FANNY CHADWICK’S (268 Howland, at Dupont, 416-944-1606, fannychadwicks.com) Complete dinners for $45 per person (lunches/brunches $25), including tax, tip and a Caesar. Average main $20/$12. Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 am to 5 pm, for dinner Sunday, Tuesday to Thursday 5 to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday 6 to 11 pm. Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm. Closed Monday, holidays. Licensed. Access: two steps at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NN
Barely three weeks old, fanny Chadwick’s is clearly rushed off her feet.
It’s not even 11 am Sunday morning and there’s already a queue of grumbling early birds at the Annex diner’s front door. Those smart enough to show up by 10:15 am have commandeered every seat in the joint, the primo tables a row of gaudily upholstered booths opposite a jumping open kitchen.
With its shelves lined with Mason jars of pickles and preserves, boomer soundtrack and retro comfort food card, Fanny falls somewhere between upmarket and mainstream, as if Jamie Kennedy decided to tag-team with Golden Griddle. Given the pedigrees of everyone involved (co-owner Leanne Martineau was a long-time Terroni wrangler, partner Sarah Baxter and hubby own the popular Feathers pub on Kingston Road, and chef Joel McDonald has worked under both Susur Lee and George’s Lorenzo Loseto), Chadwick’s should be a contender.
But first she has to get the food out. It’s been at least 20 minutes since we ordered one of ex-George pastry chef Elysia Staszczyszyn’s terrific hazelnut sticky buns, even though there’s a whole tray of them on the lunch counter not 6 feet away. After another delay, a side of bland house-cured gravlax (both $3) arrives with a “Did you order this?” We shouldn’t have bothered.
We’ve stared down many a plateful of eggs Benedict in preparation for NOW’s April 7 Brunch Guide but have seen none as foolish as Fanny’s Build Your Own Benny ($11 and up). Maybe this is Martineau’s way of making up for the tyranny of Terroni’s “no substitution” rule, but 50 permutations of eggs with egg sauce is 49 ways to screw up every time.
Instead, we opt for Finnish pancakes ($12), an impressive stack o’ buttery crepe-like flapjacks dressed with whipped cream and blueberry compote, plus a spicy house-made sausage. Layered with dried apple, crème anglais and a splash of maple syrup, Fanny’s French toast ($12) is easily one of the most luxurious we’ve encountered.
Shame the same can’t be said for her corned beef hash ($12), a haphazard combo of home fries, fried onions and stringy house-cured brisket topped with a scrambled “farm fresh” egg omelette, and lukewarm to boot.
Dinner – while not nearly as chaotic as brunch – runs from hot to cold as well. Lubricated by a round of Bloody Caesars ($6.95) stirred with pickled heirloom carrots, we start with clams ($12) steamed in vermouth spiked with garlic and tarragon, its gravy boat of drawn butter overkill. Warm Winter Salad ($10) turns out to have the same glazed root veggies that show up alongside some of the mains on a bed of lettuce and radicchio, here tossed with random chunks of Benedictine blue cheese and walnuts in a barely there sherry vinaigrette.
They’re alongside chef’s perfectly roasted chicken with stuffing ($20), though it, too, gets unnecessarily sabotaged by butter. Pan-seared Ocean Wise steelhead trout dusted in cornmeal is definitely fish, and deep-fried strings of russet potatoes might be chips, but the two could hardly be considered proper fish ‘n’ chips ($16) despite their Thai-spiced ketchup, dilled tartar sauce and warm red cabbage slaw.
The less said about fatty corned beef and cabbage ($20) paired with mushy fried perogies, the better. Tonight’s bread pudding ($6) – tasty as it is – looks an awful lot like reheated French toast. And don’t get us started on the disorganized service.
But she makes a good burger ($12/ $16 with fries, soup or salad), and if we lived down the street, we’d likely be here every other weekend. Give her time to catch her breath and Fanny Chadwick’s could be worth the lineup.
stevend@nowtoronto.com
