Bannock’s holiday tourtière

This time of year, it takes a strong will not to indulge, whether it be in the beautiful pastries and cakes spilling out of patisserie windows or the drinks at a holiday party. We say, why even try? We’ve rounded up some of our favourites, along with a few other gifts that your food-obsessed friends are sure to love (including one salve for those who’ve indulged just a little too much).

Words and pictures by Renée Suen

Eat well and feed the hungry along the way—that’s the concept behind the annual What’s on the Table benefit being held this year on November 2. Since 2005, the fundraiser has gathered $1.5 million for The Stop, the innovative community food centre whose goal is to increase everyone’s access to healthy food (check out our interview with chef Chris Brown from shortly after he joined The Stop). Dining stations open at 6:30 p.m., and patrons won’t be starved for choice; the event features offerings from over 30 chefs, including Lynn Crawford of Ruby Watcho, Anthony Walsh of Canoe and pâtissier Nadège Nourian (see below for the very impressive full list).Ticketholders with a little extra money burning a hole in their pockets can bid on a number of prizes in the live and silent auctions, including a week in the Turks and Caicos Islands and jewellery from Tiffany. Sponsors Cave Spring, Flat Rock, Château des Charmes, Henry of Pelham, Stratus Vineyards, Frogpond Farms and Steam Whistle are providing the drinks.

What’s on the Table, November 2. 6 p.m. $225. Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie St., wott.thestop.org.

Returning chefs:

• Bertrand Alépée—The Tempered Chef
• Rocco Agostino and Matthew DeMille—Pizzeria Libretto
• Chris Brown and Scott MacNeil—The Stop
• David Chrystian—Victor
• Elena Morelli and Guido Saldini—Aria
• Andrew Mackenzie and Andrew Hunter—Buddha Dog
• Ted Corrado—C5
• Mark Cutrara—Cowbell
• Donna Dooher—Mildred’s Temple Kitchen
• Claudia Egger—Frangipane
• Keith Froggett—Scaramouche
• Jamie Kennedy—Jamie Kennedy Kitchens
• Matt Batey—Mission Hill Winery
• Nick Liu—Niagara Street Café
• Giorgio Taluri—Noce
• Lorenzo Loseto—George
• Matty Matheson—Parts and Labour
• Albino Silva—Chiado
• Jesse Vallins—Trevor Kitchen
• Scott Vivian—Beast
• Anthony Walsh—Canoe
• Ruth Klahsen—Monforte Dairy
• Cynthia Leung and David Castellan—Soma

Newcomers:

• Jason Bangerter—Luma
• Lynn Crawford and Lora Kirk—Ruby Watchco
• Top Chef Canada competitor Todd Perrin—The Chef’s Inn
• Brad Long—Café Belong
• Patrick McMurray—Starfish
• Graham Platt—The Gabardine
• Nadège Nourian—Nadège
• Matthew Batey—Mission Hill

Chef Joseph Bear Robe works the stoves at Keriwa, the city’s only Aboriginal restaurant (Image: Emma McIntyre)

In the basement hallway of Keriwa Café, there’s a row of photographs showing an Ojibwa man dancing through Paris in feathered powwow regalia. From the Louvre to the Champs Élysées, the stomping, rattle-shaking man appears in hyper-saturated colour, while the City of Light behind him is rendered in muted sepia, as if to invoke a noble past. But in the final image, the dancer leans over. As you look more closely, you see that he’s fiddling with something, an iPod connected to a ghetto blaster—Sitting Bull meets the b-boy crew. “You think you know me?” the photo seems to say.

