Doris Lajoie recently celebrated the first birthday of Eggcitement. And she has some big plans for the future of the popular bistro on Nelson Street in Meaford.

A decade ago, Lajoie was working as a secretary, when she decided it was time for a change. “I just changed careers at age 40,” she says with a laugh. “I needed a change and I love cooking. My dad was an executive pastry chef, and I guess it’s in the family.” (Her two daughters currently work at the restaurant.)

Doris Lajoie

For 10 years, Lajoie operated Beyond the Clouds – that is, the Beyond the Clouds Café at the Collingwood Airport – where she quickly became famous for her streusel-topped pies. But she’d long had her eye on opening a restaurant in Meaford, where she lived.

When Mark and Debbie Young retired two years ago and closed the Sirloin Cellar butcher shop and deli, Lajoie thought the location was perfect – and she began to make serious plans for Eggcitement. She overhauled the main floor, adding a full kitchen, putting in booths, and completely renovating and redecorating. By October, she was nearly ready, but she still didn’t have a full-time cook. “It was getting late in the year,” she says. “So I just said, ‘Tomorrow, we’ll open the door and see what happens.’ And it took off from there. It’s been a very busy year.”

That’s not surprising, considering the full and varied menu made mostly from scratch and from fresh, local ingredients. Eggcitement is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. 365 days a year, but the bistro offers a lot more than bacon and eggs.

“I just thought that Meaford needed something that’s very different,” says Lajoie. “I want to provide that. We do Jamaican food, Indian food, German food, Italian food – we make our own fresh pasta.”

While the menu regularly features Lajoie’s specialties – frittatas, omelettes, Eggs Benedict, a sandwich menu and an egg menu – you can always count on more than one “eggciting” daily special. “Every day it’s something different,” she says. Specials include such mouth-watering creations as pulled turkey, grilled cheese stuffed with pulled pork, crème brûlée French toast, and crêpes. Lajoie makes nearly everything from scratch, including apple jelly made from the organic apples growing in her front yard, gravies, beef jerky and salad dressings. The maple syrup comes from a local supplier and she’s arranging to get some locally harvested honey straight from the comb. In the summer, you can cool down with smoothies and fresh-pressed juices on the sidewalk patio.

Lajoie’s currently working on getting a liquor licence for beer and wine, and she hopes to eventually expand to the second floor of the building, opening the new area for the dinner trade. She is also currently poised to offer meal deliveries within five minutes or so of downtown Meaford.

Visit Eggcitement at 16 Nelson Street West or call 519-538-1968.