LA PALETTE 492 Queen West, at Portland, 416-929-4900, lapalette.ca.
Banks Island Muskox Trio ($30)
You won’t see fillet of filly on the menu at Shamez Amlani’s relocated bistro these days.
Instead, come for his very free-range wild muskox three-way. Just as the spectacularly plated dish arrives at table, its garnishing pine and cedar sprigs from the parkette down the block are torched, the fragrant fumes wafting over the plate. As the aromatic smoke subsides, a ridiculously tender paleron of inside shoulder braised sous-vide and infused with pine and juniper is revealed. Slices of rare tenderloin in elderberry demiglace and a cedar-smoked sausage round off this meaty ménage à trois. Why muskox?
“I like variety, and I’m always looking for new meat,” says chef Brook Kavanagh. “It’s not all pigs or lambs and cows. And it’s probably better for the ecology if we do spread it around a little bit.”
Lunch and brunch daily 11 am to 4 pm, dinner nightly from 4 pm till close. Licensed. Access: barrier-free, washrooms in basement.
