Restaurants
Mildred's Temple Kitchen
Mildred's Temple Kitchen in Liberty Village is the offshoot of the highly regarded Mildred Pierce which operated on Sudbury Street for seventeen years before closing its doors. Having never been a customer at the original location, I had only heard of the place's fantastic food and loyal followers. Mildred's reputation seems to have followed her to the Hanna Avenue location, and my friends and I decide to see what one of the finer dining options in Liberty Village has to offer.
Mildred's interior is sleek and modern, with very high ceilings and a large open kitchen. The sweeping space with its industrial feel is still quite welcoming, but we select a seat on the small patio looking onto Hanna Avenue at the border of Liberty Village's North end.
Mildred's intriguing menu is segmented into categories: small mercies and big plates, raw, indulge, and burgs/dogs/'zza. References to 'gramma's recipes' and variations on dishes such as poutine and pizza suggest the chef's soft spot for classic comfort food with a gourmet twist.
On this very hot day the big plates seem too heavy, and instead we opt to try a number of smaller items which lend themselves well to sharing. We begin with the bread and olives ($3.50). Various types of crispy Thuet bread comes sided with a small dish of tasty white bean puree, topped with olive oil and a sprinkling of tiny olives.
Tonight's soup special is a fresh pea soup served cold ($6/cup). The bright green concoction arrives in a tea cup and saucer, a smooth puree with whole green peas and a sprig of parsley floating on top. The flavours of the peas, fresh herbs and citrus are bright and intense, and the soup is creamy but very light. Refreshing and impressively full of flavour, this is a great summer soup.
The next dish to arrive is the handmade ricotta gnudi with spinach ($13). The gnudi, dumplings similar to gnocchi but made with ricotta rather than potato, are light, fluffy and melt-in-your-mouth. Prepared in a delicious and simple garlic-infused sauce of olive oil, tomatoes and spinach, this may be my favourite dish of the night.
Gnocchi poutine ($14), a combination of two very different classics, is too intriguing to pass up. It arrives steaming in a small cast iron skillet, and looks so delicious we can barely wait for it to cool. Replacing the expected fries with potato gnocchi makes this dish even richer than usual, and the dumplings are topped with melting cheese curds and salty oxtail gravy complete with tender, fatty pieces of the meat. Light fare this is not, but it is pure comfort food.
Octopus with chorizo, paprika and tomato ($13) is nicely cooked and fairly tender, sided with crispy pieces of buttery grilled bread, but it is the tomato sauce that makes this dish.
From the 'Indulge' section of the menu, arancini with saffron, chorizo and manchego ($12) is a take on the Italian dish of bread-crumb coated, fried rice balls, but with a Spanish twist. It arrives in the form of one golden fried ball in a pool of spicy tomato sauce. The crispy shell is filled with fragrant rice, gooey cheese and sausage, and the spice of the sauce compliments the flavours well.
The final dish to arrive is the flatbread ($16). Homemade dough baked to order is topped with tangy goat cheese, caramelized onions, arugula, raw mushrooms and lemon zest. A thinner, crispier crust would have made this dish even better, but the combination of the goat cheese and caramelized onions is very tasty and the freshness of the arugula and mushrooms make this is a light, hot-weather-friendly pizza.
We finish our meal with Gramma's Ontario strawberries with shortcake ($9 - top photo). This simple classic is decently prepared, but a little dry and bland in flavour. I'm not convinced my grandmother would approve. Compared to the rest of the meal, the dessert falls short of our expectations.
A passion for food is very evident in the unique offerings at Mildred's Temple Kitchen. The creative dishes showcase fresh ingredients and unexpected flavour pairings while maintaining a sense of comfort food. My friends and I leave the restaurant discussing all the items we would like to try the next time we visit, a definite sign of a good dining experience.
Photos by Taralyn Marshall
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Maybe the restaurant is doing unbelievably well even in these economic times that they don't need or want the business from everyone. I cannot even comment on their food because I never tasted it and even if I did then no matter how good the food would be, it wouldn't make up for the negative first impression the restaurant staff makes on you.
A group of us from different parts of GTA (some of us drove for over an hour) got together for a Sunday Brunch recently. We had heard so much about the place and were super-excited but the excitement died off very fast. The place was extremely cold not just temperature wise but service wise as well.
They have a ridiculous seating policy and extremely snooty/bitchy hostesses one of which was the manager. We were apalled at the lack of respect, politeness, customer service at this place inspite of our patience. They apparently don't seat you unless all of your party is present.....fine, that must be there policy but they neither state that on their website nor inform you about it on the phone i.e. if they even bother to pick up their phone and if by chance they do answer then god forbid if they even answer your queries with patience. Its easy to imagine what expression the person on the other end of the phone line has while they impatiently answer your call. In person, their impatience echoes with their phone demeanor.
