An edible hymn to Canada, 54 floors above downtown, with a wraparound view of the lake at sunset, as autumnal dusk turns the sky the magical deep blue that dreams are made of. This is the kind of restaurant where big statements are made.… And selfies taken.
Canoe is celebrating 20 years. It was never before an important resto, thanks to its humdrum kitchen that didn’t even come close to living up to the view. But all that has changed — for the better.
Oliver & Bonacini has morphed the menu into a magical mystery tour of modern Canadiana, from mountain cranberries to balsam fir crème fraîche, and the kitchen has stepped up and raised the bar.
A table at Canoe with a top-of-the-city view.
Mediocrity is gone from Canoe. In its place is a passionate embrace of the land and both feet planted firmly on the path to innovation.
Which sometimes works very well, and sometimes goes over the top. The idea of foie gras s’mores is entrancing and the execution is close to flawless: A cloud of barely sweetened marshmallow that tastes vaguely caramelized, with a big fat hunk of deeply sexy perfectly sautéed foie gras, savoury waffles, graham cracker crumbs and smears of blueberry with unsweet dark chocolate sauce. It all hangs together.…
Kind of.
Certainly better than maple salmon candy, which is, as its name suggests, sweet cured salmon, served with smoked avocado (??), a tiny spoon of sturgeon caviar, crispy nori with tapioca and sushi-style rice inflected with the subtle scent of wild ginger. This is a dish whose elements cannot be faulted, but discretion here would have been the better part of valour, as in: Don’t mess too much with the flawless flavour of fine salmon.
Canoe sources the absolute best in local ingredients and treats them with total respect. Who else offers pheasant from Owen Sound, moist and savoury, with grain porridge flavoured with foie gras, braised celeriac and tiny onion cups cradling lightly pickled mountain cranberries? This is serious cooking aspiring to be 54-storey-high art.
And sometimes it gets there.
But some dishes are too complicated for their own good: From the tasting menu comes a gorgeous hunk of fork-tender red venison with too much else on the plate. Confusion reigns thanks to Swiss chard, dehydrated grapes, ice wine jus, Jerusalem artichoke bark, purée and soubric. I had to ask. Soubric is quiche without the crust.
The deconstructed butter tart is upscale Canadiana for dessert.
Dessert can be similarly a little too ambitious and yet still fun. The deconstructed butter tart is the filling and crust separately with crunchy bits of brown sugar praline cream, smoked pecan nougatine, and wild rye ice cream. It all sounds so very snazzy, and it is. Super artsy on the plate. Tastes good. But it makes me long for the simplicity and straightforward yumminess of my mother-in-law’s traditional butter tarts.
But don’t get me wrong. Go to Canoe. It’s a great Big Night Out. There’s an old adage that a person’s reach must exceed their grasp, else what’s a heaven for? This applies perfectly to the beautiful restaurant in the sky, where Oliver & Bonacini has made a commitment to excellence, Canadian style.
Canoe, 64 Wellington St. W., 54th floor, $150 Dinner for two