Rising Star
It’s Elaine Kaufman’s way with an insult that’s made her eponymous restaurant on Manhattan’s upper east side a celebrity magnet for decades. Her motto might be “ Treat ‘em Mean, Keep ‘em Keen” as a famous Edwardian beauty described her own technique. Now – is Toronto ready for an outsize personality like Elaine?
Well, keep watching, Jen Agg co-owner with chef Grant van Gameren of the Black Hoof, or should I say the Hoof Group since the Hoof Café was spun off recently. Agg’s not only managing the restaurants but as the Black Hoof’s bartender, she sets the restaurants’ breezy, uninhibited style. I follow her tweets “We’ll find Round 2 of Hoof Patio! Might have to drink a cocktail or two on line tonight “ and her media coverage. Recently she disrupted a love-in at the Women and Food conference at the U of T taking a winemaker to task for the labour standards for agriculture workers in this province. Yes, I have great hopes for her.
Already she and van Gameren have branded the restoscape. It was Agg who, after her College St. bar Cobalt closed, placed an ad on Craig’s List for a charcuterie chef and thus found van Gameren (the former sous at Lucien). Together, they made a drab strip of Dundas W. near Bellwoods Park into a starred destination. There’s plenty of good charcuterie in town, I’m now crazy about Derek Bendig’s Cardamom and orange cured pork loin at Pangaea, but it was van Gameren’s embrace of Nose to Tail, aka offal, plus charcuterie, the two paired with cocktails, that made the Hoof unique. The strong stippled flavours of the drinks complemented the salty fattiness and tapped two markets, the nostalgie de la boue of locavores and fashion-seeking fauxbos.
Both Hoof and the Café are open Thursday through Monday to attract neighbours and tourists. Neither restaurant takes reservations or credit cards (“treat ‘em mean…”) Both stay open til 2 am, a lure to fellow restaurant workers like Jamie Kennedy looking for a congenial late night spot and providing valuable insider cachet.
Originally the café, a pretty country diner with a 12-seat bar and a handful of tables, was intended to handle Hoof’s overflow. But now it’s morphed into a sold-out brunch (another Agg notion) destination. But I skip brunch –I don’t think a poached egg needs a review. Instead I’m checking in for Geoff Hopgood’s shared- plates dinner menu – all under twenty bucks. We get seats by the window and settle down with the cocktail carte which is all Agg. The LCBO gets its knuckles rapped for carrying lowgrade vermouth: for her New More Perfect Hoof Manhattan $16, Agg sent to Italy for the real thing, Carpano Antica , to go along with her own bitters and 10 year old Rye.
Jenny, the Agg-trained bartender, mixes the bracing pick-me-ups. I feel I must take Agg’s advice and pick Mom’s fave– Fawlty Basil, fizz and gin, basil,lime, orangeblossom water in a jam jar! Addictively refreshing. Goes great with thick slices of tuna sashimi and fava beans. My companion gives a thumbs up to Chili Guava Margarita $12, guajillo tequila, guava puree, agave syrup, lime only asking “Where’s the chili?” before digging into the crisp hot Poppers, deepfried jalapenos stuffed with smoked hot links sausage and cheese curds, dipped into pickled whipped cream. For the little disc of terrine of foie gras with vanilla, rhubarb compote, I cannot resist a Sazerac, cognac, homemade bitters, the glass “generously washed with absinthe.” Treacherously smooth. The horse tartare is a disappointment: Not spicy enough despite finely minced onion and peppers lined up like coke, Our final dish was a melting rolled pork belly bathed in trotter jus and maple syrup.
The desserts, thanks to Mike Angeloni, former pastry chef at Splendido, fulfil their destiny, we couldn’t stop eating the little bowls, one with with bronzed meringue folds, a torrent of dried cranberries and crunch spilling into the lemon curd or the malteser, chocolate, caramel, ice cream waterfall in the other.
** 1/2 Hoof Café 923 Dundas St. W. (at Bellwoods Ave.), 416-792-7511 No Wheelchair access. Dinner for two plus tax $80
Sackcloth and Ashes Department: Two weeks ago, I incorrectly identified Peter Tsebelis as an owner of Brassaii. I had the time frame wrong. He no longer owns Brassaii. Therefore the linking of Brassaii’s shortcomings with those of Buca – an ineffably superior restaurant – to Tsebelis was both irrelevant and unfair. A return visit to Buca is in the offing.