They are like a factory conveyor belt that has to keep going. They are in such a rush to just keep filling the seats in their restaurant that they don't really care about the people who will fill those seats. Even if you are missing 2 people from your group of 7, they will not seat you. They cannot add two chairs to your table even though you have now been waiting for 2hrs. Nor will they give you a table with 2 extra chairs despite the fact that your 2 people are on their way trying hard to find the place since it is hard to find. They won't seat the 5 people present because they want the business of all the 7 people at the same time.....unbelievable. It's not like we are lying to get a table, afterall, what would we accomplish by hogging two empty chairs.
Then they have the nerve to give you a ridiculous argument that does not make sense at all. If your 2 people arrived late and you are done eating earlier, then you will be taking up those valuable 5 seats that other guests can use while you chat with your 2 friends who were late and are still dining. So we ask.....What if all 7 were there but ate slowly and just sat in those 7 seats chatting for 3hrs...then what? Well, the answer is "that is different"....how the heck is that different? What a ridiculous explanation/justification to support a crazy seating policy.
Finally, all 7 of us are there and we tell them that we are leaving and in return the manager just snobbishly says "Ok, I will cancel your table then".....excuse me, did we even have a damn table in the first place? If we did, then how come 5 out of the 7 of us were not seated.
A restaurant's product is it's food but it's basic purpose and duty is to provide good customer service because that is how it will attract business but then again like I said before maybe Mildred's does not need the business from everyone. I am a customer and I demand respect and good customer service and I don't think it is too much to ask for afterall isn't that the duty of a restaurant....why else would a person go to a restaurant on a freezing cold day after either being on the subway or driving for over an hour when they can cook or order in? I don't care how good the food is claimed to be, if the service is horrible then that place is not worth my time.
Maybe my friends and I do not fall in the clientele category that Mildred is catering to but I say Mildred's Temple is NOT a temple worth my worship....!!!!!
I've been to Mildred's and the staff were in fact snooty. in fact, we had all of our group there and still had to wait a long time to get a table, so I can sympathize with mildreads comment.
also, our server didn't look like he wanted to even be there! most of the people waiting for brunch were the 'condo crowd' type, which i guess what they want to cater to ? i wouldn't recommend this place to anyone.
As far at the seating goes, if you 2 of your people are late it's not the restaurants fault. Get angry at your friends for making you wait 2 hours. To be honest, I would have ditched them after 20 minutes. Trust me the pancakes you missed out on are heavenly.
I certainly hope abc doesn't work there with a comment like "A restaurant's product is its food and they don't have a duty to provide good customer service". Any business will not last long without it!
If you refer to their website there are comments like "served with pleasure" "offers warmth, great service and culinary memories" Maybe everyone there should be retrained in the corporate philosophy they are presenting to the public.
Hope I'm pleasantly surprised this evening and I can give a postitive report!
As for not seating you until your entire party is there- that's nothing new. Dr. Generosity, Eggspectations, and many other restaurants have the same policy. The first poster in this thread is ridiculous and obviously doesn't get out much.
Wow!! - I hope that you are not typical Torontonians. I recently travelled to Toronto and used some of my hard earned money to eat at this restaurant and this is the complete opposite of my experience. You clearly don't get out much! Maybe it is people like you that give Toronto a bad name in the rest of Canada. Go Mildred!
It was a horrible experience. I was taken there on a date and could not believe how bad the service was. When my gentleman friend finally waved over a server we were treated like dirt. Which coincidentally matched that flavour of the food, dirt.
The only good part of the evening was that I was able to see his better character in handling a truly abysmal situation and being forced to pay for it.
Never will either of us set foot in there again.
It was a horrible experience. I was taken there on a date and could not believe how bad the service was. When my gentleman friend finally waved over a server we were treated like dirt. Which coincidentally matched that flavour of the food, dirt.
The only good part of the evening was that I was able to see his better character in handling a truly abysmal situation and being forced to pay for it.
Never will either of us set foot in there again.
I love going to their brunch... mmmm... amazing food!
Now I have a problem... how do I get rid of my condo crowd look!
And yes, restaurants are not just about the food, but it's the customer service and the EXPERIENCE as well. That is the restaurant formula. Don't be in denial.
however, I live on Queen and often make the short trek down to Mildreds' for dinner. patio is great and service has never been off. I guess for some peopleit is, but service for me is always reliable. And yes...the gnocchi poutine tastes even better than it looks! Great pictures blogTO.
