Co-owner Beth Davyduke outside her new Roncesvalles restaurant

The churn of restaurants on Roncesvalles continues apace with the addition of The Westerly to the once Polish-dominated strip (indeed, we recently reported on the closing of Roncy mainstay Granowska’s). Like The Ace up the street, The Westerly focuses on classic dishes done right, which means making things from scratch. Focaccia and crusty baguettes baked on the premises? Check. Fresh homemade pasta? Check. Desserts made in-house? Check. And to top it off, The Westerly even features its own intrepid young mixologist and signature cocktail, the Sweet Roncy, a blend of gin, fresh apricots and Italian cherry liquor.

Opened by two ex–West Coast restaurateurs, Beth Davyduke and Tom Earl, the restaurant is laid-back and family-friendly. After toying with possible Polish names for their restaurant, the pair decided to go with The Westerly to reflect their West Coast origins and their west-side address. Davyduke and Earl are both avowed francophiles and New York lovers, which translates to a French-heavy wine list and decor choices that channel Minetta Tavern. The space, which once housed the not-for-profit restaurant River, has been transformed: the duo has lifted the ceiling, exposed the brick and pipes and covered an accent wall with old subway tiles. The warm front room features masculine art deco lights down the centre and a creamy white marble bar with classic bar stools below and crystal and brass chandeliers from the early 1900s above. The 50-seat back room, intended for private parties, is still under construction, but will be more playful than the front, with oversized art nouveau booze posters, barn-board tables and handcrafted wood benches.

The menu, courtesy of chef Geoff Kitt (The Swan), oscillates among French bistro fare, like steak frites with béarnaise or green peppercorn sauce ($24); pub grub, like pork and beans with grilled chard ($18); and Italian, like deep-fried risotto balls with Woolwich goat cheese and bolognese sauce ($9). Among the many sides on offer are Israeli couscous with lobster, peas and mascarpone ($7) and sautéed wild mushrooms with caramelized onions ($7). And while it won’t make up for the loss of Granowska’s up the street, we were promised that Polish dishes would make guest appearances here and there as specials at The Westerly.

The Westerly, 413 Roncesvalles Ave., 416-551-6660, thewesterlyrestaurant.com.

A traditional ’50s diner, reborn

For almost two decades, the Ace Chinese Restaurant on Roncesvalles has been shuttered. This spring, however, Maggie Ruhl (co-owner of the Dakota Tavern) and her partner, Greg Boggs, took possession of the space. The pair renamed it simply The Ace and have preserved the vintage 1950s aesthetic, but updated the menu with homestyle comfort food and French classics.

Ruhl and Boggs knew they wanted to keep as much of the original diner charm as possible. Apart from updating the lighting fixtures, painting the ceiling, fixing the floors (there was some serious water damage to deal with) and reupholstering the booths, this time warp hasn’t changed much. They’ve even kept the original soda fountain and milkshake mixer (although the latter has been converted into a beer draught).

Executive chef Peter McKnight (Wish, Smith) serves elevated takes on blue-collar standards, like deep-fried chicken and collard greens ($17) and pork chops with russet mashed potatoes and red-eye gravy ($17). There are also more straightforward French dishes, like steak frites ($21) and a tarragon-tomato-fennel based bouillabaisse ($18), which is made with Lake Huron whitefish, shrimp and mussels. A kids’ menu offers standards like mac-and-cheese and house-made pogo sticks (all under $8), and a weekend brunch includes comfort classics like cheddar biscuits with scrambled eggs and ham gravy ($10). The drinks, meanwhile, veer toward the brown spirits, with an emphasis on bourbon and Canadian whisky. The Ace Manhattan is made with Crown Royal Black, sweet vermouth and a dash of bitters and is garnished with an apricot that’s stewed in cinnamon-spiced red wine ($10). After 11 p.m., the space is transformed into a bar, but for those still peckish there is a small menu of snacks like the Chef Plate (Mennonite and summer sausage, olives and cheeses), a cheese plate and oysters, as soon as the bar and wait staff learn to shuck.

