touch with Liane or Beth at Salamanders to book your annual festive season party. Every year also, some of you get disappointed that someone got to us sooner and grabbed the date you had in mind. This is just a reminder that earlier is better for being in touch. As party organizers, you know very well that trying to get everyone to commit to a date is like herding cats. You are fully aware that it often takes a couple of weeks just to get consensus on that very special date. We encourage you to get…
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Busy, Dizzy and Happy in 2024!
What a year this has been! Winter and spring was hectic enough at Salamanders; once the patio opened, it was more like a riot. The very warm weather, the new dock, the flowing water in the Rideau Reach Harbourfront have all contributed to Salamanders becoming a social hub for the community. Meetings, parties, get-togethers are taking place in quick succession with small, medium and large groups booking us from late morning right into the evening. We are so grateful to all of our loyal clients for booking ahead and coming out in droves. Many thanks also for your kind commentary on the annual patio landscaping undertaken by Glenda; it’s particularly…
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And So the Summer Begins…
It’s only May and most of us have already done our spring planting. Whatever happened to Victoria Day as the day when we would confidently plant and avoid frost? The patio at Salamanders is no exception: Glenda and Beth have been diligently planting and putting together the landscaping for the season. Meanwhile, on a lovely spring day, guests have filled the patio with the familiar sounds of conversation and laughter. Other signs of spring include: kayakers and canoeists plying the Reach; Lorraine Delangis placing her fabulous annual fabric sculpture exhibition at Salamanders; the Arts Guild completing their spring show of excellent local artists and craftspeople right along the waterfront; the…
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Approaches to spring…
So, part of us may be pleased at the warm spring-like weather we are getting; another part of us may be anxious about what it means in terms of global warming. This week at our farm, most of the snow had disappeared as if by magic and the snow fleas were out in full force along with flights of Canada geese honking overhead. This, at the beginning of March… We still have a bit of winter left to contend with and that means celebrating St. Patrick’s day on the 17th of March and Easter on March 31st. In between, Salamanders is providing its usual delicious fare à la Liane and…
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January at Salamanders
January at Salamanders First off, we would like to send a huge THANK YOU to the many folks that visited Salamanders during the festive season for their family or group party. Everyone, including our staff, had a great time. It was like having a continuous house party. We deeply appreciate the feedback on our food and apologize (not too much) for contributing to your avoirdupois. Next, we want to send an equally huge THANK YOU for one heck of a summer on the patio. We were packed solid most of the time and the ongoing commentary on how the site, food and service came together was very gratifying and encouraging.…
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Your Pooch Needs a Reservation at Salamanders
In 2020, the Province of Province’s Bill 132 stated that dogs would be allowed on outdoor patios; they are also allowed inside premises where low-risk food such as pre-packaged foods, fresh fruit and snacks are sold alongside wine, beer and spirits. It is up to restaurant owners to decide how to welcome dogs to restaurants. Salamanders policy is as follows. 1) In order to include a dog in your party on the patio, you will need to include it in your reservation. You will all be placed alongside the fence of the patio and your dog will need to be leashed and tied to the outside of the fence. Water…
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Party Organizer Alert
To all you busy Party Organizers in the North Grenville and District Area, this is an early alert: if you wish to book your party at Salamanders, please book now! Every year, we have people who wait till the last moment to book their festive season get-togethers and get disappointed because we get completely booked in the very early fall. It couldn’t be easier to nab your preferred dates. All you have to do is phone Liane at the restaurant and discuss when you would like to have your group over and how many folks will be involved. That’s it, that’s all. Once the date is set, discussion on what…
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What makes our guests welcome…
From time to time, some people arrive at Salamanders without any knowledge of how to behave in a restaurant. It’s quite amazing really, to have otherwise good people order servers around or actually abuse them, argue over the contents of a dish, smash dishes in a hissy fit or refuse to move from a reserved table. This only applies to a select few: the great majority of our guests are calm, courteous and a joy to serve and to be with. So, we thought it might be important to talk about what makes our guests welcome at Salamanders of Kemptville. 1. Our guests need to recognize that we are a…
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What Does “From Scratch” Mean?
Salamanders cooks “from scratch”. We have been told that our kitchen is the “toughest to work in” because all our dishes are prepared “from scratch”. To create a dish from scratch is defined as making it without any ingredients or materials prepared ahead of time; but what does this mean, practically speaking? Some restaurants cook “in a bag”, meaning that they get their materials prepared elsewhere and they either drop it in the deep fryer or stick it in the microwave. There are literally thousands of restaurants across Canada serving the same dishes that were prepared elsewhere. Restaurants go out of their way to give these pre-cooked meals sexy names,…
Salamanders
Salamanders of Kemptville | Cajun Restaurant