The recent revelation (from an archivist of his life) that Glenn Gould may have suffered from Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism) was a reminder that genius often walks hand in hand with major eccentricities. It's anybody's guess whether Gould (if indeed he did have Asperger's) would have lost his genius along with his affliction were he to have been "cured." Years ago I had a friend who composed music, and drank. Having smartened up and licked the alcohol problem, the composer's muse fled. Permanently. There are other examples that link instability to dazzling creativity. We drones miss the highest highs -- and the lowest lows.
Back in the eighties and early nineties, Greg Couillard was Toronto's tormented genius of the tall toques. There was not another chef who vibrated at a higher frequency of creativity. He took chances: He combined unexpected flavours and textures, the tastes of East and West, North and South with grand passion. A Couillard plate was sweet and hot, fire and ice. His jump-up soup became so widely known and desired they were retailing it at Loblaws.
And along with the genius came the instability. Couillard went through restaurants like Liz Taylor went through husbands. He couldn't hold down a job or maintain his own restaurant for more than a few months at a time. Trouble was his middle name.
Then it changed. Three years ago Couillard landed at a lonely little hole in the wall called Sarkis on Richmond Street, east of Jarvis. And he stayed! The maestro found a way to be a normal Joe and stick with a job. Dedicated followers of his jumped-up cuisine had reason to rejoice.
But funny thing: The signature Couillard spicemeister pizazz has gone down a notch. Is this the reduction of genius that is now in the service of normality? Sarkis has matured into a warm, friendly space with professional service and prompt food delivery (never previously a Couillard forté). We like the restaurant.
On arrival, one quickly receives fresh focaccia with splendid olive oil thick with fresh basil and garlic. The servers know their food and wine. Those low moments that used to torment the Couillard world (appallingly slow service, or the inevitable "Greg's not here") are a thing of the past. Sarkis is mature and dependable. About the highs -- the evanescent cooking, the flying sparks from genius harmonics of garlic, chilies, hot and sweet -- those too are a thing of the past.
Today's food at Sarkis is still spicy East/West, but merely pleasant. And, quelle surprise, the spicemeister is taking time off cooking to write a cookbook. He cooks lunches Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at Sarkis and he mentors the new chef who's cooking dinner there: Anand (Mook) Sutton trained under Couillard and is following his master's voice.
What's confusing is that lunch (Couillard) and dinner (Sutton) have the same mouthfeel. The lunch menu is unfortunate in the sense that it borrows too many items from the dinner menu, with a dearth of lighter, cheaper items. Who really wants $25 filet of beef topped with foie gras and glazed with tamarind chili jus, served with potato-and-goat-cheese galette, for lunch? It doesn't help that the foie gras is almost raw and the galette is a titch dry. The lunchtime Szechuan salade nicoise is a better idea, but too, too spicy. One would need an asbestos-lined palate to love this baby. Lunchtime soup of Shanghai noodles with barbecued pork is no competition for cheap pho; without chilies, we are stuck in the land of bland.
Shredded barbecued duck sitting on won-ton dough is pleasant hoi sen style sauce but there are not enough other flavours for excitement. Ditto tender ribs. The chef does better with ultra-velvety sweet potato and lobster bisque, and tuna tartare jazzed with coriander, garlic chive and lime.
Main courses are competent (hardly a Couillard byword). Lamb shanks are braised tender and spiked with crunchy macadamia nuts, dried fruit and Eastern spices, and served with dried-up bread pudding. Sea bass, cooked perfectly, sits on plantain mash beside fine lobster, persimmon and smoked-chili dressing. Tandoori pork is spiced with some of the old Couillard pizazz. But Szechuan roast duck is overcooked, and curried dungeness crab has a slightly musty flavour. As for the sticky rice served with both duck and crab, it's desiccated.
It's no better and no worse than the dinner that $125 buys two people in dozens of other good restaurants in this town. Had the Couillard history not preceded the Sarkis dining experience, one would call it an interesting restaurant with an East/West reach that just slightly exceeds its grasp.
Sarkis, 67 Richmond St. W., 416-214-1337. Accessible to people in wheelchairs. In last week's column, I gave the wrong address and directions for Sarkis. The correct address for the restaurant is 67 Richmond St. East, which is just east of Church Street. The Globe regrets any inconvenience this may have caused. (Saturday, March 18, 2000, Page R17)