Split oak, a bed of coals and one long grill. There is no gas line in the kitchen and no oven to hide behind. If it is on your plate, it has been close to the flame.
The fire
A night starts at three.
3:00pm
The oak goes on.
Split red oak stacked in the hearth, lit by hand. It takes about ninety minutes to burn down to coals worth cooking on, so nobody rushes it.
4:30pm
The coals get raked.
A hot bed for steak, trout and chops. A slow bed at the far end for lamb, onions and anything that wants time. The cooks know the map by heart.
5:00pm
The doors open.
Forty-two seats around a brick wall and a long oak counter that faces the hearth. The lights stay low, because the fire does most of the work.
Dinner, Tuesday to Sunday
The menu
It changes with the market and with what the fire does well that week. Prices are in Canadian dollars, before tax. Tell us about allergies when you book or when you sit down.
01
From the embers
Cooked on the hearth, in the order the fire allows.
Dry-aged strip loin
10 oz over hot coals. Bone marrow butter, charred shallot, red wine jus.
Cooked on: Hot bed
$$54
Lamb shoulder for two
Six hours on the slow side of the hearth. Pickled rhubarb, yoghurt, flatbread.
Cooked on: Slow bed
$$82
Whole rainbow trout
Split and grilled skin down. Brown butter, capers, wild leeks, lemon.
Cooked on: Hot bed
$$38
Waterloo Region pork chop
Brined for two days. Apple mustard glaze, grilled cabbage, sage.
Cooked on: Grill
$$39
Half chicken
Brined overnight. Hot honey, lemon, garlic toast to catch the juices.
Cocktails, Ontario wine and local beer are on the bar list. Ask for it at the table.
Private dining
The back room, one long table.
Twenty-two seats at a single oak table under the old chimney wall, close enough to the hearth to hear it. The whole menu is cooked for your group, on the same fire as everyone else.