Restaurant Review: Two Headed Dog

I've been toying with reviewing the bunch of new pubs in the area in one big omnibus blog post. It seems easy to dismiss them as all being the same. It wouldn't be that far off the mark but it may be a bit unfair.

Most of THESE places are Anglo inspired, macro brewery listed and food service sourced foodstuffs. An awkward sentence for an awkward phenomenon. The difference between them being location and variation in decor. Some do a better job on their beer list than others. There are grace notes on the food service food such as different gravies and sauces or a better variety of fry. This is how I assess new pubs in the area, and in general.

I have been to the Two Headed Dog several times. It is close but not the closest. Both Eulalie's around the corner and the Corner House Pub stand between me and there. It is one of the only family pubs on the Gerrard Street India Bazaar as Eulalie's pitches more hip and less stroller. So, location is a plus.

Decor is German Anglo inspired with sports bar accouterments. Set with a garage door out back, there is plenty of light in the booth section where you can be distracted by the happenings outside and the televisions. Not great for date night but good for those nights when the kids want to eat and you are too lazy.  Aside from the back room of booths, there is a more bar like setup towards the front. A decent rail displays standards and a tap lineup.

On the first week, there was only macro brewery imports and standards. On a subsequent visit, I was told that they had a lot of requests for local beer and were working on it. There still only remains a single independent brewer from down the street on the line up, Left Field. It has been a few months. So, a middling grade there.

So far nothing stands out except their location. This leaves the last consideration of food. English pubs mean curry. There are a few of these type of curry pub dishes and strangely, these are the ones that have a "made here" note on the menu. Ah yes, differentiation. It is taken for granted that people realize that most of their food is not made in house and so the difference maker is telling them when it is. These are the better dishes available or at least the ones that stand out from other beer drinking places.

There are three items worth trying that are different than standard fare offered in pubs; Butter Chicken Poutine, Shepherd's Pie and Sri Lankan curry.

That little orange lettering says Made Here.

Season Infused Salt - sounds weirdly like a Food
Network groupie wrote it. 

A sloppy mess of butter chicken sauce with cheese and standard fries. This poutine is nothing like a poutine but it is a messy and joyful mess for the enjoyment of those who like butter chicken. For those of us who feel butter chicken is not quite Indian food, this is at least a starting point for actually enjoying it for what it is; a slightly sweet gravy that marries well with cheese and salty fries.

The Shepherd's Pie. Yup, more like mashed potatoes on fried ground meat and topped with gravy. It brings back memories of boiled chuck, potatoes and onions in a pan gravy that I used to eat as a kid. This is a good thing. Salty and flavourful and different. My dining companion mushed it all together and ate it like that. I would have added ketchup and that would have made it complete. Don't expect cuisine but expect comfort.

On this last Sunday trip, the daily special was wings. I had the Korean BBQ sauced wings. This is more typical of expectations. There is nothing wrong with the food. It is the same as every other place. It is the little bits that make the difference. Is this a place to revel in the little bits and travel for it? No. But it was worth the few extra steps to move away from a far more food service heavy place. If there was a place with better taps...

I guess the short of it is, GET BETTER TAPS.

Anyways, I often feel like writing these reviews is like dining in these places. It is easy to do an up and down, throw a pic, throw some words down on the page and say something meh and move on. Maybe this is why there are so many pubs that don't reach higher; they don't have to. With so many blogs and reviewers out there, there is no need to be better either. No need to describe food that is so much the same that there is nothing remarkable. Go up and read this review again. See what is remarked on by me. It isn't the food but the difference. Just a few bits of difference can mean the world.

Cafe Review: T-ShirtGuys/Plan B

I hesitate to write about this shop because I have set out a few rules when I do these reviews.  I try not to read what other reviewers have written so that I do not react to them and so that I can form my own opinions.  One of the other guidelines is not to know too much about the owners so that my relationship with them does not impact my writing.

So, I read a bunch of comments and blogs.  I also talked to the owners about their shop and what I liked and didn't like.  I don't think it makes a difference in my review but there it is.

This cafe is located at 401 Logan at the corner of Logan and Dundas.  It is situated in the old Woods building at the south side.  It is set in an old loading dock a with garage door opening on one side, a door to the road on the other and of course, you can get to it through the T-ShirtGuys retail front end.  There is an outdoor space that is converted to something like a patio.  It kind of reminds me of the front of a firehall on an open house day.

The inside has the feeling of a general store.  There place feels mismatched in a good way.  You are walking into a working environment with a cafe that serves Mountain View coffee for a reasonable price on one side.  One of the cheapest prices for a middle of the road coffee not found in a place with the name Tim's or Mac.  But it is much better.  There are other zones within the area.  You can browse their tshirts or buy flowers or penny candies.  It is just under the clutter mark and above the visually interesting.

When the development around the corner is finished, the working from home thirty somethings will have a comfortable location with people they can relate.  The cafe will be bringing in goods from Knead bakery and maybe even getting a store front set up.  I like this type of collaboration where different small businesses or business concepts get together and provide a joint space.  It makes sense so that if something does not work, then that space can be freed up without leaving a gaping hole in the place.  Walk down East Chinatown or stretches of Yonge Street to see what I am talking about.

I would normally end my review now but this is where reading other reviews has influenced me.  I can see where people feel as if they are being ignored or treated in a lackadaisical fashion but I am not sure if they are justified.  When I have gone in, there has rarely been someone at the cash of the cafe.  You are walking into a production environment and the cafe is Plan B.  Plan A is making tshirts.

