Thuet Bistro & Bakery
609 King St. W., Toronto, 416-603-2777. Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip, $150.
Marc Thuet has found his niche. Finally. (Kindness requires one not to restate his missteps during the bad-boy period.) It seems that Thuet's wife, Biana Zorich, who is also his business partner, has good chemistry with the chef. Or maybe the guy just grew up.
When Zorich argued in the fall that they needed to downscale their new temple to haute cuisine, Thuet listened. They closed over Christmas and did a small reno that resulted in two changes: the addition of a bakery in the front where they retail chef's fabulous breads, and complete change of the menu from haute to bistro, with accompanying price reductions.
Is it a big karmic joke that has put Thuet in competition with J.P. Challet, who took over as chef at the Fifth after Thuet walked out? The real question is who's laughing now? Le Select is packing them in for Challet's heinously bad bistro food, while Thuet sells a similar menu to Le Select's, with two differences: one, some things (though by no means everything) are more expensive at Thuet and two, Thuet's food is exponentially better than Le Select's.
How then, does one explain that Le Select is beating diners off with a stick, while Thuet is mobbed at Sunday brunch but somewhat quiet in the evenings?
The only possible explanation is that Toronto diners are judging the book by the cover, for Le Select is an art deco jewel, the reincarnation of a 1920s Parisian bistro. It's clever, gorgeous and authentic -- looking. Thuet, on the other hand, shines in the daylight. At brunch, you can see how nicely the mustard walls set off burgundy banquettes and brown leather chairs. Paintings reminiscent of Toulouse Lautrec's are easy to admire. In the evening, the room is merely formal and has the unfortunate feel of an expensive hotel dining room.
But looks aside, there's no contest between the two restaurants. We ate tasteless onion soup, soggy confit and bland cassoulet at Le Select; those same dishes sparkled with flavour at Thuet.
Thuet's onion soup is deeply beefy. His steak tartare is a punched-up retro delight, and his brandade of black cod is a creamy thrill ride for lovers of the bistro tradition that is cod puréed with mashed potatoes and cream. His salmon tartare is a clever play on caviar, garnished with sour cream and separate circlets of hard-boiled egg yolk and white. His terrine-style foie gras is perfect, and a bittersweet pleasure. One imagines that any day now they'll be cutting off the importation of ducklings from France that Quebec foie gras farmers rely on. The requisite French ducks are sterile, and so far no Canadian-born duck has been found to meet the standards. Get it while you can.
Thuet's main courses are a compendium of bistro standards and Alsatian regional specialties. I confess to a less than enthusiastic response to Alsatian food. Because of Alsace's location (in the northeast of France), its cuisine is Germanic, meaning heavy on the meat, sauerkraut and carbs. I take a pass.
But Thuet is a dab hand at bistro cooking. We adored his haute cuisine, but the bistro thing is much more accessible, both financially and in terms of taste. His beef bourguignon is small, perfectly cooked chunks of beef in deep red wine sauce with creamy mashed potatoes and small mushrooms. His duck confit is a sinner's treat, ultracrisp duck skin and sweet flesh, served with creamy potatoes. His cassoulet reprises that crispy duck with tasty beans. Lamb saddle is a tall chunk of impeccable juicy lamb with a superb thyme-inflected brown sauce.
We do not approve of Thuet's tarte Tatin, since it resembles a baked apple rather than thinly sliced caramelized apple slices, but his other desserts are impeccable. Profiteroles are fragile choux pastry with both ice cream and impeccable egg custard, topped with warm, sexy Soma chocolate. Caramelized lemon tart is citric, tart and silken.
It is not surprising that the only time the people appear to "get it" about the splendour of Thuet is Sunday brunch, a vexing meal in Toronto. Brunch is popular because it extends the weekend's indulgences past Saturday night, but it is difficult to enjoy because, with the exception of the Gallery Grill at Hart House, none of the good brunch places take reservations. This necessitates standing in horrid, hectic lineups in order to get a table. Until recently, Thuet was a welcome respite. They took reservations and offered a huge and fun brunch menu. Alas, it is now first come, first served.
Thank goodness the food remains. There are the usual egg things, including a très français and quite fab eggs meurette, wherein eggs are perfectly poached in red wine (weird looking but yummy) and served on a fragile short biscuit in red wine sauce with smoky bacon and tiny mushrooms. His omelettes and eggs Benedict are unimpeachable, his croissants, pain au chocolat and chocolate-topped brioches divine. His only error at brunch is waffles so overcooked it's like trying to chew bricks.
He also offers a seductive foie gras tartine with tiny greens dressed with truffle oil on a fat slab of the chef's own chewy brown bread. This is for epicures going full speed ahead down the road of perdition. Close your eyes and don't think of the future.