The Ace, 231A Roncesvalles Ave., 416-792-7729, theacetoronto.com

(Image: James Byrum)

Top Chef Canada made headlines (and alienated horse lovers everywhere) earlier this year when it featured horsemeat during a classic French cuisine challenge. The scandal prompted an in-depth investigation of the industry by the ever-intrepid Toronto Star, which explained how a 2007 slaughtering ban in the United States led to a boom in Canada’s industry. Now, according to a story in the Chicago Tribune, horsemeat may be making a return to the U.S. market in the coming months.

From the Tribune:

Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a five-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up and running in as little as a month.

Slaughter opponents pushed a measure cutting off funding for horsemeat inspections through Congress in 2006 after other efforts to pass outright bans on horse slaughter failed in previous years. Congress lifted the ban in a spending bill President Barack Obama signed into law Nov. 18 to keep the government afloat until mid-December.

Still, as the paper points out, that consumption of horsemeat is practically non-existent in the United States, with prior slaughterhouses shipping their meat to countries in Europe and Asia (Toronto’s La Palette pulled the dish from its menu in the wake of the Star investigation). Horsemeat consumption is often opposed due to uncertain sourcing and inhumane practices, but proponents like Montana senator Max Baucus have argued that the flip side is an increased neglect and abandonment of horses across the United States. How this will shake out for Canada’s slaughterhouses is still unknown.

• Horses could soon be slaughtered for meat in U.S. [Chicago Tribune]

J. P. Challet at his new Queen East bakery (Images: Signe Langford)

Queen Street East has been steadily attracting culinary entrepreneurs for the last decade or so, but with prime spaces available for rent and condos and townhouses going up at every turn, the pace has really picked up. French ex-pat J. P. Challet, a culinary craftsman of many trades, is the latest to try his hand with Le Matin, a new authentic French bakery that’s slated to open in December.

Challet, of course, is the talented chef behind the Annex’s Ici Bistro, but he’s also a master baker and bread maker, caterer, sommelier and, most recently, a chocolatier, as well (Challet enrolled in Montreal’s Cacao Barry academy to learn the art of making fine bonbons). At Le Matin, which will take over the space formerly occupied by Leonidas Belgian Chocolates, he’s partnered up with event planner Arnaud Presti to take care of the business side of things.

Challet describes the new space as “modern rustic.” On display, fresh every morning, will be quiches large and small ($24/$6), scones ($2.50), muffins that taste more like little cakes ($2.50), buttery, flaky croissants ($2.25) and two Lyonnaise specialties: bugnes and tartes aux pralines roses, which you can enjoy with a scoop of Challet’s homemade ice cream. And, of course, there’ll be Challet’s breads—like his baguette ($2.50) and sourdough boule ($6.50)—which many consider the best in the city.

Le Matin, 5 Coady Ave., 416-461-6992.

Chef Véronique working a crêpe machine (Image: Gizelle Lau)

Crêpes à GoGo first started building its cult following at the corner of Bedford and Bloor in 2002, decamping for 18 Yorkville Avenue five years later to make way for a condo development. Now owner Véronique Perez—known to her customers as Chef Véronique—has returned to the Annex with a new location at Bloor and Spadina.

Taking over the former Bubble Tease shop two doors away from that other Annex dessert staple, Greg’s Ice Cream, the cozy new location is open from about 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. to satisfy everything from late breakfasts to after-dinner indulgences. The menu is the same as at the Yorkville location, with two styles of crêpes made from a barley-based batter: the restaurant’s signature rolled crêpes, where the pancake is taken off the round crêpe maker to cool slightly, then filled and rolled; and the traditional folded crêpe, that comes crispy and piping hot.

Savoury crêpes include the Crêpe Madame, Mademoiselle or Monsieur ($10); the Cote D’Azur with goat cheese, tomato and basil ($8.50); and the Nicoise with mozzarella, tuna, tomatoes, black olives, za’atar and basil ($10). Then, of course, there are dessert crêpes, like the Tartinade with chocolate-hazelnut spread ($6), the Julia with dark chocolate and raspberry jam ($7) or the Véronique crêpe with brie, fresh strawberries, baby spinach and maple syrup ($9.50). Crêpes are served in brown paper bags which can be taken to go or enjoyed at one of the few café tables, along with a café au lait (Chef Véronique swears it’s one of the best in the city) or a bottle of Limonana, her Middle Eastern–inspired lemon-mint drink ($3 per bottle).

