The Everyman and I had this past Friday off, and we both kind of decided that there was nowhere we’d rather be on such a cold, blustery day than The Hoof Cafe.
In fact, we have this coming Friday off too, and after a visit to the AGO, that’s probably where we’ll end up again. Lucky me, I have Fridays off until the end of the year, plus the last week of December off too (due to an abundance of leftover vacation days I had to use up). I’m sure you can imagine what I’ll be doing for lunch on most of those days…
One week in, the staff is still wowing us.
Visiting on a Friday afternoon is a much different experience than visiting for brunch. For one, it’s quieter, (which I like) and there’s more one on one interaction (which is entertaining because they have amazing floor staff). When we arrived there was only one other pair eating, and by the time we left, there were an additional 2 tables chowing down.
Having been only 5 days prior, the menu had not had a chance to change yet, but we didn’t mind. The chef was testing a few specials, so we opted to sample what he had to offer, in addition to the Everyman’s standard ploughman’s lunch. A new addition since our last visit was the giant leg of ham screwed down to the bar, just waiting to be sliced.
I didn’t bother with a picture of his charcuterie board (even though it was beautiful) because I generally find it distracting and tool-ish to take photos in restaurants, and I also don’t like to prevent other people from eating. In a word, I hate doing it. Which coincidentally is why I was happy we ended up leaving when we did, because the table behind us pulled out their massive DSLR and started snapping away at everything in sight. The board was draped with a variety of cured salamis and prosciutto, as well as pickled chanterelles and cornichons, a lovely Riopelle cheese and some lightly grilled crusty bread.
My lunch consisted of a (special) blood sausage crepe with maple syrup drizzle and quince. It was supposed to be served with a sprinkling of walnuts, but since the Everyman is allergic, I asked them to be left out. I also added a bone because when the option is there, I just can’t resist a taste of marrow. This time it was served with a side of goat butter and jam, which I found kind of odd and in the case of the goat butter, superfluous. The wondrous thing about The Black Hoof and now The Hoof Cafe is that I’ve built up such a rapport having traded notes with Grant, as well as a level of trust that I will order things I don’t normally like just because I know they’ll be amazing. The blood sausage crepe was one such example. I typically find blood sausage repellent, but the combination of the smooth, pate-like sausage with the sweet syrup and firm grilled fruit was fantastic. The only downside was the difficulty in eating it (since blood sausage is so soft it’s challenging to cut into bites without it oozing everywhere) but I really hope it makes it to the menu one day.
Once I’d had my fill of the crepe and marrow (which the Everyman also tried and loved) and he’d dispatched with his ploughman’s plate, we ordered the second special of the day; marrow cherry donuts. Like tiny Timbits, only better, these donuts were a delectable concept, but I couldn’t eat more than 1 or 2, and I certainly couldn’t have finished the whole order of 6 by myself. When we’d finished with those, the Everyman was still a bit peckish, so he ordered the toast and jam with goat butter and sliced house ham to conclude the meal. This was tasty, but I found myself put off when I combined a slice of ham with the goat butter and jam only to find the underside of the ham frosted with mustard. Blech!
With no room left in our bellies or reason to remain at the restaurant, we bundled ourselves up and headed for home. What a glorious way to spend a Friday afternoon. I really must do this more often!
Until next time…
Tags: Grant Van Gameren, Restaurants, The Black Hoof, The Hoof Cafe
