In celebration of this year’s Canada Day on the 1st July, Jason Atherton’s Little Social is set to be transformed into a Canadian pop-up evoking traditional sugar shack lodges, in a nod to Chef Patron Cary Docherty’s Canadian roots. Taking place on 29th and 30th June, 1st and 3rd July, and the first Monday of each month thereafter, the pop-up will feature a menu of Canadian classics and cocktails created especially for the event, which will be named Little Social…Eh!, a playful reference to the stereotypical Canadian manner of speaking.
Inspired by the traditional cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks) found in Eastern Canada, Little Social’s interiors will be adorned with rustic hunting and fishing paraphernalia, weathered wooden signage and hanging vintage antler chandeliers. Sheepskin throws and a mounted deer head centrepiece will complete the new look, setting a lodge-like ambience in which to enjoy Chef Patron Cary Docherty’s menu of typical Canadian delicacies.
A taste of home for his fellow Canadians in London, Cary’s menu will focus on well-loved classics and classic Canadian ingredients, and would not be complete without poutine, Canada’s national dish of crispy chips and cheese curds topped with gravy, elevated with the addition of maple-glazed morteau sausage. Tourtière, a traditional French-Canadian meat pie dish, named after the tourtière pan it is cooked in, will also feature. For dessert, guests can revel in the nostalgic sweets treats of Cary’s childhood, including a famous no-bake Nanaimo bar, comprising a base layer of wafer crumb topped with custard-flavoured butter icing and covered in melted chocolate, as well as a quintessential Canadian butter tart.
To complement the food offering, Group Bar Executive of The Social Company, Jamie Jones, has created a selection of cocktails inspired by Canada’s best-loved ingredients. The Maple Leaf Old Fashioned champions the country’s most famous export, maple syrup, combining it with Canadian whisky, coffee bean bitters and orange zest, while Ice Wine Spritz blends Canadian ice wine and fruit liqueur with citrus and Prosecco. Guests in the know will not be surprised to find Canada’s signature cocktail, the Caesar, also on the list. A twist on a Bloody Mary, it comprises vodka and clamato juice (a blend of tomato juice and clam broth) mixed with hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce and finished with a stalk of celery and wedge of lime.
Little Social…Eh! will bring a dose of Canada to London and will provide the perfect location for both Canadians and Londoners to celebrate Canada Day.