Hawthorne Food & Drink just might be oneof the city’s tastiest social enterprises – the Richmond St. restaurant doubles as a training ground for Hospitality Workers Training Centre, hiring people seeking to build up skills for future employment. But you’d never know (aside from the occasionally charmingly-green server) that it’s anything other than a solid lunch spot, thanks in large part to chef Ricky Casipe, who rolled out a brand-new menu last month.
Natalia Manzocco
Egg pickled with concord grapes, with horseradish aioli and fermented seeds
Hawthorne’s latest offerings consist mostly of small, artful plates. There’s roasted brussels sprouts studded into a bone-marrow canoe and topped with a bright, citrusy gremolata, eggs stained wine-purple from a pickling bath with grapes, and a take on Italian bagna cauda – normally an anchovy-butter dip – that combines an umami-heavy Hollandaise with fingerling potatoes and a few edible red flower petals for visual impact.
Natalia Manzocco
Cauliflower three ways (fried, raw and puree) with black tahini
For bigger appetites, there’s a handful of entrees, like the addictive chicken carbonara, which makes ample use of all parts of the bird (schmaltz, smoked meat, crisps of chicken skin standing in for bacon, and a free-range egg). It’s rich, smoky, a little briny, and and a total salt bomb (in the best way). That, plus the inventive cauliflower done three ways – hot and battered, raw, or pureed into a great garlicky hummus – should keep the locals coming back for seconds.
See listing.
nataliam@nowtoronto.com | @nataliamanzocco
