Advertisement

Food Food & Drink

Simple innovation

ME AND MINE (1144 College, at Dufferin, 416-535-5858, meandmine.ca) Complete meals for $30 per person, including tax, tip and a pint of local microbrew. Average main $13. Open for lunch Tuesday to Friday 11 am to 5 pm, dinner Thursday to Saturday 5 to 11 pm. Weekend brunch 10 am to 5 pm. Closed Monday, holidays. No reservations. Licensed. Access: one step at door, washrooms in basement. Rating: NNNNN


The last time we checked in with Joel MacMillan, he was helming the kitchen at Zocalo, where his wildly creative “broken-bread sandwiches” helped make the laid-back Junction Triangle café NOW’s runner-up restaurant of the year for 2010, second only to Woodlot.

Together with long-time sous Melissa daSilva, he’s just launched Me and Mine on the nascent West College resto strip. While the vegetarian-friendly carte is as innovative as ever, it’s not nearly as extravagantly plated.

No bad thing that. A complimentary starter of grilled watermelon doused with salt and lime is the very essence of summer. Three deliciously simple carrot croquettes paired with nutty sunflower tahini ($5) are models of restraint when compared to the 47-ingredient platters of yore.

He torches house-cured rainbow trout at the last minute before sending it out next to great lengths of blackened cucumber, a dollop of labneh-like yogurt cheese and a stack of buckwheat-poppyseed mini-pancakes ($15), a clever play on blini, sour cream and lox. Sided with roasted grape tomatoes and sprouted chickpea salads, wedges of toasted jalapeño cornbread pudding come topped with fabulously cheesy kale torte ($12).

MacMillan’s terrific cowboy pork ‘n’ beef sausages show up alongside a retro cauli-cheese bake, a handful of pickled cherries and an al dente green bean and wilted watercress salad, while his minced pork and quail egg pie comes saddled with mashed root veggies and minty garden peas (both $13). Turn any of them into brunch for 2 bucks with the addition of a conventionally poached runny egg.

Or come back for those eggs on the weekend over house-cured pork belly, grilled scallion salad, St. John Bakery toast spread with sticky tomato jam and roasted salt ‘n’ malt vinegar home fries ($15).

And don’t skip the apple, cheddar and rosemary galette ($10 with salad) in the same buttery whole wheat crust as the pork pie if you like your sweet a little savoury.

But enough of our usual bafflegab. How would they describe what they do?

“We’re just trying to be a neighbourhood restaurant,” says MacMillan. “We want people to come back for the food.”

That shouldn’t be a problem.

stevend@nowtoronto.com | @stevendaveynow

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.