A recent addition to the culinary scene in Swift Current will be on display this week for Saskatchewan and the rest of the country to experience.
Trattoria Raccolto will be cast in Flat Out Food's third episode of the fifth season on CityTV in Saskatchewan on Wednesday at 10 p.m. and aired nationally on Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
The Saskatchewan-based culinary TV show led by producer and director Adrian Halter selected a familiar husband and wife to feature for a second time, Garrett 'Rusty' and Kristy Thienes. Their Shaunavon restaurant, Harvest Eatery, was showcased in the show's inaugural season 2020.
"They've been great people to get to know over the years," he said. "They were great in season one, and when we heard they were opening a new restaurant with their new business partners in Swift Current, we got excited.
"It's a beautiful restaurant, and it was a lot of fun to film in there... From a story perspective, Rusty and Kristy did a tremendous job on camera. It was really (hard) trying to condense it down to fit into our show because they always have so many great things to say. Not just about their restaurant or the people they work with but also about Saskatchewan in general. They're great proponents of the food story that's happening across our province."
In each episode, Flat Out Food host Jenn Sharp walks the viewers through a journey of Saskatchewan ingredients from the field, forest, and lake where it's grown or found, right to the plate inside a restaurant produced by some of the province's top culinary minds. Wild game was the ingredient Trattoria Raccolto was tasked with cultivating.
"We went to Cumberland House, and our host Jenn, tracked Moose in the Saskatchewan River Delta. (We) didn't have very much success, but we did it," he said. "Then we went to an elk farm near Delmas, Saskatchewan... And saw how a rancher would raise elk. Then we went to Swift Current to Raccolto and brought some of that elk with us, and Rusty was able to make all these dishes."
Trattoria Raccolto plated an elk roast surrounded by elk tenderloin medallions, elk strip loin and elk ribeye, and a rabbit Cappelletti pasta dish.
"We're always just focused on people who are really good at what they do but also incredibly passionate about what they do," he said. "Everyone at Raccolto really checked that box for us."
Flat Out Food has now ventured into Swift Current in back-to-back seasons. In season four, they showcased Nightjar in episode four, with chickpeas as the ingredient.
Swift Current Online will have a story later this month about another southwest Saskatchewan restaurant starring in season five of Flat Out Food.