Crêpes à GoGo, 750 Spadina Ave. (entrance on Bloor St.), crepesagogo.com

(Image: The huevos rancheros at Origin, by John Cullen)

Rob Rossi and Ryan Sarfeld outside the convenience store they’re turning into Bestellen

When Top Chef Canada contestant Rob Rossi quit his job as Mercatto’s head chef for “new and exciting adventures,” many assumed he’d won the competition. He hadn’t—Vancouver’s Dale MacKay beat him out in a close finale. Now, the runner-up and his business partner Ryan Sarfeld are in the throes of preparing their new College Street restaurant, Bestellen (German for  “to order”), for a mid-November opening. We stopped by to check out their progress with the space, just a few blocks west of Rossi’s Top Chef Canada buddy Dustin Gallagher’s kitchen at Grace.

“We’re not going to be a German restaurant,” Sarfeld told us emphatically. “There are so many restaurants opening with names that force them cook a certain type of cuisine—we didn’t want that. The name just works, and it’s got ‘best’ right in it.” The two Mercatto alums (Sarfeld was the College Street location’s manager) are trying to cultivate a family-friendly European tavern vibe, with some mix of Italian, German and French cuisine. While Rossi was a little elusive about exact plans for the menu, one thing’s for sure: there’ll be plenty of meat. Rossi has built a custom meat hanger, the restaurant’s focal point, which will display aging beef to the glee of carnivores and the horror of vegetarians. (Top Chef Canada alum Connie DeSousa stopped by the other week and, of course, fell in love with the meat locker centrepiece.) One dish that will definitely be on the menu: a full roast suckling pig served family style. Rossi expects the mains to end up in the $22 to $26 range.

The space, a former convenience store, still needs a lot of love. They duo ripped out the drop ceiling to claim an extra few feet of height and ripped down the drywall to expose the brick. The floors—old terrazzo, like those you might find in an old school or mall—are, luckily, uncracked and only need a quick polish. Once the space is complete, it’ll be furnished with oak church pews from Smash, reupholstered red chairs that used to belong to U of T and vintage American bistro tables from the 1960s with oak tabletops and iron bases.

Following Rossi’s departure from Mercatto, his fellow cheftestants Steve Gonzales and Andrea Nicholson announced they’d be leaving their gigs at Origin and Great Cooks on Eight, respectively, too. We’re eager to see how all these Top Chef Canada class of 2011 ventures fare.

Bestellen, 972 College St.

(Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Le Kensington Bistro, the second eatery from the owners of Harbord Street’s Loire (one of 2009’s best new restaurants), recently opened in the space that used to house La Palette, the market’s original French bistro (La Palette decamped to Queen Street last year). Owners Sylvain Brissonnet—who spent a decade as the sommelier of Langdon Hall—and Jean-Charles Dupoire—who put in hours at both The Savoy and The Berkeley in London—purchased the spot at the start of the year but were bogged down with lengthy renovations. Brissonnet tells us the pair “really wanted to do something very French” and are keeping the focus on their homeland’s cuisine.

The two Frenchmen met at daycare in the Loire Valley at the ripe old age of three and have been friends ever since, working together much of the time. With Brissonnet in the front of house as the sommelier and Dupoire in the back with the food, “it’s a good marriage–we don’t step on each other’s toes,” the former notes. The convivial new space, with rust-coloured walls dotted with prints of Kensington’s early days, seats about 30. At the front, French windows open out onto the street, letting some of the area’s energy spill in.

The bistro’s specialty is the rotisserie chicken paired with ratatouille, succotash or frites and available for either dining in or takeout (whole $32, half $16). Duck and other birds are in the works for the future. Brissonnet suggests pairing the meal with either a local pinot or a blend from the Rhône Valley. Their charcuterie—all made in-house—also comes recommended, with Brissonnet particularly touting the rillettes. Vegetarians aren’t completely ignored, thanks to the inclusion of a veggie crêpe filled with goat cheese, mushroom and red pepper ($19). A lavender and honey crème brûlée ($9)—with meringue biscuits and a couple of blueberries—is a gentle twist on the classic French dessert.

