AFT KITCHEN & BAR (686 Queen East, at Broadview, 647-346-1541, aftbar.com, ) Complete dinners for $40 per person, including tax, tip and smoked habanero Caesar. Average main $18. Open for dinner Monday to Friday 5 pm to 1 am, Saturday and Sunday 4 pm to 1 am. Weekend brunch 11 am to 3 pm. Bar nightly till 2 am. Closed some holidays. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms on same floor. Rating: NNN
If BLD in the core takes its name from the acronym for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and TOCA in the fancy-pants Ritz Carlton stands for TOronto CAnada, what could Riverside’s newly launched AFT Kitchen and Bar possibly mean? Authentic Foodie Trattoria?
“About Fucking Time,” laughs the four-month-old boîte’s Paul Campbell. “My friends say it’s been a long time coming.”
We see their point. After 20 years waiting tables at various Dukes and the exceptionally popular House on Parliament in Cabbagetown, he’s finally decided to go out on his own. Unlike the east-side storefront’s previous tenants, AFT could be in for the long run.
Dinner begins with pit boss Lawrence La Pianta’s slow-smoked chicken wings ($14). Offered two ways, either as is or briefly deep-fried Buffalo-style, they could easily double as a main, since they come with a whack o’ hand-cut fries. How to explain the weekdays-only deep-fried strips of panko-crusted portobello mushrooms ($8) except as the token vegetarian dish for those who wandered in by mistake?
Back on track, AFT’s gorgeously brined free-range half-chickens ($16) get slathered with the house’s sweet, ketchupy sauce, a purple cabbage slaw and more of those serviceable fries on the side. We can’t help but imagine that anyone who orders chef Christian Butcher’s tasty Wednesday-night special of southern fried chicken with wilted collard greens, slaw and a so-so corn muffin ($17) will be disappointed by that portion in comparison. Must be that ‘spensive muffin.
When they’re not doing brunch on Saturday and Sunday, there’s a very good ground-brisket burger studded with cheese and dressed with caramelized red onion and garlicky aioli ($13), its eggy Harbord Bakery bun more support than mere sponge. And though a few of the individual players are sold à la carte during the week, AFT’s combo barbecue platters – $22 for any two, $33 for three, both with sides – are only available for some reason on the weekend.
“It keeps our chef and pit master happy, engaged and creative,” says Campbell.
Whatever the explanation, their surprisingly meaty pork side ribs ($19 à la carte with two sides) get subtly rubbed with sweet paprika and optionally mopped with sauce, their flesh just on the verge of falling from the bone, nicely barked and perfectly pink.
Thickly sliced Butcher Shoppe brisket arrives properly marbled with a thin ribbon of fat, its black peppercorn rub mined with chilies, while the randomly pulled pork shoulder is appropriately fatty. Besides the slaw and the fries, there are also better than usual baked beans and a retro German potato salad. A good deal.
But stay away from the Caesar salad ($7) with double-smoked bacon unless you’re a fan of knife-cut rather than ripped romaine lettuce, a dressing that tastes anchovy-less, though we’re told they’re in there, and “house-made garlic-Parmesan croutons” that look like chopped-up leftover hamburger buns to us. But what do we know? Upgrade it with 6 ounces of smoky sous-vide steak sparingly splashed with a hot sauce that’s best described as HP with an essence of neutron bomb and you won’t even notice.
stevend@nowtoronto.com | @stevendaveynow
