The farmers of Ontario are a driving inspiration behind Sundays in Uxbridge, just an hour north or so of Toronto. Here, husband-and-wife team Ben Denham and Ashley Lloyd share their deep passion for the produce of the region. The daily harvest informs the constantly changing menu, which puts vegetables front and center alongside dishes like pork chops with green tomato chow chow and chicken with Hungarian pimento and gai lan (Chinese broccoli).
During the pandemic, the couple purchased White Lily Farms, a 10-acre farm that produces roughly 150 distinct crops each year for use at Sundays. Denham explains that the restaurant is “intended to be a homey, small town bistro [with] un-fussy fare focused on seasonal produce, complemented by community farms and nice wine.”
Read on as Denham explains how the farm, the landscape and the Ontario community shape Sundays.
What makes Sundays special? How does its location in Uxbridge/Ontario contribute to its uniqueness?Uxbridge is unique in that it isn’t a region that is thought to be rich in agriculture. It doesn’t have the romantic allure of Niagara or Prince Edward County. But within a few minutes’ drive from Sundays, most everything a chef would want can be found — wagyu beef, a bison herd, sea buckthorn orchards or a hazelnut farm. It has amazing soil to grow produce and a warm community of humble folk that support each other. Sundays is special in that the food we serve truly feels like a community effort.
Radishes fresh from the farm are the star of this dish; the welcoming dining room at Sundays. © Sundays
Tell us a little bit about your personal culinary journey. How did you become a chef and what led you to Sundays?Pretty classic story in that I got my start washing dishes. An after-school job in a little bistro in my hometown led me to hospitality school in Toronto. I’d spend the next 15 years working my way through Toronto kitchens, ultimately meeting my partner Ashley along the way. We opened our first restaurant together in 2016 with a similar ethos that we apply at Sundays.
When restaurants shuttered in 2020, we found ourselves with time on our hands. Eventually we had our staff back to work but with reduced capacity we started to think deeper about the idea of moving out of the city and trying our hand at organic farming. By the fall we had fallen in love with and purchased the farm where we now reside.
Over the years we scaled up our efforts, and I found what and how I wanted to cook changed. We realized there would always be a disconnect between the farm and the confines of our business at the time and ultimately decided to sell. Locations in Uxbridge are scarce, so when a small, licensed cafe came up we jumped at the opportunity. Sundays would become a reflection of us maturing as restaurateurs — an opportunity to be close to the farm, spend more time with our kids and really slow down a bit from the hustle of a downtown Toronto restaurant.
We now have the pleasure of vending at the weekly farmers market here, a stone’s throw from Sundays, where we get to converse with the community and build relationships around food outside of the restaurant. Watching our regulars from Sundays being inspired in how we cook and buying the same ingredients we use to develop their own repertoire in the kitchen I find very fulfilling and a full circle moment.
Homey atmosphere and hearty dishes of roast chicken served over braised greens and beans, topped with arugula pesto. © Sundays
Can you share a little about your overall culinary philosophy?My approach to building a menu has changed tremendously over the years and is still changing. With Sundays it all starts with what’s growing on the farm. We have the privilege of waking up every morning and taking a walk through our field and greenhouses. Naturally our menu is in constant evolution throughout the year based on what we’re excited about and eating at home. We work with many producers in the region who share a similar connection with the land and I often joke that our menu writes itself. From there I really try to not get in the way of great ingredients. I think restaurants and chefs take themselves too seriously and spend great efforts trying to showcase themselves and not the ingredients.
Freshly picked heirloom tomatoes and the resulting dish of sliced heirloom green zebra tomatoes, garlic chive and flower. © Sundays
What kinds of foods can diners expect to find on the menu? What is your favorite dish right now and why?We’re at the tail end of summer and approaching fall so that’s very reflective of what’s on the menu this week. Heirloom tomatoes are on their way out but there in many forms. Peppers are at their peak, so they are naturally showing up in a few dishes. We are running a scallop crudo in a habanada pepper vinaigrette (a spice-less habanero developed by Dan Barber’s company Row 7 Seeds Co.) with shaved fennel, green lobo radish and jalapeno. I’m also loving the bison tartare. The herd pastures just a few minutes from the restaurant and we pass by them every day on the way into town. It’s always on the menu in some form and right now we are serving it pretty classically, prepared with quick pickled zucchini and baby gem lettuce to wrap.
Cucumbers straight from the farm and marinated kohlrabi salad pair perfectly with the Spring Thyme cocktail. © Sundays
What are some ingredients unique to Sundays that you use on the menu?We wholesale to 15 to 20 other restaurants from mid-May until November. What we grow is heavily influenced by them and what they want to see, and we fill in the gaps not available elsewhere. Because we are not a typical large-scale wholesaler with a focus on massive volumes of a few crops, we can experiment and trial small plots of new or interesting things. We might have 30+ varieties of heirloom tomatoes or 10+ varieties of peppers. Our weekly fresh list usually contains 40 to 50 products from herbs, flowers and greens to fruit and veg.
On our menu right now, you’ll find things like Jimmy Nardello, habanada and Ajvarski peppers, Merlot Napa cabbage, runner beans, Tokyo Bekana [a variety of Chinese cabbage], Hakurei turnip, Green Lobo radish and lovage.
Vegetables at the farm that will later be incorporated into dishes at the restaurant. © Sundays
How do you manage using so much produce from your farm in the restaurant?During the abundance months, we are able to operate with 100% produce from the farm. That being said, we are not strict on this and when things that we don’t grow, like sweet corn, come up they make their way onto the menu. We put away as much as we can by curing onions, shallots and garlic. We store away carrots, cabbages, turnips, celeriac, beets etc. and preserve as much as we can.
The menu in the colder months will reflect reduced options of vegetables as it should, but [planting] our greenhouses with cold hardy crops in early fall also gives us access to fresh greens and herbs typically well into the depths of winter.
Hero image: Freshly harvested purple cauliflower ready to be incorporated in one of Sundays farm to table dishes. © Sundays
Written by
Kate Heddings
Kate Heddings is a food editor and writer based in New York City. She also contributes to Food & Wine and BBC Travel.
Dining and Cooking