Le Kensington Bistro and Rotisserie, 256 Augusta Ave., 416-792-9440, lekensington.ca

La Société’s classic croque madame (Image: Andrew Brudz)

La Société, the Bloor Street bistro with an unmistakably Parisian atmosphere (an intricately tiled floor, art nouveau knick-knacks and a stunning stained-glass ceiling), opened this past June to much fanfare. But expect the buzz to hit a fever pitch next month when celebs jet into town for TIFF. Nestled among Cartier, Gucci and Prada stores, there will be no better (or more aptly named) perch for watching the Yorkville melee. Executive chef James Olberg’s menu is filled with French favourites, like cassoulet, steak frites and plenty of fruits de mer. The croque madame ($18), along with its male counterpart, the croque monsieur, is a French snack-food staple. Thinly sliced ham, sharp Beaufort cheese and creamy béchamel sauce are layered inside thick white bread that’s grilled and topped with a fried egg (slicing into it drenches all the layers in the gooey, golden yolk). The accompanying frites are thin, salty, crunchy and addictive.

The cost: $35, including tax, tip and a glass of pinot grigio ($9).

The time: A leisurely 65 minutes.

La Société, 131 Bloor St. W. (at Avenue Rd.), 416-551-9929, lasociete.ca.

Greek wines are as intriguing as their popular French and Italian counterparts, and they’re half the price
By David Lawrason

(Illustration: Jack Dylan)

Pine-scented retsina has left a bitter taste with many wine drinkers, but Greek wine has moved on, and it’s poised to become the next big thing, with more Greek labels making their way into trendy restaurants beyond the Danforth. More than 300 indigenous grapes are grown in the country’s 28 wine-growing appellations, which are home to more than 650 wineries. And the quality and value has only been getting better over the last 10 years. The new Greek wines combine the firm acid and mineral structure of many European wines with the ripe, bright fruitiness often found in hotter New World regions. The country’s core strength is aromatic yet steely whites, like moschofilero and assyrtiko, that will appeal to riesling and gewürztraminer fans. Lighter-weight, complex reds like xinomavro and agiorgitiko are similar to pinot noir and Italian nebbiolo. The LCBO’s selection is still meagre, but Vintages carries some excellent-value bottles, while Kolonaki Group, an Ontario-based Greek wine specialist, offers great buys by the case. Here, nine bottles worth trying, even if you’re not serving souvlaki.

Boutari 2010 Moschofilero
$11.95 | Mantinia | 86 points Mantinia on the Peloponnese is the homeland of the aromatic moschofilero grape. With scents of lavender and apricot fruit and a soft, rich, almost oily texture, it’s similar to gewürztraminer, but with a black pepper spiciness and lemon on the finish. Try it with spicy seafood dishes. LCBO 172387

Kourtaki Muscat
$14.95 | Samos | 92 points An unbelievably low-priced dessert wine, this sweet muscat hails from an eastern Aegean island known for growing muscat. It has very lifted, fine, fragrant aromas of dried apricot, mango, lychee, ginger and chai. It’s full-bodied, smooth and wonderfully balanced. Pairs sublimely with chocolate. Vintages 938407

Skouras 2010 Zoë Rosé $11.95 | Peloponnese | 87 points A bright, sunset-hued rosé that’s a blend of 70 per cent red agiorgitiko and 30 per cent white moschofilero, which lends lilac notes to the pomegranate-cherry fruit aroma. It’s medium-weight with a hint of sweetness that gives way to a bra­cing, slightly bitter minerality. Serve chilled. Vintages LCBO 225045

Thalia 2009 Mediterra Red
$9.95 | Crete | 86 points This light, savoury red blends native kotsifali and syrah in equal parts. It doesn’t have dynamic or distinctive aromas (red plum, tobacco, spice), but it’s nicely balanced, with some fruity sweetness, moderate alcohol and a dry, spicy, slightly tarry, peppery finish that syrah fans will enjoy. www.kolonakigroup.com

Outside Elle M’a Dit, the new Baldwin Street Alsatian bistro (Image: Karolyne Ellacott)

Elle M’a Dit, a new Alsatian restaurant, is the latest spot to open up on the popular Baldwin Street strip. Husband-and-wife team Gregory Furstoss and Tory Yang opened their doors in early June, and are hoping to put a modern twist on staples from France’s northeastern Alsace region, renowned for its melting pot cuisine.

