Category : News

A working man cooking fine food for his fellow workers. That’s the message from L’Ouvrier, (The Worker) Kitchenbar,  the new restaurant which Angus Bennett and Justine Fowler have opened on Dundas at Palmerston. I took along a union member to judge the results.

On a grim stretch of Dundas, L’Ouvrier is a beacon of welcome, light spilling through its glass wall onto the street. The designer Courtney Wotherspoon has stripped an old booze can of its innards, painted it white, polished the concrete floor and set bars of lights askance in the high ceiling diffusing a soft glow throughout. Along one wall is an  installation of plastic bags containing found objects from the reno.  Bennett himself made most of the tables from discarded 2 x 4s, then painted them white. The chairs are  white moulded plastic shells. The effect is spacious and warm.

It’s our server’s first day! She’s called Antoinette. No, it’s ok, not the Marie one. “I hope she gets a living wage” murmurs Brother Joe -
he ’s upset for her because in Down and Out in Paris and London, an inspiration for the resto, George Orwell disses waiters. “The cook does not look upon himself as a ser­vant, but as a skilled workman; he is generally called ‘UN OUVRIER’ which a waiter never is”.  I think Orwell’s Socialist distaste for service is showing.    Good service,  which Antoinette provides,  is not to be so sniffed at, it also requires skill and more, emotional intelligence which can make or break an evening.

Menus come in workmanlike style on clipboards, and it’s clear right away that Bennett, whose creds include his own catering service, spells at Ottawa’s Manx Pub and Crush, has a distinct and quirky cooking personality.

The dishes are skeletal French fleshed out globally.  We are about to order the daily fish tartare $14 but then reneg on learning it’s the overly familiar tuna. Instead we share a half dozen PEI oysters $16 and Brother Joe heaves a sigh of relief:”I was afraid of being patronized with meatballs.”

I inhale the Hot and Sour soup $9 but it loses steam when I taste it. The soup is hot but not nearly sour enough. Vinegar to the rescue.  But the three chicken dumplings and sliced shitakes are just super.  Our other appetizer is a terrific spin on roasted beet and goat cheese salad $9, sparked with peppery watercress, soothed with maple syrup- a fugitive flavour that defers gracefully to the white balsamic vinegar.

A tranche of salmon, roasted to sushi in the middle,  comes with a roof of wonderfully frizzled skin $21. Roasted, fried skin has become the newest taste thrill. The salmon is seasoned with lemongrass, coconut milk, thai basil, coriander, lime leaf, ginger, bird’s eye chili– I just wish I could have tasted them! Pleasant green beans make up the dish. We forgive the over-confited duck leg $24 because the pan-fried gnocchi and roasted garlic cream are irresistible.

Long time since I saw Eton Mess on a menu.  A masterpiece of meringue’s coagulated denatured proteins, balmed by creamy foam, spiked by strawberries.  Plus a delightful apple-olive oil cake. $7 each.

Bennett done good,we agree. Open ‘tude, offbeat ideas,  and once the seasoning’s sorted, should be a success beyond its neighbourhood.

A couple of things. As the room fills up, it becomes an echo chamber, noise bouncing off the bare walls and floor, and conversation is impossible. And  Bennett shouldn’t chuck his day job. The tables are just a little  too high for the chairs, leaving us feeling like children.

Antoinette brings our bill and a galvanized bolt which represents the common man. This is disingenuous. Ouvriers are not assembly line workers, they’re artisans who can shape what they do. They are honoured as an elite if they pass the exam to become a Meilleur Ouvrier (Master Craftsman)  of  France. We have an MOF here, the estimable Didier Leroy,  his eponymous restaurant at St. Clair and Yonge.  To know what it takes to make an MOF,  sink yourself in a DVD of Kings of Pastry, a recent doc which follows three pastry cooks for more than a year as they prepare for a gruelling three-day examination. The film should be called The Joy of Working. The pride, the passion of the aspirants are very moving.  Even a judge cries.  Puts  the tawdry cynicism of the Food Network to shame.

L’Ouvrier Kitchenbar, 791 dundas st.w. toronto 416-901-9581 Wheelchair Access. Food for two plus tax: Dinner $102
Out of 4 Stars ** 1/2 Food and Service, ** Vibe.

Chinese food, complains a reader, gets no respect – because reviewers know so little about it. Touche. But it’s hard to get one’s head around Chinese cooking in Toronto. It’s trendy  to say that restaurants must have a narrative. Well, Chinese restos have a portmanteau novel, the turbulent  history of China. The problem is more complex. Chinese restos have no narratology, they don’t know  HOW to tell the story. Chinese … Continue reading.. →

Is Purolator for real? Get automated message that I can PICK UP a parcel. No idea what it is. Purolator Is not allowed to leave a message for apartment tenants. Usually UBS dials my apartment code which connects directly to my cell and if no answer, leaves notification of next delivery.Why couldn’t driver have called me. Not allowed to call and drive.How about stopping truck and using phone.Not contracted to … Continue reading.. →

when I despaired of getting my website up again, I was rescued by Jennifer Johannesen, who knows Word Press back to front, up to down….Can’t recommend more highly. jennifer@lowtothe ground.ca

Sunday Oct 2 I set down in Marseille for the first time and start tracking some of the things I already love about it – Marcel Pagnol’s Marseillaise trilogy, although I will skip something called Cesar’s bar in the old port, preferring to leave Cesar and Panisse to my imagination.Also planning a trip out to Chateau d’If where Edmond Dantes, the Count of Monte CRisto, was unjustly imprisoned…of course I … Continue reading.. →

DHgate has ads all over the web,puffing itself as a reliable wholesaler for Chinese products. What a joke. I bought an $86 IPAD clone from  DH Gate paid 26 bucks postage and received a lemon.  DHGaTE claims that it verifies its sellers. Obviously untrue. This is what its seller 88 angle says hi,dear friend, thanks for your understand so can you close the dispute first, then i can send a … Continue reading.. →

I credited Garuda on Eglinton with Indonesian menu. Took info from extensive listings on Google. In fact Garuda is shuttered. Sharp reminder not to trust Google info.

The summer trend is roots. No, not turnips, but chefs rooting out a neglected regional cuisine. Alsatian at Elle M’a Dit, Cajun at Acadia, MiddleEastern at Mideastro, Aboriginal at Keriwa Cafe. And now, Quince is rootling  an almost lost dish – Rijsttafel, the Dutch Rice Table. The Dutch don’t often rank as cooks, but they are leaders in horticulture, not to mention savvy marketers.   It was the Dutch after all … Continue reading.. →

As I make my way to Volos, the new Greek place which has replaced Mediterra at Richmond and University, I ponder the nature of eating Greek in Toronto. There’s the Danforth of course, an avenue of raffish and goodnatured tavernas, serving moussaka, souvlaki, stuffed grape leaves, such as used to be found all over Greece. But as Diane Kochilas, the restaurant critic for Greece’s largest newspaper Ta Nea, wrote last … Continue reading.. →

It’s that time  of year again when Toronto’s restrictive licensing laws get relaxed for the Toronto International Film Festival,  and when  those who want to sing Set Em Up Joe to a bartender at 3. am, can do so legally. Yippee. And all because it looks kinda lousy if Brad Pitt can’t slip his minders and buy a Redneck beer  when he wants it. But don’t get too excited.  The … Continue reading.. →