Restaurants › Bistro
The Black Hoof
- 928 Dundas St. W. (at Gore Vale Ave.) • View on map »
- 416-551-8854
A year after his Dundas West temple to charcuterie became an instant hit, chef Grant van Gameren’s boyish face still wears that too-cool-for-cooking-school calm. Van Gameren has become famous for his cured meat, and fair enough—he makes 40-odd types of charcuterie, including lavender and sake–cured capicollo, and sheets of lardo that are as thin and translucent as vellum. But the hot food steals the show every time. Crispy sweetbreads, say, that are poached in milk, then smoked out behind the restaurant and served with cauliflower-studded polenta. The menu is bold in spite of a few noble misses (the porcini reduction on the sweetbreads tastes like Oxo cubes). With apologies to Yitz, Pancer and Caplansky, the tongue sandwich here is the best deli food in town. Van Gameren is a more interesting, more consistent chef than just about anyone else working in Toronto. Co-owner Jen Agg’s masterful mixing could make a happy drunk of almost anyone; the wine list has personality but not a lot of depth. No reservations; cash and debit only. Mains $10–$22.
928 Dundas St. W. (at Gore Vale Ave.)
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