The series, by the part-Ojibwa artist Jason Jenkins, is a fitting emblem for Keriwa, which opened in early August on the western edge of Parkdale. The restaurant is the project of Aaron Joseph Bear Robe, a half-Scottish, half-Blackfoot chef who grew up on the Siksika Nation reserve in southern Alberta. He’s a classic dual-identity Canadian: though he ate bannock, saskatoon berries and bison meat for much of his young life, he also ate plenty of non-Native food, and he trained at Calgary’s highly regarded River Café, at Eigensinn Farm and, most recently, at Splendido on Harbord Street. There are Aboriginal accents around Bear Robe’s well-run dining room—a chandelier made with eagle feathers, a strip of Pendleton blanket running through the leather banquettes, his grandmother Maggie Barrow’s 70-year-old buckskin robe displayed in a prime spot beside the bar. But the music is Wilco and the Grateful Dead, the service is run by an ex–Splendido hand, and the menu, though it offers a few Native dishes, reads more fresh, local and organic than it does Aboriginal. Bear Robe’s heritage influences his cooking, but only as a foundation. He brings it upstairs when it works.

The 28-year-old chef does a smart starter of smoked whitefish that’s presented much the way a French chef might do it: with a caviar-topped buttermilk blini, horseradish crème fraîche and a salad of shaved radish and pea shoots. There is a tomato gazpacho one night that balances the supernal tug of sweetness, salt and acid in late-summer tomatoes against local jalapeños, bursting kernels of fresh corn and crunchy pepitas. Bear Robe topped the soup with a quenelle of sorbet that he made from cold-pressed canola oil, lemon syrup and sparkling water. He could sell tankers of that stuff. Pheasant from nearby Lake Simcoe arrives dripping-juicy, cooked half a shade past medium and sided with a superb golden galette filled with confit chicken, kale and stewed plums.

There are a few duds—dishes that come freighted with good intentions but fizzle on the plate. “This reminds me of horse feed,” my tablemate said of the buckwheat-stuffed cabbage roll one night, and he’s right. The texture, the flavour—it’s beige in every way. The whipped pork fat, served with the dark, wonderfully dense house-made bread, delivers smoked paprika and borderline rancid bite, instead of porcine roundness and sweet.

But then there’s the braised bison pemmican, which is served in an oblong wooden bowl that looks like a canoe, alongside bannock made from Red Fife flour. Pemmican, in its traditional form, is little more than a mash of meat, fat and berries. Bear Robe smokes his bison and braises it with juniper, cloves, sage, onions, bison stock and saskatoon berry jelly. It tastes like the greatest short-rib dish you’ve ever tried.

The bannock is just as good. Though it originated in Scotland, bannock is mostly known as a Native food; it’s been a staple of North American Aboriginal diets for at least 150 years. Bear Robe flavours his with maple syrup and fennel seed, and he pan-fries the dough in vegetable oil. It turns up steaming hot and dense, so its chew is reminiscent of a Montreal bagel, but it has depth and nuttiness from the flour, and a bit of Tiny Tom sweetness. If you don’t feel the urge to order more, check for a pulse.

Stadtländer argues that the quarry would result in the loss of prime Ontario farmland and would threaten local wildlife and the integrity of much of Ontario’s freshwater resources, since the proposed land is below the water table. “It’s some of the best farmland in Ontario, and it’s only 100 kilometres away from Toronto,” he told The Grid. “We are really only at the dawn of local food right now. The human population is growing and we really have to secure places where we can grow food.” Perhaps the best comment we’ve heard in reaction to the event comes from David Waters, an Orangeville real estate agent and Foodstock volunteer, who told the Toronto Star: “You can’t eat gravel.” Event details and tickets available here.

The list of contributing chefs is a staggering tour of southern Ontario locavorism:

Toronto:

