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Four

187 Bay St. (Commerce Court South)

416-368-1444

$150 for dinner for two with wine, tax and tip

On first glance, opening a health-food restaurant on Bay Street seems weird. Miso for stockbrokers? Lentils for investment bankers? Multigrain crisps for big deal makers? One might have more easily imagined such a restaurant on Queen Street way west, where we'd expect the counterculture to build its very own Tofuland.

But wait a minute: The cute young women who serve are kitted out in cleavage-baring Lululemon tops and little skirts. Who's that for? Think corporate. Captains of industry are no longer trusted to steer the ship if they're tubby. The proliferation of executive health clinics (including an outpost of the vaunted Cleveland Clinic) in Toronto is no accident. Nor is the almost childlike fealty that so many captains of industry swear to nutritionist Barbie Casselman (conveniently located at King and Yonge). Keep 'em slim and healthy and they'll produce.

Ergo Four, SIR Corp.'s entry into the healthy food world, which is surprising given their other restaurants (Far Niente, Alice Fazooli's, Reds, Jack Astor's etc.). Four, which they opened this spring in the Commerce Court space under Far Niente that was previously Soul of the Vine, is the dark horse in the SIR stable. That the new resto is open only Monday through Friday further underlines its focus on the business market.

The local food press has been pouring vitriol on Four's cuisine, which I do not understand. People who hate restaurant critics argue that taste is subjective, and that no person can speak for another's response to the taste of things. But there are many objective realities in cooking: Food can be undercooked, overcooked or correctly cooked. Seasoning can be bland or overkill. Combinations can be balanced or at war. Ingredients can be poor or excellent.

In those terms, and the more subjective ones as well, I adored the food at Four. It's not the greatest room, dark and uninspired, with pedestrian wood and stone accents. But the menu is lovely and its execution stellar.

Its claim to fame is that no main course exceeds 650 calories, and the appetizers start at 67 calories. I've eaten a fair amount of spa food, having visited both Canyon Ranch in Arizona and Rancho La Puerta in Mexico more than once. Both these spas (especially the former) charge an arm and a leg, and neither of them serves food that comes close to Four's for flavour, texture and just plain eating pleasure.

We started with tiny juicy bay scallops served in a china spoon, in a jazzy coconut bath spiked with chili and lime leaf, with avocado on the side. There were perfectly cooked jerk-spiced shrimps on a skewer with good pineapple salsa, and a hot and sour soup that would put most of Chinatown's to shame for flavour and balance. Only the badly overcooked mini bison burger disappointed.

Cooking is one of my few hobbies. I love to cook and I fancy myself not bad at it. But I have never managed to infuse as much flavour into low-fat food as chef Craig Harding crams into the main courses at Four. His ocean trout is perfectly cooked, pinkly moist, zinged with sherry and mustard and served with a great-tasting stew of lentils with sweet peas. He grills chicken breast perfectly and even without the skin it's luscious. Crusting it with toasted almonds and a modicum of Indian spices helps out, as does the garnish of apricot-studded rice and roasted root veg that have been almost caramelized.

When SIR remade the restaurant into Four, it threw out the deep fryers and installed steamers. Other kitchens steam fish and it's about as bland as white rice. These folks use smoked sablefish, which answers the bland problem beautifully. Matching the perfectly cooked fish with the sweetness of succotash made from sweet corn and edamame works wonders. Passion-fruit mustard glaze adds another layer of flavour. Bringing in beef tenderloin at less than 650 calories is, in my carnivorous world view, an act of great mercy. This steak is fork-tender, happily spiced with miso and green peppercorn relish, and its barley, root veg and spiced tomato sides are all robustly tasty.

For dessert, Four offers shot glasses of various mousse-like items - coconut custard with kaffir lime, chocolate, tiramisu, cheesecake mousse etc. These are 200 calories each and nothing special. But everything else Four does is. For those who do not work in the concrete canyons, it's worth a special trip.

We'd like to see Four take the next step: provenance. Sufficient local suppliers exist for them to showcase and champion local and organic producers, which the menu now does not mention, save for organic wines and Jail Island salmon. When we ask the server if the salmon is farmed or wild, she says it's farmed and doesn't mention it being organic.

Four takes healthy to a better place: Heretofore mostly the province of hair-shirt hippies eating brown rice and veg with no taste, or spas serving steamed fish and veg with no taste, it has been rarely explored by gastronomes. Michel Guerard set a standard in France two decades ago with his cuisine minceur, but few real chefs have followed suit. Isn't it about time?