I’ve Got the Horse Right Here….
Ten years ago La Palette opened in Kensington Market and quietly, without fuss began selling horse steak.Why? The owner Shamez Amlani explained “Well this is a French restaurant and the French eat horse.” A logical answer. The Quebecois eat horse too and so do millions of gourmets round the world. But Toronto was part of the Anglosphere where love of horses has been assumed to preclude to enjoying a pet for dinner.
It’s not entirely true however. As a kid I ate horse with pleasure. My mother’s extreme nearsightedness having failed to register the tiny sign on the London butchers’ window we ate delicious horse steaks for months before my father outed her. And during the ‘70s oil crisis, Americans had no trouble eating Horse Franks.
La Palette was a kind of horse speakeasy – Psst you wanna eat horse? Customers had to ask for it and it came with the equivalent discretion of a plain brown wrapper.
The big change came when Marc Thuet served horse at The Fifth in the early 00s. After that horse started trotting gaily through Metro menus, notably on charcuterie plates.
As for La Palette, it’s done so well that it’s now expanded to a second location on Queen St W. where the Taro Grill used to be. First impression: bistros may be dying in France, but they’re alive and well here in Toronto. The décor is drenched in Francophiliac nostalgia, provencal tablecloths, a blackboard with specials. Only the open kitchen headed by Brook Kavanagh – brought over from the original La Palette- is an avant garde touch. As for the menu, well, what worked at the old place, works here too: bistro familiars plus the marquee specialty – Quack ‘N’ Track, a 4 ounce Horse tenderloin with a leg of duck confit $34.
This evening I’m out to knock the popular assumption that youth is heading for Buffalo to eat the new rave, the Double Down sandwich. My subjects are two seasoned gourmands Daniel, 20, and Julian, 16. They seem to have eaten everything. Horse is so last weekend – but good! Carnivorous Julian can’t wait to eat more. First however he must sample the wild boar terrine with whiskied raisins, frisee, sauerkraut and rye toast $12. He nods approval. And then he must have a charcuterie plate with wild boar tartare. The coup de grace is Quack and Track. The duck is tender while the horse tenderloin is a little block of crusted meat of unimpeachable rareness.
Daniel is more judicious. He asks why didn’t the waiter tell us what exactly was on the charcuterie plate. Good Point. His picks are subtler. Fried camembert with fresh figs, mache and balsamic-fig puree. The crackling bronze tube looks tempting, crunches nicely, oozes splendidly and yet – no taste.
He doesn’t do much better with the papardelle with duck confit in a duck buerre noisette with shitake mushrooms, peas and wild leek.$22. Sounds irresistible but Daniel has trouble tracking the mushrooms, indeed any energizing flavour.. Hmm. He looks over at Julian “You chose best.”
Meanwhile adults have gone conservative with such established bistro fare as a house salad$7 and the coarse duck liver pate en croute $8. Neither do justice to their traditions. The salad is given a curious dressing of sour cherry, almond and buttermilk while the pate’s pastry is heavy. However, wild red spring salmon, house smoked, pan seared, with a garnish of red caviare, is tender, on the right side of undercooking. That’s enough I think. What’s with these jarring accompaniments – fugitive wild leek puree, vinegary gribiche sauce, gherkins, capers, parsley and a heavily creamy new potato salad. The kitchen is sitting on its own success.
The hit of the evening is the bison rib-eye $35. A chunk of game with an identifiable taste. The bison is pan seared rare and comes with an appropriately earthy dressing of kidney and bone marrow persillade. No doubt about it, eat meat at La Pallette.
Julian lets his critic’s chops slip with the choice of crème brulee $9 for dessert. Crème brulee is a nobrainer, unless it’s a total bust,there’s nothing to write about. Mango sorbet’s thick consistency squeezes out mango’s fresh flavour $9,and the lemon tart is doughy $9. I choose Clafoutis, sour cherries embedded in custard but there aren’t enough cherries in the very solid filing.
**La Palette 492 Queen St W, Toronto, ON, Canada
416 603 4900. No wheelchair access. Dinner for two plus tax: $105