Paul Böehmer and Milana Lise from Böhmer
Teo Paul from Union
Adam Colquhoun and Robert Bechard from Oyster Boy
JP Challet from Ici Bistro
Lola Kirk from Ruby Watcho
Jeffery Cladio from Scarpetta
Chris Brown from The Stop Community Food Centre
Jamie Kennedy from Jamie Kennedy Kitchens
Aaron Bear Robe from Keriwa Café
Fabio Boni and Michael Sangregorio from Local Kitchen and Wine Bar and Bar Salumi
Luis Valenzuela from Torito Tapas Bar
Victor Barry from Splendido and The County General
Albert Ponzo from Le Select Bistro
Hiro Yoshida from Hiro Sushi
Anthony Walsh from Bannok and Oliver and Bonacini Restaurants
Carole Ferrari from Locale Café
Carl Heinrich and Ryan Donovan from Marben
Michael Sacco from Chocosol Chocolate Traders
David Kokai from Loïc Gourmet
Anthony Rose from The Drake Hotel
Derek Bendig and Colen Quinn from Pangaea
Zane Caplansky from Caplansky’s
Evelyne Gharbirian from Hearty Catering
Rodney Bowers from Hey Meatball
Matty Matheson from Parts and Labour
Derek Zavislake from Merchants of Green Coffee
Keith Froggett from Scaramouche
Lorenzo Loseto from George Restaurant
Rob Gentile from Buca Restaurant
Patrick McMurray from Starfish Oyster Bed and Grill, Ceili Cottage
Joshna Maharaj
Steffan Howard from Palais Royale and Casa Loma
Kevin McKenna from Globe Bistro, Earth Rosedale and Earth Bloor West
Phillip Heilborn from Earth Bloor West
Trish Donnelly from Chef Donnelly Catering
Brad Long and Sarah Kuntz from Belong Café
John Higgins and Oliver Li from George Brown College
Daisuke Izatsu from Kaiseki Sakura
Christopher Palik from L-Eat Catering and Paese Ristorante
Daniel Muia from Mogette Bistro
Joe Levesque from the International Centre
Graham Pratt and Christine Fancy from The Gabardine
Giacomo Pasquini from Vertical
Aubrey Demers
Bertrand Alépée from The Tempered Chef
Fawzi Kotb from Veloute Bistro and Catering
Nick Laliberte from Poutini’s House of Poutine
Dawn Woodward and Edmund Rek from Evelyn’s Crackers
Jacob Sharkey Pearce from Two Brothers Inc.
Linda Burnside and Kevin Walters from Alternative Grounds
Alexandra Feswick from Brockton General
Diane Cartwright from Whole World Trade Ltd.
Jeff Brown and Jennifer Rashleigh from Delight
Lesia Kohut from LPK’s Culinary Groove
Anton Potvin and Nick Liu from Niagara Street Café
Johan Maes from Goed Eten

Durham:

Michael Schmidt and Chef Carey McLellan from Glencolton Farms

Mississauga:

Erica Trabulsi from The Culinary Art School of Ontario

Shelburne:

Rob Uffen from Rob Uffen’s Trout House

Rosemont:

Ross Midgley and Beth Hunt from The Globe Restaurant

Owen Sound:

Robin Pradhan from Rocky Raccoon Café

Creemore:

Michel Masselin from Chez Michel
Dave Nesbitt from Creemore Coffee Company
Don Akehurst from Sovereign Restaurant

Collingwood:

Gareth Carter from Men with Knives
Leona Nyman and Andrea Greyerbiehl from Azzurra
Jeremy Korten from Oliver and Bonacini Café Grill and Blue Mountain Restaurant
Mark and Christine Kraus from Espresso Post
Scott Chalmers and Andrew Barber from Simplicity Bistro
Christophe and Wispy Boivin from Tremont Café
Joelle Rogers from Tesoro Restaurant
Mike Duffin from One99 Broadway
Roger Genoe from Ravenna Country Market

Singhampton:

Martina Gómez and Jörg Neth from Haisai
Michael and Nobuyo Stadtländer from Eigensinn Farm

Orangeville:

Jason Reiner from The Mono Cliff’s Inn
Alex Johnston from Hockley Valley Resort

Flesherton:

Shawn Adler from The Flying Chestnut

Burlington:

Tobias Pohl-Weary from Red Canoe Bistro

Guelph:

Carin Balint from Garden of Vegan

Niagara:

Paul Harber from Ravine Vineyard
Janice Suarez
Ryan Crawford from The Stone Road Grille

Stratford:

Ruth Klahsen from Monforte Diary

Parry Sound:

Philip Patrick from The Ridge at Manitou

Barrie:

Matthew Flett from Georgian College
Randy Feltis from Oscars
David Keenan from At the Five
Daniel Hong and Anna Kim from Furasato Restaurant
Ceasar Guinto from Cravings Fine Food Market and Catering

Thornbury:

Shaun Edmonsteon and Jennifer Vipond from Bruce Wine Bar

Waterford:

Tracey Winkworth from The Belworth House

Aurora:

Jason D’Anna from Magna Golf Club

Ottawa:

Rob Fraser from Fraser Café

Saskatchewan:

Moe Mathieu

Nova Scotia:

Stefan Czapalay from Culinary Design Solutions

• Fully Stocked [Now Magazine]
• Foodstock fights mega-quarry with mega-feast [The Grid]
• In the forest with Michael Stadtlander [Toronto Star]

(Image: Michelle Easton)

Loblaws is set to launch a line of gourmet products meant to compete with the likes of Pusateri’s or Mark McEwan’s grocery store McEwan, the auspiciously named President’s Choice Black Label. Indeed, they’re working with Toronto chefs like Marc Thuet and Anthony Walsh and macaron pushers Bobbette and Belle to introduce a tasting menu based on the products to 40 or 50 food writers and “influencers” at Parkdale’s Neubacher Shor Contemporary gallery on September 22. We got a sample at this week’s TIFF Tastemakers gifting lounge at the Intercontinental, where celebs were offered ginger-spiced chocolate, hickory-smoked olive oil, sweet chipotle dip and bacon marmalade.

According to a piece in the Toronto Star, the line will launch with about 200 items and appear at 140 select stores in Ontario and Quebec, with more coming in December. Priced from $1.99 to $24.99, the items are meant to sell for a lot less than they might in specialty gourmet stores. The Star interviewed Jeff Doucette, a principal in the consulting firm Sales Is Not Simple, who explained “Yes, there’s a debt crisis in Greece. But if this truffle aioli whipped dressing is cheaper at Loblaws than at my favourite gourmet store, I don’t have to give up great-tasting food, just because I’m a little over-invested in European mutual funds.” We might not be over-invested in European mutual funds, but we’ll still take that truffle aioli whipped dressing.

• Loblaws gambles on luxury food line [Toronto Star]

Inside Bannock, the new collaboration between Oliver and Bonacini and HBC (Image: Renée Suen)

It’s no secret that Hudson’s Bay Co. has undergone some big changes in recent years. The retailer’s revitalization project at its Queen Street flagship store, in partnership with Compass Group Canada and Oliver and Bonacini, is the first move toward a national conversion of its food services. To that end, it’s opened up two new restaurants aimed at attracting an increasingly food-conscious public: Foodwares Market, a modern food hall on the lower level, and Bannock, a new restaurant and café at the corner of Queen and Bay.

Named after the traditional Scottish flatbread that was adopted by indigenous people and early settlers, Bannock is the latest addition to the O&B Empire. The 4,348-square-foot, Designum-designed space is part grab-and-go café and part dine-in restaurant. The cheery café side of things, open all day, is on the west end of the Queen Street–facing restaurant. Here, ready-made sandwiches, salads and pastries from O&B Artisan fill long glass cases. Hand-crafted chocolates (some house-made, some made by Soma) are available, as is freshly brewed coffee from the coffee bar. A patio flanking Bay Street comfortably seats 20 and offers a view of Old City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square.

On the east end, Bannock’s clean and modern main dining room is lined with antique pine and concrete panels. A few windows allow diners to peek into The Bay’s men’s department, while interlocking reclaimed hemlock planks form part of the ceiling. In addition to banquettes and wooden chairs surrounding Carrara marble tables, the room also features a long harvest table under a wiry light installation. Orders for the dine-in area’s 68 patrons are filled by chef Paul Brans (Canoe, O&B Canteen) and chef de cuisine Luke Kennedy (Vancouver’s C Restaurant, London’s The Greenhouse and Oliver and Bonacini Cafe Grill) from Bannock’s centrally located open kitchen.

