LOIRE RESTAURANT - TORONTO
by Anne Dimon
Toronto's newest restaurant - serving food with a focus on fresh, local and seasonal - is now open. Located at the corner of Harbord and Major Streets in downtown Toronto's University of Toronto neighbourhood, Loire is the creation of Chef Jean-Charles Dupoire and Sylvain Brissonnet.
They called the restaurant Loire because France's Loire Valley is where the two grew up as childhood friends.
Jean-Charles (I wrote about him in the spring 2008 issue of Clean Eating magazine - read the story) was most recently chef-de-cuisine at the Fairmont Royal York's signature restaurant Epic, and Sylvain was sommelier at the dining room of Langdon Hall. Both white tablecloth, five-star establishments.
Loire is a lot more casual and comes with a better price tag, but the food is just as fabulous. Not gourmet, mind you, more casual "comfort food" says Jean-Charles. But certainly much better then I remember "comfort food" ever tasting. Flavourful, presented with creativity - the cauliflower soup, for instance, came with a side garnish of deep fried nibblets of cauliflower on greens - and with more than just a nod to healthy ingredients.
Kale, for instance, was paired with carrots in the risotto that was on the menu when I visited. But don't go in looking for that specific dish because Jean-Charles says the menu will change weekly as foods go in and out of season. He adds that most of the produce and products he uses are raised or grown in Ontario.
Healthy-minded foodies will also want to look for things like Roasted Skatewing with Garlic and Cornmeal Crusted Monkfish - fish, in fact, is one of the chef's specialties so expect it to be cooked to perfection.
We do not generally endorse burgers - but the signature Loire Burger is made with a choice of beef (naturally-raised we assume) or lamb, and it's served with made-in-house tomato jam and Quebec Brie on a toasted bun from the famous Harbord Bakery conveniently located right next door.
Along with the food, we also love the sleek, comtemporary but unpretentious decor (a romantic evening setting), the wide-open kitchen and the service. The only thing I didn't love was the white bread. For healthy-minded eaters everywhere, I ask can we please have wholewheat, rye, flax - anything but white.
I didn't have time for dessert but I'm totally going back for the Molten Chocolate Cake with
Canadian Whisky Caramel Sauce and Mini Frozen Yogurt.
No surprise there is a great wine list - $9 to $12 a glass, $45 to $75 a bottle - with many from the Loire region. Expect dinner for two with two glasses of wine to cost about $120.
For a number of reasons, we predict this restaurant is going to be a big success so you may want to check it out soon and avoid the rush. 416-850-8330 www.loirerestaurant.ca
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