High/Low

The Veal Deal

With all the buzz in Toronto’s restaurant scene, it can be easy to forget that great food can come at a great price. We compare cost and flavour in our search for schnitzel that really schmecks By Rob Mifsud

It takes a great dish to whet appetites around the globe. In Milan, nonnas cook breaded veal cotolette in clarified butter and serve them on the bone, while Japanese chefs dredge their pork tonkatsu in panko crumbs. Not to be outdone, Texas cowboys smother their chicken-fried steaks in peppery cream gravy. Believe it or not, these dishes all descend from a common Byzantine ancestor. And when the Italian version crossed the Alps into Austria, it inspired what most of us now consider the quintessential crackling cutlet, wiener schnitzel: slender slices of veal coated in bread crumbs, pan-fried in lard and served with a generous spritz of lemon.

Bymark
Schnitzel, $27.95

At Bymark (66 Wellington St. W., 416-777‑1144), executive chef Brooke McDougall discovered the extent of his clients’ devotion to schnitzel when he removed it from the dinner menu. The deluge of requests soon led to the dish’s return at lunch. “It’s comfort food done well,” he explains. McDougall pan-fries inside round cutlets of grain-fed veal in clarified butter, balancing the richness with the salty and acidic notes of lemon, anchovy and capers. Creamy grilled porcini and shaved black truffle risotto gilds the plate—an indulgent yet unintentional homage to schnitzel’s northern Italian roots.

Country Style Hungarian Restaurant
Wiener schnitzel, $14.95

The plate-dwarfing schnitzel at Country Style Hungarian Restaurant (450 Bloor St. W., 416-536-5966) is a Toronto legend. Owner-chef Katalin Koltai pounds her veal into a thin sheet, dips it twice in egg and flour before breading and deep-frying it, then serves it with a choice of one starch and one salad, such as delectable spaetzle-like nokedli dumplings drizzled with chicken paprikash sauce or the sour-sweet bite of cucumber salad. In The Sound of Music, Rodgers and Hammerstein declared “schnitzel with noodles” one of their favourite things. Diners around the world agree.

Originally published March 2008

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