Bannock’s menu was designed by a team of O&B chefs—including partner Michael Bonacini and corporate executive chef Anthony Walsh—and is inspired by Canada’s regional and cultural diversity. Lunch and dinner options include crowd favourites like the St-Canut pulled pork tourtière ($16)—complete with a package of Heinz ketchup—and the Arcadian Court chicken pot pie ($16), a nod to the historic restaurant and event space on The Bay’s top floor. A pickerel taco comes with cucumber-apple salad and caviar tartar ($11). A poutine-like pizza is topped with roast duck, curds and fries ($15), while a bannock-based version has house-smoked salmon ($14). The Canadiana theme also makes its way to the cocktail list: expect drinks like the Mighty Canuck (vodka, maple syrup–infused lemonade and candied lemon), the Bannock Caesar topped with a maple-bacon garnish and, inevitably, the HBC (vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry juice, peach purée and fresh lime).

Bannock, 401 Bay St., 416-861-6996, bannockrestaurant.ca.

Rob Gentile (Buca), David Lee (Nota Bene), Andrea Nicholson (Great Cooks on Eight), Paul Boehmer (Böhmer), Teo Paul (Union)

Two thousand of Toronto’s food lovers and makers gathered at the ROM on Sunday for the 21st edition of Toronto Taste. The annual fundraiser—which raises money for Second Harvest—saw more than 60 restaurants and 30 beverage purveyors offering their best to the guests. Burgers and tacos might have been the plats du jour, but new restaurant openings seemed to be the hottest item on the plates of many chefs and restaurateurs we spoke to. Here’s what we heard from Buca’s Rob Gentile, Woodlot’s David Haman, Scarpetta’s Scott Conant, Splendido’s Victor Barry, Top Chef Canada contestants Dustin Gallagher and Andrea Nicholson and many more. Words and images by Renée Suen

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The evening begins with cocktails and hors d’oeuvre, followed by a five-course sit-down meal catered by Paul Boehmer (Böhmer), Adam Colquhoun (Oyster Boy), John Higgins (George Brown Chef School), Daisuke Izutsu (Kaiseki Sakura), Jamie Kennedy (Gilead), Chris McDonald (Cava), Anthony Rose (The Drake Hotel), Michael Stadtländer (Eigensinn Farm and Haisai), Anthony Walsh (Canoe) and Hiro Yoshida (Hiro Sushi). Generous donations from a number of wineries (including Tawse, Southbrook and 13th Street) and breweries (Creemore and Sapporo) will supply the tipple, in addition to prizes at the silent auction. Boehmer has donated his space for the ticketed event, and all of the money raised will go to earthquake and sunami relief.

McDonald told us that Nobuyo Stadtländer had called to ask if he would participate in the cause. “It’s the least I can do,” McDonald says. “Everyone is donating to this. With a hundred seats and more from the auction, that’s a substantial amount to be raised. It’s a small effort on my part, but in the end, it’s shared with those who are donating their money to the event; this generosity collectively becomes a lot. I’m hoping that the Canadian the government might match this.”

Support for Japan, March 27. Cocktails at 5 p.m.; Dinner at 6:30 p.m. $250. Böhmer Restaurant, 93 Ossington Ave. For reservations, call Milana at 416-531-3800.

(Image: Renée Suen)

After 16 years at the top, Canoe, one of the city’s culinary beacons, closed its doors on New Year’s Day for a renovation. Unlike most restaurants, they actually completed it on schedule. Although we previewed Canoe’s overhauled space during its Winterlicious opening, the Oliver and Bonacini flagship officially relaunched last week with a completed dining room and revamped menu, so we thought we’d take a closer look.

The most dramatic change in the million-dollar facelift is the conversion of the minimalistic Yabu Pushelberg design to a warmer room with a palette of browns and taupes. Anacleto Design, responsible for the change, is the same group behind Oliver and Bonacini Café Grill and recent renovations to Biff’s Bistro (the husband-and-wife team are Yabu Pushelberg alums).

