With innovative seasonal cooking, generous service and a wine program that gives pride of place to affordable, unsung bottlings, Jamie Kennedy’s comfortable downtown room is easily one of the best mid-range restaurants in the city. Chef Tobey Nemeth spins fresh takes on peasant dishes and humble ingredients, presenting, for example, a platter of soft, sublime house-made chèvre sided with little mounds of chopped scallion and red onion, sea salt and pepper, a pinch from one or the other allowing diners to compose their own flavours with the creamy curds. Charcuterie shouldn’t be missed, as in Nemeth’s mortadella, or a tasty fat-fringed quenelle of unctuous chicken liver mousse. A pan-seared hunk of chewy, tangy halloumi cheese from Monforte Dairy tops a light spring salad of favas, sliced radish, Sicilian tomatoes and grilled asparagus; another Monforte cheese—this one firm and deeply smoked and kissed with a daub of crème fraîche—elevates a plate of pulled pork poutine to divine. Grilled short ribs are the sole disappointment, comparatively plain and under-adorned (there’s a fine line between restrained and boring), but a dish of hokkaido scallops, manilla clams and chorizo is a stunner, balancing sea, smoke, fat and spice to ennoble and honour classic cataplana. Excellent desserts range from homely (mille feuille featuring local fruit) to exotic (jasmine and milk chocolate sorbet). Sommelier Jamie Drummond’s wine list has many by the glass. All dishes $5–$14.