I suspect that the original negative comment was by someone who's basically rallying the troops to come in and add to the bashing of the restaurant. Just figured I'd weigh in on the other side. In fact, I think I may go there for dinner tonight.
I'm tempted by the review, and not at all put off by MilDREAD - this is the reality of urban life. The more tightly packed you are, the more social conventions you have to deal with that.
A restaurant is not a public library or your living room. You can't expect to sit in one for hours, flapping your gums for free.
Alison D., your food tasted like dirt? Really? Have you ever tasted dirt?
We're not particularly impressive-looking people either -- just a couple of university students. Who knows, maybe it's because we don't shun alcohol with our discount meals, and we tip well?
Long live Mildred's Temple Kitchen
On service, I once had a great time there since my friend and I were in for a late dinner on a slow night. The service was good and all the food I ordered seemed to be great, yet my friend wasn't really impressed with her choices. Fast forward to a busy Saturday brunch hour where the food took ages to come and my credit card disappeared for a good ten minutes which left me fuming!!!
As a result I don't go there anymore, its not really worth it to me. Dining out is not only about the food, there are a million other places that serve delicious creative food with an attention to the overall experience. I wouldn't go out of my way to discourage anyone to eat at Mildred's but I can speak for my standards and this restaurant does not make the cut.
www.excellenttoilets.com
The tea pots had no lids and off course the tea was cold the coffee was cold as well we had to send it all back they ran out of teaspoons and asked if we could use a soup spoon to stir our coffee, the food was not good at all the potatoes on our plate with our eggs were fridge cold I am not kidding what a dissappointment and we were treating our kids who was visiting from out of town this was an expensive brunch and very, very dissappointing.
Yeah, that's believable.
well guys.. not complaining.. because Mildred is closing!!!
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You're an idiot.
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Mildred's clearly gets a lot of flack for the service - something I will relay to the staff - however on a FOOD blog, the focus should be on the cuisine. I understand service is part of the eating experience, but bitching about your absent server shouldn't eclipse the fact that the food is delicious.
The previous Chef made the core menu with Donna (owner) before the launch, and it's taking the new Chef until now to make changes. The pancakes have not changed (they are WONDERFUL), but the current talent is trying to sway Donna to be a little more creative. She's not easy to convince.
Of course the resto has problems - anyone in the industry knows and understands the more scandalous side of the profession - but they are doing what they can in this fickle business to please the masses.
If you are a snobby "foodie" (who actually knows next to nothing about real food) and want to waste your time bitching about service and recommending patrons go somewhere else, it's your prerogative.
The rest of you (who have a genuine affinity for excellent ingredients in non-pretentious dishes) PLEASE visit. In the food, you will not be disappointed.
The service was actually the best part of the evening (and that's saying something because the food was great). Maia - she's the perfect server. Smart, funny and insightful.
Definitely check it out.
Went for brunch and had Veda's choice which was amazing.
The server on the other hand didn't bring milk with the coffee, when we asked for sugar she brought over empty packets from another table and continuously made faces at our table. Very unpleasant and rude server, seems as though she felt she was too good to work there.
Hopefully management can hire better servers because the food was great!
It is bizarre that so many people have so many strong feelings for a restaurant that in all honesty does not have much soul to it. The childish comments on here from people who either claim to be foodies or are " so city/urban " that the place is good is simply wrong. Yu don't know what you are talking about. Also there is no need to insult people (unless you are creative with it as I am insulting you and your intelligence) because they don't share your option of a restaurant. Small minded Torontonians thinking this place is the centre of the universe or staff, as it appears, sticking up for themselves. In the big picture Toronto is not a great place for food and this restaurant is a prime example of that.
I have tried it on 2 occasions as the first time I went I was hoping it was a one off poor effort but I was sadly was let down horribly both times. I can honestly say I wont be going back or recommending it to anyone.
Also the service was horrible and to the people who claim service isn't involved in a eating experience you are living in an ignorant little bubble that and not in touch with the quality restaurants in Toronto and the rest of the world. You probably don't eat out that often at good restaurants. Seriously, if you are that foolish/uncultured or uneducated in the ways of fine dining or even good food and food experiences, please continue to go there as I will be pleased to know that you are all contained in one restaurant, as a result I will not need to be around you.
One last point regarding not seating your potential customers. Not seating a party when a couple of members are missing is foolish, but so is waiting 2 hrs (sorry as I feel your pain), you should have left as soon as the words left the hosts mouth.