In the dining room, the upper-level dividing walls have been removed to open up the space, and a hand-beaten copper backdrop adds a bit of flair. Bare walnut tabletops replace linens, accompanied by mohair-upholstered Saarinen-style chairs. Tipplers can belly up to a dramatic soapstone bar or grab a seat along the window counter for a view of Lake Ontario. Canoe’s two private dining rooms (with capacity for 30 and 40, respectively) were also upgraded with better soundproofing and a unified look.

Notable nods to Canadiana are scattered throughout. The bar sports a pair of caribou-head etchings inspired by the design on the quarter, as well as 150 beaver-embossed porcelain jars. Three custom-carved antler chandeliers by Brothers Dressler dangle in the main room, while an eye-catching topographical bronze and copper wall map of Canada by Unit Five dominates the private room.

Executive chef Anthony Walsh and chef de cuisine John Horne have added some new plates to their regionally focused menu. Classics, like the hand-chopped Cumbrae Farms steak tartare ($24 at dinner) and the popular corn nut–hazelnut milk chocolate cake ($12) are joined by braised short ribs with a tree syrup–glaze ($28). Slices of medium-rare venison are paired with Soma chocolate ($47), and foie gras is served with tea-smoked duck breast ($44). The PB&J sandwich, a lunchbox staple, is reinvented with baker David Wilson’s buttery brioche, Brampton-grown Kernal peanuts, house-preserved Concord grape jelly and a seared slice of La Ferme foie gras ($27). Come springtime, expect fiddleheads, morels and other seasonal finds to make their way onto plates and the ever-changing six-course tasting menu ($100 per person).

Canoe, 66 Wellington St. W. (at Bay), 54th Floor, 416-364-0054, oliverbonacini.com/Canoe.aspx

Chef Anthony Walsh of Canoe, along with Markus Bestig of O&B Café Grill, will oversee the revamping and O&B-ification of the hotel’s culinary offerings, which include: Rosseau Grill, a fine dining restaurant; Windermere Pub and Patio, a casual eatery; P.J.’s Lobby Bar; and the Windermere House’s popular sushi restaurant—O&B’s first foray into Japanese cuisine.

The venture into Muskoka cottage country isn’t new for O&B, which opened a location of its O&B Café Grill at Blue Mountain in 2005. Nor is the foray into meetings and event spaces a huge leap, as the company runs the Malaparte private event space at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and conference facilities at the Westin Trillium House at Blue Mountain.

The Windermere House opens for the season in May, giving the team only a couple months to bring the O&B machine up to the posh banks of Lake Rosseau.

Once upon a wine list (Image: Matthew Fox)

On Tuesday, we found ourselves sitting at the chef’s rail at Canoe for the second night of the Oliver and Bonacini joint’s grand reopening (check out our peek at the renovated space). Executive chef Anthony Walsh stood nearby marvelling at the general lack of chaos, and we asked him how the opening was going. Sure, minor elements of the $1-million renovation remained incomplete—baseboards weren’t finished, soapstone counters weren’t treated—but all in all, Walsh told us, things were running smoothly. The biggest challenge for staff, he said, was the installation of a new, more efficient computer system (which resulted in a few servers huddling over monitors trying to figure out how to process gift cards).

Walsh was especially proud of pulling off this opening in the midst of the hectic Winterlicious festival, a commitment owners Peter Oliver and Michael Bonacini agreed to months ago and weren’t willing to renege on. In order to give the kitchen and wait staff some breathing room, a smaller-than-usual cap was placed on reservations for opening night, and the à la carte menu options have been limited for the duration of Winterlicious.

As Walsh sees it, the renovation has been more about “subtle, microadjustments,” not big-picture changes. One of his little disappointments is that fabled table 26—beloved by the city’s power players and the most requested seat in the house—is no longer the exclusive “get” it once was. The table still occupies the apex of the resto’s raised platform level and still commands the best view, but Walsh pointed out that it now has to share space with several other tables. Indeed, the inukshuk fountain that sat next to it is now gone.