The person responsible for serving has always been there but sometimes it appears as if they are customer as they are sitting down and working on their laptop or some other such thing.  This is where I wonder if it is a generational thing.  I recognized this casual approach to service from living in a rural area.  I meant when I said it is like a general store.  They get to know you quick, in both the good ways and the bad ways. This is not the way employees act but rather people who are running the business.  I think it is inconsiderate as a consumer to expect that someone is waiting to take your order in a mom and pop shop.  Especially when, as these people are, they are social enough to ask how your day is going and make appropriate inappropriate comments (I was called crazy for wanting raisins in my butter tart).

Would I recommend this as a great coffee shop?  No.  Would I recommend this for someone who wants a community vibe and have a place to do some work and hang out?  Yes.

Leslieville Farmers' Market

The Leslieville Farmers' Market starts tomorrow, June 5th.  It will be open from 9 am to 2 pm at Johnathon Ashbridge Park. I normally stop at the East Lynn Park Farmers' Market or at Withrow Park.   This one is close and convenient enough that the whole family will be going.  I am looking forward with a little bit of trepidation.

I am concerned at the balance between `Farmers`and producers.  The mix is 50/50.  While I have no problem with producers of fine foods or musicians or other stuff, I don't typically think of that as a farmer's market.  It was the slight off mixture that eventually put me off the evergreen brickworks.  They were upfront with their goal to make livable cities.  Food is only one aspect.  I love the evergreen site and recommend it to destination eaters but not so much for weekly shoppers. 

This phenomenon of destination farmers' markets feels more like a new way for producers to connect with the consumers.  It is a cheaper delivery mechanism with built-in immediate feedback.  I think that it is always admirable to get to know your food and those who make it.  It makes it harder to poison the eater.  I always wonder if the Maple Leaf executives feed their family the same food as they produce.  I wonder if their food production methods would change, and quickly if their family became sick with listeriosis.  But then again, I know people who have poisoned their families with homemade potato salad.

The quibble is the naming of this market as a farmers' market when it is really more of local market where people go to the park rather than the local mall.  The difference is that the goods are local, and it introduces more people to the park in a congenial atmosphere with revelry.  More people will get a sense of their food and how it gets there from attending the market.  But is this really just the beginning of a new type of corporatization of food; replacing malls with stalls?

This market is invitation only, meaning that the Market manager will be the one that ends up shaping the market, its purpose and the rules.  It is not run by farmers but by residents.  They are asking for local and thoughtful food and products.  This is a step to fixing the food system as it works now but care has to be taken that it is not creating a system that will undermine the more permanent and nascent changes that seek to transform the larger food networks. (CSAs, businesses selling local food, etc)  We need for consumers to break down the wall, as we all eat from the same trough.  However, it is easy for a densely populated and affluent area to demand and receive but I am not sure what effect this will have in the long term.

In the mean time, I am going to enjoy this market for what it serves and report back as always.

Store Review: The Foodist Market

Update:  A sign went up last week (second last week of May 2011) announcing that the store was closing. 

A new market opened up to the east of Queen and Pape to supply the local area with organic and local produce where available.  The sign on the door reminds me that they are currently doing a soft opening but that does not scare me off. 

This store is another in a line of curated food stores where cold cuts and various vegetables are wrapped in plastic.  The current produce selection is hydroponic and local or shipped from foreign lands but organic.  It seems perverse that "better" food requires more oil in the form of plastics and shipping in return for a reduction of pesticides and some fertilizers.

This makes me question the whole labelling and certification of "Organics".  It would be nice to trade that label for a better assurance of local farmers who do all the right things but do not have the time, money or the inclination to get the certification.  I hope that more shops will take that into consideration.  I am willing to accept the word of a good stockist.

Since this is a new store, maybe some of the museum quality of the spacious goods are due to the soft opening or seasonality.  I wonder what will happen when local produce is abundant and the shelves will be too small.  It is a funny business of stocking local and organic; it seems that you are resigned to apples, potatoes, beets and foreign supplied goods in the winter while in the summer there is not enough space for all that is in season.  The winter options could be supplemented with local preserves and canned organics, as long as these are sold by summer.  This natural cycle is the one that grandparents would be familar rather than the 24/365 cycle of cardboard flavoured fruits and vegetables of today.

Another issue with the shop is the tight areas for the shelving for non produce items.  It was quite difficult to get into the U shaped cubbies and be able to view all the goods for sale.  With so much room in the shop, a little more care could and should be taken to allow buyers to see the items.  All in all, this shop reminds me of so many ethnic shops along the Danforth that act like a bridge to another culture with select items from Italy, China, the Caribbean, Greece or some other country but updated to take account of the new urban conscience.

When asked, the owner stated that she just wanted to open a place for organic produce that wasn`t Loblaws or PriceChopper.  While these comments discount the nearby Rowe Farms and the summer market at Withrow Park, it is mainly true.  The store stocks some of the best that can be found at St. Lawrence Market at similarly virtuous prices.  Kozliks mustard and Pingue cold cuts can be found here along with other familiar products.  There is much to recommend this place but with new places such as Sausage Partners cropping up, will this place be able to compete?  I hope for its success but will keep my eye on it over its first summer to see the answers to the questions this shop raises.