Furstoss was born and bred in Alsace (“he’s been cooking all of his life,” Yang notes), while Yang–who hails from Seoul–cut her teeth at the George Brown Chef School. The two met working at Bistro and Bakery Thuet, where Furstoss was the sous chef, and planned to eventually find a place to call their own. When the location opened up on Baldwin, which reminded them of a charming village street, they leapt at the chance.

The décor is uncomplicated: white walls with red accents, chalkboards outlining the menu and antique cooking utensils. A patio out front sits beside a playful  and eye-catching mural, and inside, the main floor houses a pint-sized bar and a prime seating location, with another set of tables upstairs.

Both Furstoss and Yang agree that the tarte flambé is the most popular—and versatile— item on the menu. The traditional version boasts a thin crust topped with fromage blanc, gruyère, caramelized onions and bacon ($10), while a Mediterranean variant contains pesto, sundried tomatoes, bocconcini and olives ($11). The pair have also put their signature on an obligatory Canuck staple: their extravagant poutine comes with seared foie gras and duck confit, and is topped with both gruyère and queso fresco ($20). To cool off on hot summer days, they recommend their “Basil Bomb” cocktail, made with vodka, fresh basil, wild flower honey and lime.

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Elle M’a Dit, 35 Baldwin St., 416-546-3448, ellemadit.com.

Outside the Leslieville spot that once held Barrio (Image: Signe Langford)

The beloved neighbourhood watering hole Barrio shuttered its French doors last summer, and hungry Leslievillers have been gazing at the space longingly ever since. Well, no longer. Richard Henry, the proprietor of Le Rossignol, a few blocks west, has opened up his newest venture, Le Canard Mort. “They closed the place on Saturday and I put an offer in on Monday,” Henry told us. “I had to move fast since there was a lot of interest in it—the Ruby Watch Co. people were down here looking.”

Whereas Le Rossignol is a traditional bistro, Le Canard is more of a bar, with 150 classic cocktails on their list. In the fresh, 48-seat space, Henry has kept the original Barrio layout, making only cosmetic changes—a palette of silver-grey, taupe, tin and steel. The anticipation for the space was so great that it’s been slammed from day one—even without proper lighting or a sign.

Part of the credit for the response must go to the 24-year-old chef Craig Madore, a Windsor native and recent graduate of the George Brown Chef School. Madore worked at the Royal Canadian Yacht Club for three years, where he met chef Jeremie Seguinot, who brought him over to Le Rossignol (Seguinot has since moved on). Le Canard’s 31-item menu is reasonably priced and offers both bar bites, like the toasted spiced nuts ($6), and more filling mains, like chicken cordon bleu ($21) with raclette, Niagara prosciutto and horseradish mashed potatoes. “I wanted to do fun pub food with a French twist, by using better ingredients from the best suppliers and cooking from my heart,” he says. Case in point: the whimsical veal sweetbreads, Buffalo wing–style with a quenelle of blue cheese aioli and a play on carrot and celery sticks. The dinner and bar service will be joined by lunch and brunch, which will be offered later this month.

For Henry, however, the focus is on the drinks menu. “I love the cocktail culture of the ’20s and ’30s,” he says. “It was such a great, elegant era for drinking—prohibition and speakeasies.” Bartender Emily Schulze (Uva and the Four Seasons in Vancouver) is a cocktail purist and master of each of the 150 concoctions on the list. All juices are freshly squeezed, and Schulze promises she’ll be making her own syrups, fruit purées and grenadine soon too.

Le Canard Mort, 896 Queen St. E., 416-625-2653, lecanardmort.ca.

