The area around Dundas and Dufferin is seeing a flurry of action these days, with several new restaurants and bars having opened or opening soon: Midfield Wine Bar & Tavern, Nono’s and This End Up. Earlier this month, The Federal opened up for daytime service in the old Zoots Café space, with plans to expand to dinners in the near future.
The owners are three friends who have been cooking together since their days at Ursula Franklin Academy: Adam Janes, Duncan MacNeill and Zach Slootsky, along with Joe Zabukovec, who befriended the trio later on.
Already serving some fairly noteworthy concoctions, like the ploughman’s lunch ($12) — which currently includes house-made rabbit and pork terrine and bleu bénédictin raw milk cheese from Quebec — The Federal is shaping up to be a great addition to Little Portugal. But for now, the guys are calling this an extended soft opening.
“We’re warming up the kitchen before we do dinner and get our liquor licence,” Slootsky tells us. “We’re not sure [when that will be], but we’re happy during the day. It’s been really fun.”
The plan, MacNeill tells us, is to become a family-friendly restaurant that can also be a great place to hold a birthday party or have a romantic date. Once that elusive liquor licence arrives, The Federal is planning on being wine and cocktail-centric, featuring wines from small, family-run wineries.
Current dishes to check out include the cubano ($12), a take on the pulled pork sandwich, with slow-roased pork shoulder, spiced ham, avocado, cheddar and sweet mustard pickles. The salty pork is offset by the pickles, and a side of aioli provides an extra kick. As with all of The Federal’s savoury dishes, it comes with a Swiss-style shredded potato rösti dish.
The eggs Federal ($11) are essentially eggs Benedict, but without Hollandaise (a mushroom-tarragon cream sauce is used instead).
Most of the house-made preserves and pickles can be bought from The Federal’s market shelf, which also features other selections like caper berries or some totally not-made-in-house Marmite. (We noticed the you-either-love-it or hate-it jar on the shelf, and had to ask. Apparently it goes in the veggie broth — and if you’re on the “hate it” side, don’t worry, you can’t tell it’s there.)
A selection of house-made sodas ($2.50), which come in cola, lemon-ginger, cream soda and root beer varieties, are made with good old carbonated Toronto tap water.
Duncan MacNeill pours a house-made soda pop
The cola is based on a recipe from the 1900s. It’s made from kola nut, natural cane sugar, caramel, bergamot and a “secret mixture of herbs and spices,” we’re told. The result is far removed from your typical mass-produced cola: slightly sweet and refreshing, it almost tastes like it’s good for you.
Suppliers include St. John’s Bakery for breads and Bakelab for café treats. The interior is full of vintage touches, giving The Federal a warm, rustic feel at any time of the day — and soon enough, night.
The Federal, 1438 Dundas St. W., 647-352-9150