Bobbie Sue’s Mac and Cheese opened less than a week ago on Ossington. But the owners are already old pros at keeping the masses happy with heroic quantities of starch and dairy fat – co-owners Nicholas and Frederic Laliberté also own Poutini’s down the street on Queen.
It doesn’t share much in the way of a theme with its other sister restaurant, Hawker Bar – but it’s so close by that the two actually share a back alley. Naturally, Bobbie Sue’s manager (and Fred’s wife) Katie Laliberté says the team was tempted to pounce onto the space before they even knew what to do with it.
“It just kind of hit us – mac and cheese is huge. Everybody loves it. We’d gone on a trip to New York City, and there were tons of mac and cheese places. When we came back, we were like, ‘We could do that here!’”
The concept was also perfect for practical reasons: The tiny spot wasn’t set up for food service, so a small, simple menu focusing on one dish made perfect sense. (Previously, the stall was fashion designer Philip Sparks’ boutique customers have told Laliberté they bought jackets at that shop, and now they’re back there to buy their dinner.)
And so, visitors to the Bobbie Sue’s service counter will be faced with an all-mac menu, with a dozen or so options available in small or large sizes (a small will feed one moderately hungry person a large is perfect if you’re starving or hoping to split).
Everything is prepped in advance, including the just-cooked mac (actually cavatappi pasta) and bechamel, then blended with shredded cheese and your choice of toppings and blasted in a turbo-cooking oven. Five or so minutes later, a pie plate heaped with mac is packaged up in a little pizza box and slid across the counter.
Early favourites include the buffalo blue cheese with pulled chicken, as well as the (ever so subtly-named) Hamburger Who Lends A Hand with ground beef, gruyere and mushrooms. The vegan mac and cheese, using sauce from NONA, has also been well-received among the dairy-averse.
Curry In A Hurry is an unusual mix of curry, tuna and peas. “My husband’s mother would sometimes, for a quick dinner, do a can of mushroom soup with curry, tuna, and do that over rice. They’ve always known that the combo works really, really well – it’s one of those tasty, easy things to prepare. So we really wanted to do one here, and it’s been really, really well-received.” In fact, she says, it was the first dish they sold on opening day.
Laliberté’s own contribution, meanwhile, was the Camp Mac with hot dog slices, made “a little more grown up,” by her reckoning, with the addition of yellow mustard.
While I would have dearly loved to sample every single thing on the menu, I go for the carbonara, which mixes an egg yolk with the al dente pasta and bechamel, plus hunks of salty pancetta, generous levels of parmesan, and some cracked black pepper. It’s the perfect antidote to the early-fall chill sweeping over Ossington.
The line of neighbourhood locals and families has grown too long for us to chat, so I thank Laliberté and get ready to head off down the street. By the way, I ask – who’s Bobbie Sue? Laliberté says nothing, but points to a painting of a cow strategically placed right by the service window. Quick and easy.
162 Ossington #3, entrance on Foxley, 647-352-2762, bobbiesues.com. See listing.
food@nowtoronto.com | @nataliamanzocco