The bar at La Société (Image: Gizelle Lau)

La Société, Charles Khabouth and Danny Soberano’s new upscale bistro, opened last week to just the chic red-carpet reception one would expect, with guests like “jersey boys” Kirk Pickersgill and Stephen Wong of Greta Constantine, media mogul Moses Znaimer, Canadian musician music manager and producer Jake Gold and Food Network Canada host Kevin Brauch (no RPattz sighting, though). We first scoped out the dining room’s impressive stained-glass ceiling shortly after it was installed, and returned last week to see how everything turned out.

The overarching theme of the Munge Leung–designed restaurant is resoundingly 1920s Parisian bistro, inspired by the likes of La Fontaine de Mars in Paris and New York City’s Balthazar (a resemblance that has not gone unnoticed on Twitter). The dining room’s main feature is, of course, the 20-by-30-foot, handcrafted stained-glass ceiling by Solarium Design Group. Located as it is on the second floor of the Colonnade (right above Sephora), La Société has large windows offering plenty of natural light, with traditional hand-painted bistro signage to alert shoppers below that there’s a new joint upstairs.

To the left side, La Société’s bar area has ample stool seating, as well as intimate alcoves with rich red banquettes. Here, the dark walls have been finished with a specially curated collection of bistro-appropriate prints, photographs and vintage frames by Hamid Samad at Commute Home (Briscola, Nyood, Colborne Lane). The antique bronze candelabra statuettes, meanwhile, were inspired by one Khabouth found in Paris.

In time for high patio season, La Société has two outdoor spaces: one at street level, with its own bar and optimal sightlines for people-watching on the newly renovated Mink Mile; and another on the second-floor terrace overlooking the street, sporting simple checkered bistro-style rattan chairs and small black café tables.

All told, the restaurant contains more than 300 seats for those looking to stop over for a schmooze, quick drink or sit-down meal. The bistro menu is chock-full of bistro classics, like French onion soup with gruyère and emmenthal ($10), steak tartare ($16), duck confit ($28) and macarons and profiteroles for dessert ($8). Despite its many meat offerings, the focus, says executive chef James Olberg, is on the seafood. The menu highlights items like its oysters platter ($19 for a half-dozen), its small ($65) and large ($145) mixed platters served on tiers, and Dover sole ($44), all sourced from Allseas Fisheries, Soberano’s fish-supply company.

Less than a week after its opening, the restaurant had already seen visits from the likes of Ben Mulroney (who raved about it on Twitter) and Deepak Chopra (he ordered the frisée salad and a lemonade). We figure they’re off to a pretty good start.

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La Société, 131 Bloor St. W., 416-551-9929, lasociete.ca.

Rob Feenie with host Thea Andrews (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 11

From the opening moments of last night’s Top Chef Canada, we learned the following: Dale MacKay, the supremely arrogant self-confident Vancouver chef, actually has a soft side (he was missing his young son); Montreal-by-way-of Vancouver chef François Gagnon sleeps without his shirt on; Mercatto executive chef Rob Rossi likes to sleep in; and Connie DeSousa is feeling the pressure to win the competition for all the female chefs out there (about Grace’s Dustin Gallagher, we learned nothing). None of these micro-developments gave away who the winner and loser might be. After the jump, the twists and turns that brought us down to the final four.

Quickfire

Rob Rossi fights with some seafood (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

As the contestants piled into the GE Monogram kitchen (there, we finally said it), they were introduced to a familiar face for Canadian food TV fans: chef, restaurateur and restaurant consultant Rob Feenie, described—confusingly—by host Thea Andrews as Canada’s Iron Chef (turns out she meant he was the first Canadian to defeat an Iron Chef). The producers decided not to delve into the messy history between Feenie—once chef and co-owner of Vancouver’s Lumière—and MacKay, who succeeded him after his dramatic exit. Likewise, Gagnon’s decidedly tamer tenure under Feenie also went unmentioned (unlike “Dusty” Gallagher and Susur Lee’s back story, which the show played out back in episode 4.)