But perhaps it’s all a matter of perception. When asked about the suddenly less-exclusive table 26, Peter Oliver sent word through his communications director that he didn’t see it as less exclusive at all. If anything, he insists, they’ve simply increased the number of exclusive tables. We’ll let him and Walsh sort that one out.

For our part, we can’t wait to get a look at Canoe’s full, revamped à la carte menu once Winterlicious is over. Stay tuned.

• See our pictures from inside the new Canoe »

Having just renewed their 15-year lease on the flagship Oliver and Bonacini spot, the partners felt it was time for a facelift or, as Bonacini puts it, “to come out with a left hook at Canoe.” O&B is working with Ana Cleto Design on a new look: a paint job, hardwood floors, banquettes, a soapstone bar, walnut tabletops and chandeliers are all planned. Flatware, staff uniforms and service areas will also get a make-over. The two private dining rooms will be soundproofed for optimal canoodling and for “serious lawyers who are not in the mood to party,” says Bonacini.

As for the CanCon touches, the new bar will be embellished with a computer numerical cutting (CNC) of the 25 cent coin caribou. Wool carpets will sport designs inspired by pine cones, birch bark and moss. On the elevator landing, a custom entranceway is being created by Vancouver’s Heyday Design from 150 vintage porcelain replicas of the classic beaver-embossed sealer jar. In the main dining room, a raised platform of brass, bronze and copper foil will create an organic moss-like effect, and an image wall will feature a CNC topographical map of Canada by Unit 5.

In the kitchen, chef de cuisine John Horne is looking to make his mark. “He wants to put his stamp on the menu at Canoe. We’ve basically said to John that now is the time to do it.” He and executive chef Anthony Walsh will work to come up with such new and innovative items as “wacky” cheese boards and possibly a fresh fish display—though the staple lobster club will remain. “It’s a rebirth of the place,” Walsh told us last week. “Fifteen years of doing huge business beats the crap out of something.”

The new Canoe is slated to open at the end of January, just in time for Winterlicious. Unfortunately, the renovation will not make getting a table during the city’s food fest any easier.

Anthony Walsh and his home fridge (Images: Davida Aronovitch)

What’s a staple in your fridge?
Hot sauce is there. Cheeses. We’re crazy for cheese. With a homemade salami, you don’t need a whole lot more. If we’re talking one ingredient, an onion. For the vegetable Olympics, they took a bunch of Toronto chefs and we all picked the vegetable that we thought was king. I picked the onion, and the onion ended up being the winner. The onion is the foundation of so much.

We count more than 25 spicy sauces in here. What’s top shelf?
Sriracha is always a go-to, or sambal. Jamaican habanero and scotch bonnet with allspice, and a little bit of cinnamon. It’s very, very [makes explosion sound effect] blow your brains.

What’s the most embarrassing thing in your fridge?
It takes a lot to embarrass me. Even if I had bologna in the fridge, I wouldn’t be embarrassed. I love fried bologna. It’s gotta taste good. I like KFC, southern-style chicken. It’s killer. We don’t have anything to hide. It’s the way we roll. We’re into anything and everything. Actually, there is something embarrassing. That VH soy sauce.

Butter or other?
Only butter, but only for baking. We are olive oil. We drink olive oil. We usually have a big 10-litre drum of extra-virgin olive oil. It’s a real workhorse; we use it for cooking and finishing.

Are leftovers a second chance at a good meal or a nagging obligation?
You can’t have straight leftovers; you’ve got to change it around. Our Sunday gravy is world famous. It’s killer. You take your week’s work, meat or whatever, barbecued chicken, ribs, your soffrito, a little bit of red wine, tomatoes, and just simmer for hours.

What’s the deal with the artisanal bread boom?
I think people are becoming very aware of great bread. At Canoe, we are absolutely looking to do retail, and bread would be a huge part. The bread is the soul of the table, and not enough people jump all over that. Bread is the unsung hero. You often hear “it’s just bread.” Well, bullshit. It’s not just bread; it’s something very important to the whole experience. At Canoe, we’ve been doing our own bread for almost a year.

