Last month, after taking a brief hiatus from a decade of non-stop touring and performing, Canadian singer-songwriter Peter Katz announced his return to music with his highly anticipated new album, City of Our Lives.
The new album, which is set to release on October 23 (physical) and November 25 (digital), is the culmination of a 17-year career that has seen the Montreal-born musician traverse genre and convention while receiving both commercial and critical acclaim along the way.
His two latest singles, “KMOTM” and “Everything is Different” have already been featured on multiple streaming platforms and publications, garnering attention for Katz’ ability to fuse soft synthetic sounds with raw authentic lyricism to find strength in his own vulnerability.
As someone who has spent significant time touring all across the country, Katz has seen more than his share of Canadian cuisine. We recently had a chance to chat with the Juno Award, Canadian Screen Award, and two-time Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, who took us on a virtual road trip to some of his favourite spots for vegan eats and drinks in Canada.
Breakfast
Breakfast on tour is always a challenge as you often have a long drive ahead and you just want to hit the road, but I do have a breakfast ritual that I always do at the end of a tour.
The morning after the final show, I head to Sneaky Dees in Toronto for their "Vegan Burro Favorito". It’s a monster Mexican vegan breakfast feast and its so good. If ever you see me eating that, you know I’m in my happy place. And if I’m totally transparent, I usually get a beer with it.
Lunch
No contest, the Communitea in Canmore. I have been known to take excessive detours or organize tour routing just so I can pass through Canmore as much as possible and eat as many Buddha bowls or yoga bowls as I can (I can’t decide which one I like best, both are amazing). Marnie and her team are just the absolute best and the food is so fresh, healthy, delicious, all the things you could ever want.
Dinner
Hands down, The Coup in Calgary is a must for me. I’ve eaten at a lot of vegan places but the Coup has that extra something special. Really creative, flavour explosion, and strikes that perfect balance of that warm/comfort feeling while being healthy, whole foods (not vegan junk food).
No matter how tired you are mid-tour, get yourself a magic dragon bowl on quinoa with tahini miso dressing and you’ll be all fixed up. (Side note: they have amazingly creative cocktails and desserts too; one of them comes with a little mini campfire on your plate.)
Dessert
When you’ve finally made it to Vancouver, you’re feeling that sense of “Ok, I’m fully in it, I’ve played a bunch of shows, I’m feeling good, I can breathe a bit, maybe take a day off and enjoy Vancouver or the island,” and then it’s time to go for a late-night dessert at The Naam.
24-hour veg eatery, what’s not to like about that?! They have this thing called the "Noh Pie"--no sugar, no eggs, no dairy, no wheat--it’s bananas and dates and magic and it tastes like a dream. And even though it’s not dessert, it's worth mentioning their miso gravy. I mean, you could have it for dessert it’s that good.
Drinks
Anyone who knows me knows that my absolute favourite drink is Single Malt Scotch. But I want to stay Canadian here so I highly recommend stopping in for a single-malt Canadian whisky at the Glenora Distillery in Cape Breton.
It’s a beautiful location (Cape Breton, how can you go wrong) and they have some creative whisky expressions, including the “Glen Breton Ice” that’s finished in ice wine barrels--pretty cool stuff. They have traditional live music, distillery tours, the whole deal, it’s a great little gem of a spot. I can’t remember if their food menu had many vegan options, but I wasn’t there for the food.