The challenge seemed strangely straightforward for Top Chef: pick three seafood items from the live, writhing spread on the table and create three memorable dishes to showcase them. Of course, there was a catch. After the chefs had made their selection, Andrews blithely informed them that they’d actually be cooking the seafood chosen by the chef to their right. Cue lots of good-natured grumbling from Rossi, who got stuck with Gallagher’s slimy, oozing and, frankly, phallic geoduck. Amazingly, Rossi, who’d never cooked with the giant clam before, managed to pull out the best trio of dishes: oyster with black pepper and apple, scallop ceviche and geoduck with wasabi, cucumber, ginger and jalapeño. Feenie was effusive in his praise, exclaiming, “Rob, by far what you did was brilliant!” Rossi replied with an impish kid-at-Christmas smile.

Elimination

After a fairly elevated quickfire, the elimination challenge was down and dirty: the chefs were asked to create street food that melded two world cuisines and serve it from a hot dog cart in Nathan Phillips Square (once again, we’ll note the irony is hard to miss). The chefs drew knives for their two cuisines, with DeSousa drawing Thai and German, MacKay getting Trinidadian and Indian, Gagnon, Chinese and Spanish, Gallagher, French and Italian and Rossi, Canadian and Vietnamese. As winner of the quickfire, Rossi was given the option of swapping one of his cuisines, so he nabbed Gagnon’s Spanish and dumped his Vietnamese on the poor francophone chef, who confessed his experience with Asian cuisine was limited to the eating end of things, not the cooking.

During the manic shopping spree at Loblaws, we were treated to a panicked Gagnon running around searching for won ton wrappers, all set to the tune of accordion music that screamed, “I’m a hapless Frenchie” (never mind that he’s from La Belle Provence, not France). MacKay’s grumbles about the challenge, meanwhile, started early and continued right to the end—apparently he was unable to compromise his lofty dining standards for lowly street food, and he seemed particularly aggrieved that he might be sent home for Trinidadian food, a cuisine he’d never once tasted. Is it us, or has “aggrieved” become his default tone? (In a rare moment of cheffy insight, MacKay did acknowledge that “sometimes I’m a bit of a douchebag, and I just need a sleep and I’m usually better in the morning.”) DeSousa, for her part, confessed that she’d actually worked for a Thai chef in Germany, so she was perfectly suited to her challenge—a realization that gave her the confidence to once again make sausages, despite head judge Mark McEwan’s misgivings about her previous attempts.

Rob Rossi’s winning dishes: grilled cheese and a sloppy Joe—no, really (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)

At the top for this street food challenge were the two remaining Toronto chefs: Gallagher, who created a French take on pizza with duck confit, emmenthal and béchamel alongside a sort of niçoise salad on a bun with Italian ingredients; and Rossi, who made a grilled cheese sandwich with serrano ham and Canadian cheddar and a sloppy Joe with chorizo, manchego and green onions. Rossi’s down-home cooking netted him the win.

When the three chefs at the bottom faced the judges, McEwan explained they were all there because, “at the end of the day, flavour was lacking in your dishes.” MacKay’s two dishes, a curry soup with some bizarre roti stuffing and a jerk chicken salad, were all heat and no flavour (resident judge Shereen Arazm was appalled when MacKay confessed he’s never tasted roti). DeSousa’s dishes were also insipid, despite their colourful presentation (and her adorable ball cap): her traditional wurst was watery (turns out she’d boiled it), and her pad Thai prompted Andrews to exclaim, “All those Thai ingredients are there… there’s just no flavour!” (to which a thousand home cooks nodded in rueful recognition). Gagnon’s dishes—a lame-looking dumpling floating in a bland faux-pho broth and some allegedly Peking duck wrapped in a Vietnamese spring roll—were as misguided as they were boring. Arazm’s pithy condemnation: “François’s roll was a waste of time—it was like eating water.” Unsurprisingly, he was sent packing back to Vancouver, where he had quit his job to be part of the competition. He bid a fond adieu to his fellow competitors with a wistful “China and Vietnam took me down.”

Next time on Top Chef Canada

U.S. Top Chef resident judge (and former Toronto Life intern) Gail Simmons stops by to kick the remaining five chefs into shape (and show the judges how it’s done, too). Apparently the results are less than stunning—at the tasting, she exclaims, “I’m totally confounded. This is your last chance to wow us!” We can’t wait to see who’s on the receiving end of her smackdown.

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