What else is new at Canoe?
The most exciting thing is that Canoe is looking at closing down New Year’s Day for the first time in 14 or 15 years, then reopening after a huge renovation. It’s a physical rebirth of the place. We’ll be keeping things along the same lines—understated, detail driven—but with a bit more punch. We didn’t know what Canoe was going to do when we opened it 15 years ago. We’re not going to be flashy, or anything silly like that, but grabbing onto the whole Canadiana thing, onto what wine culture means to us, wacky cheese boards and possible water tables. It’s not to be cute about it, but it’ll be cute. Fifteen years of doing huge business beats the crap out of something. It’ll be a big, big facelift. She’ll look sexy as usual but with some new accoutrements.

We have to ask: are you doing Movember or is this typical?
No, this is Movember. It’s big-time Movember. A whole slew of cooks are doing Movember. Last year we raised $2,500; this year we’re doubling that.

(Photograph: Edward Pond; Illustration by Jack Dylan)

“I started cooking when I was about 14, largely because I hate doing dishes. I have four brothers and a sister, and growing up, we’d always have friends over. All we’d do is eat, eat, eat. My mother—Ann Coughlin, a good Irish girl—would cook up this amazing pork for the masses; for her, it was like water off a duck’s back. Her conviviality mixed with culinary know-how is what inspires me as a chef to this day. Cooking for someone is one of the most intimate things you can do. You have to take time to take care of your guests. At Canoe, our version of her braised pork is about as comforting as it gets. We’ll never be able to take it off the menu.”

BRAISED PORK

DIRECTIONS

1. If using a picnic shoulder, tie in several places with butcher twine to make a neat roast.
2. Dissolve salt in 1 cup cider in saucepan over medium heat. Set aside.
3. Heat oil in large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook onion, carrot, celery and garlic for 5 minutes until onion is soft but not brown. Add juniper berries and herbs. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
4. Add dissolved salt, remaining cider, 1 bottle of beer and maple syrup. Bring to boil over high heat. Boil for 1 minute. Strain through fine sieve. Let cool completely.
5. Put pork in large non-metallic bowl and add marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning pork occasionally if not completely submerged.
6. Remove pork and discard marinade. Pat pork dry and season with salt and pepper.
7. Heat 2 tbsp oil in large pot over medium heat and brown pork on all sides. Remove to a plate.
8. Add remaining oil and cook onion, bay leaves, thyme and rosemary for 5 minutes until onion is soft but not brown. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
9. Add beer and bring to boil over high heat, stirring to scrape up any browned bits from bottom of pot. Boil for 3 to 5 minutes until beer has reduced by about half. Add jus and pork. Bring to boil. Cover tightly and transfer to 350°F oven. Cook for 3 to 4 hours until meat is falling from bone, turning pork over after 1 ½ hours.
10. Remove pork from pot. Strain cooking juices and set aside. Pull meat apart into chunks, discarding bones and excess fat. Drizzle pork with cooking juices and serve with yellow split peas.
Makes 6 servings.

YELLOW SPLIT PEAS

2 cups yellow split peas
3 tbsp unsalted butter
4 slices double-smoked bacon (rind removed), diced
1 white onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
4 bay leaves
1 sprig thyme
3 cups chicken stock
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup snipped fresh chives
Dash white wine vinegar

DIRECTIONS

1. Bring 6 cups water and split peas to boil in large pot. Boil for 2 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 1 hour. Drain split peas and set aside. Wash and dry pot.

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2. Melt 2 tbsp butter in pot over medium-low heat. Cook bacon for 5 minutes until it renders its fat. Increase heat to medium. Add onion, carrot, celery, bay leaves and thyme. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes until onion is soft but not brown.
3. Add stock, split peas, and salt and pepper. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour until peas are tender and mixture is thick. Discard bay leaves and thyme. Stir in chives, vinegar and remaining butter.
4. Spoon split peas into 6 shallow bowls. Top with pork and drizzle with some of the reserved cooking juices.
Makes 6 servings