Cuisine du terroir
Can gentle readers point me to restaurants in the GTA that specialize in this type of cuisine? Being from Québec where this has become a prevalent modus operandi for restaurants and having spent a month in BC recently where it is also a point of pride, I really would be interested in tasting the best Ontario has to offer. Now, as I noticed in both Québec and BC this certainly does not mean inflated pricing (I want to smell the food, not profit-taking). TIA.
mrbozo
May 10, 2008 09:53AM
Lucien Restaurant on Wellington St. E. just west of Church has received great reviews over the past year or so since it opened. Chef Scott Woods is known for making an effort to source high quality local and organic meats and other ingredients.
This review contains a few more details:
http://www.martiniboys.com/Toronto/Lu...
36 Wellington St East, Toronto, ON, Canada
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There are dozens of restaurants that attempt to use local seasonal ingredients in their menus. Go to the Ontario places hub and type "local" or "regional" in the search field and you'll come up with a list of restaurants in the GTA and beyond:
http://www.chow.com/places/regions/23
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And if Globe Bistro is not on the above list, it should be.
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Globe is indeed on the list along with Cowbell, Lucien, JKWB, JK Gardiner, Thirty Five Elm, Opus, Rosewater Supper Club, L'Unita, Urban, The Garden @ Eleven, Amuse Cuisine, Volo, Perigee, Canoe, Gallery Grill, Black Dog Pub, Far Niente, Pangaea, Paddock, Bow & Arrow, Chez Victor, Trappers, Epic, and even 360 in the CN Tower.
By no means a complete list of all GTA restaurants that use local or regional ingredients (or claim to), just what's been input into the places hub so far that also includes the words "local" or "regional".
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JKWB springs to mind, as does Cowbell. But really yeah there are dozens...
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Thanks for the responses.
Next step is to winnow the wheat from the chaff. Which places actually have good kitchens? And which places are not pocketbook ripoffs (for example: Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal provides sumptuous feasts that two can indulge in and have enough leftover to bag and take home for another meal @ $60/person; sushi bars in Vancouver put the ones here to shame at equivalent or lower price points)
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There is certainly no equivalent of APdC here...it's one of the most unique restos in the world, I think.
But if you look at a recent menu from JKWB - http://www.jkkitchens.com/PDFs/WBmenu... - you'll see emphasis on local items like lake fish, homemade hams and bacons, veggies of the season, etc. It is tapas-style dining, but really quite affordable, certainly in the same ballpark price point-wise as APdC. And the rotating selection of gourmet poutine is pretty good too (no foie gras, though!).
I'm from Montréal and only moved here four years ago, but I eat out a fair bit. When people ask me for recommendations for a signature Toronto restaurant that has great atmosphere and won't break the bank, my first response is invariably JKWB.
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Thank you much. This sounds exactly like what I'm looking for. Are there any other restos matching JKWB's attention to local ingredients and presenting them at a reasonable price point?
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Yes, besides JK Gardiner, there's the Gallery Grill -
http://dine.to/profile_features.php?feature=menu&id=2817
http://www.harthouse.utoronto.ca/hh/p...
7 Hart House Circle, Toronto, ON, Canada
111 Queens Park, Toronto, ON, Canada
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Thanks. Hart House's Gallery Grill looks to be well worth a visit. If not soon then on the flip side of summer (mmm, harvest time).
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Zucca Trattoria should be considered as well...
http://www.zuccatrattoria.com
2150 Yonge St, Toronto, ON, Canada
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BTW, mrbozo, being from Quebec, you might be interested in our ramps, which are currently in season. Places like JKWB - or Eigensinn, if you decide to make the distant expedition - should have them. I recall reading an article last year that mentioned that they're protected in PQ, so mostly unavailable there. Please, come, enjoy our ramps. They're gorgeous.
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Mmmm. Yes indeed. I snagged my legal limit of 200 grams over the border during Mother's Day weekend.
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And use all the plant. The leaves are great as part of a salad, or o dress pasta. The root is almost limitless in its application, but best, I think, with minimal adornment.
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Globe Bistro has them as a side to their rock hen at the moment, which was fantastic.
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