I am The Urban Foodie. I am a dedicated follower of the renowned food chronicler Joanne Kates. I devour her words with relish as she describes, measures, questions and skewers the vagaries of Toronto hot spots. Places that I love to taste, gossip, drink and dine.
We should enjoy everything we eat; We don't have to believe everything we read.
Our pursuit of excellence recently fell on Weezies, a small but charming eatery on King East, just past Parliament, that was favourably reviewed in May. We were going to see Doubt at the Canstage Theatre, and needed a place to eat before curtain. This was our chance to compare the play to the movie - and to compare our experiences at Weezie's with Joanne Kates' column. We could hardly wait. As with every experience, anticipation is part of the pleasure.
Weezie's at 6:00 PM is not a crowded place. In fact, I was the first person there. The small room, with only 15-20 tables, was pleasantly paneled in dark wood, giving it a clubby feel. I didn't think it felt like a small town greasy spoon. The waiter went around placing small lamps on the tables, which are better than the small candles you usually get in restaurants. I couldn't help but notice that most of the tables were reserved, a good sign.
The waiter offered water (I was too polite to ask for a quick drink before my friends arrived) and I checked out the menu, trying to not resort to the Joanne Kates review to mentally mark the good stuff. The place started filling up quickly. Could it be a neighborhood crowd? No, looked more like the typical subscription theatre crowd in Toronto - reasonably well fed, conservatively dressed and mature in years. The waiter noted that the Soul-pepper theatre in the Gooderham & Wortz complex was close - just follow the next block down to the theatre. The restaurant was obviously a favourite dropping off place for the theatre crowd, before heading to a show. The Berkeley St. Theater was also close, only a couple of blocks southwest of the restaurant.
With the arrival of my friends, the place was filling up fast and I was ready for a drink - and we were motivated to put our orders in quickly to try to get ahead of the queue.
There was only a small wine list, and the red we picked was a younger vintage but still flavourful, if still a little smart. I couldn't help but stare at some attractive looking martinis at the tables nearby, and noted that I wasn't offered a martini list. Couldn't the waiter see that I was a martini type of a guy?
He took our orders. Okay, despite the wonderful offerings described in Joanne Kates' column, I ended up with the steak frites. I did order the sardines, which sounded delicious despite an unfortunate association with Dolly Parton's breasts... it's in her review. My friends were amazed - I have a notorious aversion to fish. However, the sardines were flavourful, if somewhat tasting like... sardines. My friends both ordered the cornish hens, while one had the salad, which came topped with a small cake of fried cheese, while the other ordered the tomato soup - pureed, not with cream, as the waiter noted. No problems with our appetizers, or should I say with any food waste issues - there was nothing left on our plates.
My steak was good, if cooked a little on the medium side. Usually when I order medium I expect to be ignored. It seems to be the general case. I'm happy to settle with pink, as long as the meat was not oozing blood. This was medium. I liked it; Joanne Kates would not approve. The fries were small, crisp and flavourful, just as described in the review.
For my two friends, they raced to the end of their Cornish hens with unseemly haste. Apparently a hit. I did see one gentleman wolfing down a hamburger on the other side of the room, one of the two items on the menu that Joanne Kates had issues with. He had no problem with hamburger being brown and not pink. I wouldn't mind coming back with another friend for a try at that - my friend could eat the wonderly described mac & cheese, which I notice he loves when offered at various places. (He also can whip up a mean four cheese mac & cheese himself.)
Unfortunately at that point we were running out of time. While vacillating between trying to down the lemon curd or pecan pie, or rush off to the theatre, good sense prevailed and we had to leave without dessert. It was fortunate, as we found that Doubt was playing at the Bluma Appel Theatre, not the Berkley St. Theatre. My friend noted that the restaurant still appeared to be open when we came back for the car - I think he was still aching for that lemon curd - but that was not in the works for that evening.
That was our experience at Weezie's. I would definitely go back, and would like to sample more of the menu. How does our intrepid columnist do it?
What's in the column this week? Hmm way north of Toronto. I barely venture north of St. Clair. Maybe I'll give these ones a pass. It's too bad, but I know that even if this week's review doesn't work out, there will be more adventures to come, following on the trail of Joanne Kates!
Weezie's
354 King Street East
Toronto, ON M5A 1K9
(416) 777-9339
*closed Sunday and Monday
 The Urban Foodie | |
| About the author: | |
I am a follower of the renowned chronicler of Toronto eateries, Joanne Kates, whose words I devour with relish as she measures, questions and skewers the vagaries of those places where I love to taste, gossip, drink and dine. I cut out and catalogue her favoured spots, treasure her tasting notes on those items I was unable to choose (so much to eat, so little time!) and with my partners, commiserate on our unfortunate errors where we did not follow her judgement. In short, we are typical urban followers of those local leaders of taste, who provide us with instruction through the information conduits of the day. | |
| Read More >> | |
- Related Articles:
- Top Five Shows To See During LG Fashion Week
- Out with the new and in with the old
- Horror in Hogtown
- The Art of Fundraising> Spotlight on: Amanda Blakely and Ashleigh Dempster
- Rue Morgue Festival of Fear
Add this page to your favorite social bookmarking websites
all the best