Melanie Reffes: Ripe for discovery — The Saskatoon surprise

Star power

Celebrated as the childhood home of folk legend Joni Mitchell, Saskatoon is also the adopted home of Booker Prize-winner Yann Martel. The author of the international best seller Life of Pi relocated from Montreal in 2003 for nine months as writer-in-residence at the Saskatoon Public Library and never left.” I wrote Life of Pi in Montreal and three more books in Saskatoon, including my most recent novel Son of Nobody released in March,” he said while enjoying lunch with this reporter.

A recognized figure around town, Martel adds the weather is a big plus. “I love the dry, cold winters which I find exhilarating. It doesn’t penetrate the bones like it does in Montreal and I love the landscape with no mountains — just the openness of the Prairies.”

Living history

An important centre of Indigenous culture that locals proudly share with visitors, Saskatoon sits on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis. Honouring the Indigenous history of the Prairies, Wanuskewin Heritage Park is Canada’s longest continuously running archaeological dig with artifacts dating back 6,400 years. Fifteen minutes north of downtown, the sacred park is on track to becoming Saskatchewan’s first UNESCO World Heritage site. For visitors, there are walking trails, buffalo hide tipis that are rentable for sleepovers, bison viewing and exhibitions by Northern Plains Indigenous artists.

Picasso in the Prairies

Welcoming 200,000 annual visitors, Remai Modern is the most visited, per capita, contemporary art museum in Canada. Home to 406 Picasso linocuts, the largest collection in the world, exhibits dazzle like 3,000 metal spinners suspended from the ceiling and beadwork crafted by Indigenous artist Dyani White Hawk. Entry is free, donations are appreciated and locally-crafted gifts await in the Art & Design store.

Doing breakfast proud

If you’re like me (and many) who thought the main attraction would be bacon and eggs, think again. Although you’ll find plenty of that predictable combo, try something new at the Hometown Diner, like fried chicken and pancakes or a morning melange of artichokes and eggplant with tomatoes, pinenuts, arugula, feta and a sunny-side egg on sourdough at Pique. An inventive riff on a classic, Poached Breakfast Bistro is the go-to for eggs benedict with crab cakes.

Farm-to-fork

Under the watchful eye of Chef Brian Gibbons, Odla in the Broadway District is all about culinary sustainability. “Our menu changes according to what’s growing and what the farmers are selling and all of our suppliers are within four hours of Saskatoon,” he explained, recommending the pillowy potato gnocchi sharing space with peas, radishes, asparagus, bacon and charred leek mascarpone. For dessert, the Chef works his magic in a Saskatoon berry pie made with the sweet berries that grow everywhere.

In the same building, where in 1962 Joni Mitchell first performed in front of an audience, Calories is a farm-to-fork trailblazer before that got trendy. Bring your appetite for the pesto chicken salad or go wild with elk meatballs and bison carpaccio.

For carb-frontloading without the white flour, durum wheat pasta is primo at Primal. Start with a charcuterie board and move on up to mains like mint and pea ravioli in lemony butter and parmesan or a simpler spaghetti pomodoro or chicken alfredo.

In the Remai Modern, Hearth is on Canada’s Top 100 Restaurant list for 2026. Good mood food without pretension, mushrooms bathed in mornay with ciabatta for dipping and trout on a bed of quinoa and hummus are tasty spins on healthy eating. If you’re lucky, dessert will be an apple and rhubarb pie with your name on it.

Sour cream, sauerkraut and another perogy, please

The Ukrainian word for ‘grandma’, Baba’s Homestyle Perogies is the epicentre of unfussy comfort food. At the world’s only perogy drive-thru with a few tables inside, 12,000 perogies and 2,000 cabbage rolls are made daily. Condiments like mushroom dill, sour cream, onions, and sauerkraut are the cherries on top. The city’s Ukrainian community grew from a handful of migration waves and is growing again with the recent influx of those fleeing the ongoing war. “I arrived two years ago with my daughter,” said Oleksandra Stupak, who now works at Baba’s stuffing the doughy dumplings with a variety of fillings. “My husband and I are both captains in the Ukrainian Army and when the war is over, he will join us here. That is my hope.”

Rolling on the river

Easy to spot in red and white, The Prairie Lily is a twin-propeller riverboat powered by two diesel engines. Cruising the South Saskatchewan River at a leisurely five knots, the one-hour sightseeing tour is more therapeutic than one hour on a therapist’s couch. From dinner cruises and sommelier wine tasting tours, relaxing on board with a local beer like the Great Western Pilsner is the perfect toast to a grand getaway.