Restaurants
Triple A Bar
Triple A Bar opened up just over a week ago, and I'd dearly loved its previous incarnation as Laide. For this reason, I went prepared to dislike it (expecting a change in keeping with the increasingly condo-ified neighbourhood), but even from the outside, it looks inviting.
Unsurprisingly, Triple A already has regulars, and many of them are leftovers from Laide's 10-year run who know managers Racquel Youtzy and Tiz Pivetta (who also managed Laide) by name.
Why the shift to Triple A? "I got pregnant," Youtzy tells me, with an irrepressible smile, "and I had the best baby in the world." When it came time to return to work, she felt the need for something new; namely, to open up a comfortable neighbourhood restaurant and bar. "Tiz likes themes," Youtzy says and they settled on a Southern one. Within ten minutes of arriving and settling into a large back booth, we immediately lament that Triple A hadn't been transplanted closer to our neck of the woods.
Inside, you'll find a space entirely stripped of its former, borderline seedy appeal. What's left is an all-wood motif (dark, scuffed and convincing as a down-south saloon), with a long bar in the middle, high-and-low-table seating, and several intimate, leather-lined booths.
The lighting is dim, and provided almost exclusively by low-hanging, stand-alone bulbs. The few instances of brick are painted black, and a quote covers one wall: "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk; that'll teach you to keep your mouth shut," courtesy of the alcoholic bard himself, Hemingway. Black and white photos round out the well-worn atmosphere.
Seeing the selection of bourbon and tequila over the bar, I order a bourbon sour ($7), and it's spot-on. They're sold out of Creemore on our visit, but it's been replaced by Beau's Lug Tread ($7). Thanks to their direct draw taps (which has caused a bit of a delay with their draught beer), it tastes fresh and, I kid you not, better than usual.
Their food follows from their decor: Southern BBQ, smoked off-site. "Instead of pub food, we offer this food," Youtzy tells me. I'm a bit taken aback by its presentation. Arriving in molded tupperware-style containers lined with wax paper, the carb of choice is Wonder Bread. Yes, that Wonder Bread best known from crustless tuna sandwiches of yore. "It's not fancy," Youtzy says, "just soft and fabulous." I'd like to say that my palate is too sophisticated to enjoy this, but I love a nice, soft bread. Youtzy tells me that this is how it's served in Austin, Texas, and that piece upon piece meat is hunked down in front of you.
I choose a sweet creamed corn as a side for my pulled pork sandwich ($12), which arrives on a small WonderBread bun (almost a bloated slider), and is first smoked, then cooked, then mixed in its own jus, and topped with coleslaw. Again, it's a simple sandwich--especially to a lover of condiments such as myself--but the pulled pork is remarkably tender and moist, and in the end, needs no adornments.
For the smoked beef brisket ($15), we choose spicy coleslaw: crunchy, not too creamy, with just the right amount of spice to offset the richness of the brisket (which also arrives with two slices of WonderBread). It's a chance you take with brisket in general--some pieces are drier than others, but they all retain the essence of oak, over which they're smoked.
The prices are a bit steep--not for the quality of the food, but more for the portion size. We ordered fairly modestly, expecting heaps of meat, but three dishes for two people will do the trick without filling you up too much.
The Texas chili ($14) is the exception to this. The dish is not chili in the traditional sense (no beans); served with tortilla chips (which are replenished as needed) it's more of a dip-by-way-of-stew, brimming with spices, tender beef, and topped with a dollop of sour cream. It gives off a manageable, but blush-inducing bit of kick from it's considerable helping of ancho chilies. First, we scoop out what can be scooped with forks, and then we nurse what's left well into the night-they try several times to collect it, and we very nearly slap their hands away.
There was an instant sense of camaraderie (something about the honky-tonk and blues music brought back memories of a winter trip to Louisiana) that had me asking, what's next? Although there are no plans to expand the menu, they will maintain a rotating special. There are also murmurings of another venture from Youtzy, somewhere in the east-end.
Exterior shot courtesy of Triple A Bar
Discussion
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There certainly seems to be a growing number of smokehouses in Toronto though, that's a good thing.
Also I have no vested interested in this place one way or another, just had to share.
Ive been to Nashville a few times and any of the honky tonks along Broadway serve the food the exact same way. Its a good homage to how it is about down in TN. Obviously you cant recreate a Tootsies or The Stage, but its a fun idea nonetheless.
Looking forward to stopping in sometime soon!
traditional chili has no beans. try to put them in a texan's chili. i dare you.
:)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/01/world-chili-cook-off-beans_n_1928450.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbecue_in_Texas
"Slices of packaged white bread are often included with the barbecue."
I also didn't say anything about white bread - white bred.
The sentence I had issue with was:
"I guess some of you have never been to Memphis or Kansas for BBQ"
Sorry, thanks for coming out. You obvs know NOTHING about BBQ in either one of these three places.
Tomatoes and vinegar don't mix, so you're just takin' the piss .
Eating slices of white WonderBread out of **tupperware** in a place that looks scarier than a cellar in a horror film...and I bet I'd have to pay a hefty fee for the privilege of doing it.
"Authentic" or not...no thanks.
I popped by Thursday after work and was one of the first people there. The space is bigger than it looks in the pictures and rustic without being "cheezy country".. The bartender told me that the owners did all of the renos themselves even as far as making their own tables. I had a pint of Lug Tread from Beaus, they had 7 beers on tap mostly mainstream / local steamwhistle, tankhouse mill st organic etc...
The staff was friendly and not the young kids or hipsters most places hire they were what you would expect to find in a neighborhood place. By the time I got my food other people were starting to come in. It seemed to be a mix of people who knew the staff and locals from the area everything from guys in suits to a couple with a young child.
I decided to go with the brisket. I am not sure what the reviewer was thinking but the portion was not small, they said they give 1/2 pound and I believe it, I could hardly finish it with the slide of spicy coleslaw. It was rich and smokey and tender. Some peices were not a juicy as others but by no means dry and still tender.
I wish people would actually visit a restaurant before commenting on it as many things are different in person that what they appear as in pictures.
I'd give it another shot if they were to get a more expansive menu, maybe. Wish them success, in any case.