Liberty Belle Bistro
133 Jefferson Ave.
647-352-3553, www.libertybellebistro.com
$150 dinner for two with wine, tax and tip
Fanny Chadwick's
268 Howland Ave.
416-944-1606, www.fannychadwicks.com
$130 dinner for two with wine, tax and tip
Starting today, award-winning food writer Chris Johns turns his discerning eye on the Toronto restaurant scene for Globe T.O. His reviews will appear every Saturday for the rest of the summer.
Most of us don't expect cutting-edge sophistication, avant-garde presentation and flawless service from our neighbourhood restaurants. We want, and have a right to demand, solid cooking, quality ingredients and genuine hospitality. I recently visited two new neighbourhood spots in different parts of the city, one that surpassed those expectations and another that came up short.
The liberal use of vintage pornography notwithstanding (let's just say you'll have no problem discerning the women's bathroom from the men's), it's hard to get very excited about Liberty Belle Bistro. The latest addition to the fledgling Liberty Village food scene is a pretty enough little neighbourhood spot with a pleasant patio, bright tin ceiling and a passion for the Belle Époque. Zealous patrons might refer to the menu as "classic," but to me the short list of overly familiar bistro dishes suggests a lack of imagination. Careless execution compounds that impression.
To be fair, the kitchen turns out a respectable frisée lardon salad, all tangled tendrils and creamy yolk with the unorthodox addition of avocado. There's a serviceable Caesar salad that features a crisp heart of romaine cut lengthwise and drizzled, for some reason, with balsamic vinegar. Both are decent salads but both suffer needlessly from being served on warm plates, which inevitably wilt all life and enjoyment from their leaves.
While it may be disheartening to witness the slow demise of a promising appetizer, it's downright depressing to be confronted with a dry, fishy little rectangle of salmon crowned with a hard scoop of dill crème fraîche. The poor filet is further abused by the accompanying fried chickpeas. They are a good idea and represent a smart break from potatoes – if they're crisp and popping like they can be, instead of wan and oily like they are here. The fact that the dish remains barely touched elicits no response from the blasé servers.
Starting at $36 for a bottle of tepid prosecco, the abrupt wine list has just four whites and four reds, including one of each from Niagara producer Organized Crime, a label which, coincidentally, has been criticized in the past for putting marketing and design ahead of solid winemaking.
The steak frites (with fries that are exceptional in all their puffy, golden goodness) is carefully cooked, but ultimately indistinguishable from a dozen other versions around the city. Liberty Belle isn't a bad neighbourhood restaurant; it just needs to offer something more than familiar dishes and cute, vaguely risqué decor to ensure repeat visits.
The good people of Liberty Village deserve better. They deserve something like Fanny Chadwick's, a charismatic little haute diner recently opened in the West Annex. Even without any erotica, Fanny's exudes an abundance of personality, both in the lively decor and the witty menu. Grab a booth up front – red-topped counter stools wrap around the bar, while more intimate tables are situated further back – where jars of bright pickled vegetables and sinister-looking chili-based condiments line the stainless-steel pass in front of the open kitchen.
The food isn't flawless, but it is bold and energetic. Like its Liberty Village counterpart, the Caesar salad here doesn't exactly redefine the dish: its dressing is hot with raw garlic and sits awkwardly on top of the greens, instead of being incorporated into them. It is, however, flavourful and abundant and served – as it should be – on a cool plate. A mustard and tarragon skirt steak is meaty, supremely tender and sliced across the grain to reveal its pink, fleshy interior. Alongside, a hash of spring vegetables in a honey mustard sauce picks up the flavour of the marinade on the steak and the result is in an excellent dish that's worth a return visit.
Unexpected dishes – like a light, savoury fish cake featuring house-smoked Lake Huron white bass and some excellent pickled black radishes – make fine use of local products and reach beyond local-diner menu standards. There's a potato-and-onion tart with the ambitious addition of mushroom foam (a culinary cliché in high-end restaurants, but a frothy surprise here), accompanied by thick stalks of grilled asparagus. Chicken cordon bleu, that staple of blue-plate specials the world over, is bursting with stuffing and topped with a spicy/sweet homemade chutney.
In addition to a dozen local beers on tap, all fairly priced at $6 a pint, the wine list roams freely across regions and varietals, from Prince Edward County pinot noir rosé to California petite syrah. The house-made sangria is chockablock with macerated fruit and really ought to be available by the jug.
So appealing is dinner at Fanny's that you might start making plans to return for brunch. When I requested a copy of the brunch menu to peruse in anticipation, and inquired about the "colonial sticky bun," the amiable server offered me a complimentary leftover bun to take home. It was a small gesture, but generous, kind and exactly the kind of hospitality I expect from a great neighbourhood restaurant.
Special to The Globe and Mail
Follow Chris Johns on Twitter @chrisandvinegar