WELCOME TO HEYDAYS | 1 WELCOME TO SOMEDAY, THESE WILL BE THE GOOD OLD DAYS … At Heydays, we know our guests are here to celebrate. It could be an anniversary or birthday, or a Saturday night, or 3 p.m. on a Monday in the middle of summer. Whenever it is, our guests are here to make memories. When we designed our first menu, we kept the idea of celebra- tion in mind. We included simple dishes and comfort foods that diners expect from a classic beach town restaurant, but we worked to make them the best versions we’d ever tasted. Heydays fits naturally into the small town of Sauble Beach on the eastern shore of Lake Huron—a place that oozes history and has an air of nostalgia for bygone times. We wanted to ensure that our menu was filled with classic dishes and cocktails that would transport our guests far away from the hassles of everyday life. We drew on some of our favourite memories: celebration dinners at a classic steakhouse, barefoot visits to dockside lobster shacks, the un- ceasing quality of a classic French bistro, and the poolside casualness of a potluck barbecue. While these might seem like very different experiences, they can all be found at a seat on our patio. It just depends on what you order. 2 | HEYDAYS AT THE JUNE MOTEL The restaurant team consists of two families: the Lalibertés and the Baulches. Freddy and Evan have deep backgrounds building restaurants, both together and separately. They met at university, where they helped to bring a local fine-dining restaurant to life. Freddy went on to create successful casual comfort food concepts in Toronto (high-quality pou- tine and mac and cheese), and Evan managed some of Canada’s top restaurants and properties. Their combined experience—both casual and high-end—as well as their technical attention to quality and dedication to beautiful presentation resulted in the Heydays menu that so many reg- ular customers and guests of The June Motel have come to love. Heydays is a collaboration between the kitchen crew and the team that founded The June Motel. Freddy and Evan created the menu and oversee opera- tions at the restaurant, while April and Sarah shaped the brand to fit with The June Motel in Sauble Beach. Together, we did a lot of recipe testing in the lead-up to summer 2020, when Heydays first opened. We learned what made our own meals feel special, and then we brought them to the restaurant, whether it was a parking lot pop-up or the beautiful poolside patio that Sarah and April built for us. This book will take you through a night on our patio. We’ll start with sunset cocktails, then serve a delicious seafood platter, and follow that up with some smoked trout fishcakes, potato cheddar croquettes, and a salad or two (definitely the broccoli Caesar). Then you’ll have to try a hot buttered lobster roll, a crispy skin trout, our signature steak, and season- al vegetable sides. Finish it off with our sweet, savoury desserts: a “key” lime parfait and an ice cream sundae with Grandmaman’s oats. It might sound like a lot, but you can share and try it all! Because these recipes began their lives at home (in the middle of a pandemic, no less), we know they’ll translate well from our restaurant to your kitchen. And whether you’ve joined us at Heydays before or not, we hope that you’ll taste something of the poolside life in every dish. We also hope that by enjoying our favourite dishes at home, you’ll be inspired to come celebrate with us in Sauble Beach when you’re able.-1 1 1 1 -26 | HEYDAYS AT THE JUNE MOTEL Much of our menu was inspired by New England coastal resort menus, so we debated long and hard about whether to serve a horseradish Bloody Mary or its traditional Canadian Clamato-based cousin, the Caesar. We split the difference and put a Bloody Caesar on the menu and now everybody’s confused! But that’s fine, because we can usually tell that someone needs one before they even grope around the menu looking for it. Prepared horseradish is just fine, but we really like shaved fresh horseradish for the extra kick. Here’s our take on the Classic Bloody Mary. If you’re game for Clamato, try the Caesar, too! You can substitute your spirit of choice in this one—we were on a Bacardi Limon Rum kick for a little while. 1 Pour out a small pile of Old Bay Seasoning in a saucer. Circle your highball glass rim with the lemon wedge, and dip the glass in the Old Bay until well coated all the way around. 2 Fill the rimmed glass with ice. Dress the ice with the Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, hot sauce, horseradish, salt, and pepper. Add your vodka (or spirit of choice). Top with the tomato juice, and then give it a good stir to evenly incorporate all of the ingredients. 3 Garnish with pickled veg, a lime wedge, and the lemon wedge you used to prep your rim. May this classic beverage cure what ails you. Bloody Mary MAKES 1 COCKTAIL Old Bay Seasoning, for rim Lemon and lime wedges, for rim and garnish 3 dashes of Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp (5 mL) fresh lemon juice 1 dash of hot sauce 1 tbsp (15 mL) prepared horseradish Pinch of sea salt Pinch of freshly ground black pepper 2 oz (60 mL) vodka 6 oz (180 mL) tomato juice Heydays Pickled Veg (page 208), for garnish-1 1 1 1 --1 1 1 1 -BETWIXT BREAD | 133 A smash burger is a style of burger where the patty is smashed down on a griddle surface while cooking so the Maillard effect (that’s a fancy word for the browning on the outsides of the patty) really comes through. These patties get smashed quite thin, so we don’t take a temperature. They’re all more or less well done but delicious. There are several effective professional burger-smashing tools available, but a small sturdy pot will do just fine. We cook these on a griddle, but for home use, a cast iron pan or cast iron griddle on top of a barbecue works well, too. 1 Using your hands, roll each portion of ground beef into a ball (no need to add anything to it at this stage). 2 Get a cast iron pan screaming hot over high heat. Place 2 of the ground beef balls into the pan with a 6- x 6-inch (15 x 15 cm) piece of parchment paper on top of each burger ball. Smash down the ball with even and continuous pressure (this will require a reasonable amount of force). Once both balls are pressed down to a nice large patty, peel off the parchment paper. 3 Season the topside of each patty with 1 tsp (5 mL) of salt and 1 tsp (5 mL) of pepper. 4 Once the patty is bubbling and the top looks like it's partially cooked, use a sturdy metal spatula to flip it over. Be careful to scrape around the patty before you commit and get under it. Flip each burger, and immediately place a slice of cheese on top of each patty. Cook until the cheese has melted. Stack the patties (we’re making double beef burgers) and get ready to repeat the process. Scrape the pan clean with the spatula, and carefully wipe it out with a dry kitchen towel. Let the pan get back to full heat. Repeat the same process for the other 2 patties. (cont'd) Heydays Smash Burger MAKES 2 DOUBLE PATTY SMASH BURGERS 4 x 3-oz (85 g) portions of medium (80/20) ground beef 4 tsp (20 mL) kosher salt, divided 4 tsp (20 mL) freshly ground black pepper, divided 4 slices of cheddar cheese 2 potato rolls (we prefer Martin’s) 2 tbsp (30 mL) salted butter 6 slices of dill pickle 2 slices of tomato 2 leaves of green leaf lettuce 2 tbsp (30 mL) Heydays Dijonnaise (page 135)Next >