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Bubbis Cookies: A Family Recipe, Reimagined

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For Shaun Benoliel, Bubbis Cookies started with something surprisingly simple: a search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Not the biggest cookie. Not the trendiest cookie. Not one loaded with unusual flavours just for the sake of being different. Shaun was looking for the cookie he remembered from childhood — the kind his grandmother, Gloria, affectionately known as “Bubbi,” used to make. “I could never find it in Toronto,” Shaun explains. “Everything here felt thick, cakey, overly sugary, or chasing the flavour of the week. I wasn’t after novelty. I wanted the quintessential cookie, the one I’d actually want to eat.” So, rather than settling, Shaun decided to make it himself. What began as a personal search quickly turned into a serious project. Shaun spent six months testing hundreds of variations, experimenting with cook times, ingredient ratios and different combinations until he finally arrived at a cookie he felt lived up to the one he had been chasing. But Shaun wasn’t simp...
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Mercasa: Bringing The Taste of Home to Brantford

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  For Tom Mercante, food has always been about more than what is on the plate. It is about family, tradition, hospitality and bringing people together. As the founder, owner and Executive Chef of Mercasa Little Italy Eatery & Catering in Brantford, Ontario, Tom has turned that belief into a business that continues to grow while staying firmly rooted in the values that inspired it. Mercasa is an Italian eatery, bakery and full-service catering company offering everything from Roman-style pizza and fresh pasta to its signature eight-layer lasagna, chicken cutlets, arancini, antipasto boards and house-made desserts. The business also caters weddings, corporate functions, family celebrations, community events and gatherings of hundreds of people. But the story behind Mercasa goes much deeper than its menu. The name Mercasa is a combination of Tom’s family name, Mercante , and the Italian word casa , meaning home. That meaning is at the heart of the business. Tom’s family comes fr...
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From Carpentry to Custom Craftsmanship: The Story Behind Memo’s Mobile Bars

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  Burlington, Ontario — What started with years of experience in carpentry has grown into a specialized family-run business helping entrepreneurs, event professionals and brands bring their setups to life. Meet Guillermo “Memo” Hernandez , the owner and craftsman behind Memo’s Mobile Bars , a Burlington-based business creating handcrafted, portable and collapsible wooden bars designed for businesses, events, pop-ups and brand activations. For Memo, the business is about more than building something that looks good. It is about creating something that works. After working in carpentry for many years, Memo wanted to take his experience in woodworking and apply it to something more specialized. Portable bars became the perfect combination of several things he enjoyed — skilled craftsmanship, practical problem-solving and custom design. The idea also came from recognizing a need in the market. Many small businesses, event professionals and vendors need a setup that looks professional ...
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Pass The Puck: A Simple Idea Making a Big Impact in Brantford

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  Give a puck. Take a puck. Every assist counts. In Brantford, hockey is more than a sport. It is part of the community’s identity. For Steve Karalis, that connection became the inspiration for a simple idea designed to help people in a very different way — by using a hockey puck to bring a little kindness into the everyday lives of local residents. That idea is Pass the Puck Forward, a month-long pilot initiative launched in September that gives Brantford residents an opportunity to help someone else enjoy a meal, coffee, baked good or drink when they may need a little extra help. And the concept is incredibly simple. At participating local businesses, customers can purchase a mini hockey puck for $1 and place it in a “Give a Puck” jar. Those pucks are then made available in a “Take a Puck” jar, where another customer can use them toward a purchase. No complicated system. No lengthy application. Just a small gesture from one person that can make someone else’s day a little easier....
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