The $100 brgr and its associated finery (Image: Colin Griffin, M:brgr)
I ate two Kobe beef patties for lunch yesterday, plus a couple slices of bacon, a wedge of foie gras, an ounce of gloopy brie, a slick of fig jam, a stack of really fabulous grilled pear slices, four asparagus spears, piave del vecchio cheese, garlic-roasted ham (effing delish), porcini mushrooms (I’m thinking they weren’t porcini, but that’s what the menu said), three white bread buns, an olive, and a side each of black truffle slices and honey truffle aïoli. All this cost me $100, plus tax and tip, and the burger—yes, it was a burger—was so tall that it took several tries and a near-miss nasal-labial injury to get an honest bite of the thing into my mouth.
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At Fromagerie, the latest culinary addition to the ever-evolving Junction foodscape, the wide-plank floors, exposed brick and enormous vintage glass windows lend an Old World vibe. Husband and wife team Jeff Brown and Jennifer Rashleigh take an equally continental approach to their stock: a carefully curated selection of house-churned butter, lush preserves of organic Niagara fruits, and rare wheels of small-batch cheeses, including the irresistibly rich and ripe Grey Owl goat milk cheese pictured here ($7.40 per 100 g). A slice of baguette, a bite of cheese and a dollop of apricot jam, and the Junction could almost pass for a Parisian arrondissement.
Top toque Michael Steh, bronze medallist at Toronto’s annual Gold Medal Plates competition, is the culinary mastermind behind this haute mac-and-cheese. The bowl of al dente ditalini is enriched with moist shreds of crab and scallions, spiked with just enough grainy mustard to give it a nutty crunch. It’s all baked under a blistered layer of fontina. The final product is like a crab cake, only made better thanks to the naughty combination of the nostalgia of kiddie comfort food and a three-ounce pour of muscat blanc ($7).
Now bargain-hunting foodies have something to look forward to that doesn’t end in -licious. Starting September 11, the 
