Windsor faces Detroit across the river and has its own distinct pizza style: shredded pepperoni that curls in the oven, canned mushrooms, and a light hand with the sauce. It is a genuine regional style with defenders who will explain it at length.
The city and the surrounding Essex County have a very large Middle Eastern population — Lebanese especially — and the shawarma, manakish and bakeries are the everyday food here. Neighbouring Dearborn, across the border, is the larger centre of that cooking in the region.
Essex County is also Canada’s greenhouse capital, growing an enormous share of the country’s tomatoes and peppers, and the wine region along Lake Erie’s north shore is on the city’s doorstep.