Restaurants
The White Brick Kitchen
The White Brick Kitchen opened this past week at 641 Bloor, offering a casual setting for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch. Named for the white brick building facing Euclid, the former Eggsmart location is now home to this family owned eatery helmed by brothers Stephen and Matthew Howell.
These guys are mama's boys – and I mean that in the most wholesome and endearing way possible. It's only fitting that the menu is based on classic American comfort food. Stephen, the head chef tells me "if your mother used to make it, we'll serve something like it..." The concept is simple, "standard food done really well".
Both men are graduates of George Brown; Matthew, the general manager, studied hospitality management, and Stephen, culinary arts. Each seems well suited to their role; Matthew offers really warm and attentive service, Stephen brings the passion for food and experience. Having worked at The Stockyards and butchering for Rowe Farms and Beretta Organic Farms, Stephen is clearly a carnivore's ally and passionate about serving good food made from quality ingredients – the house-made sausages and cured meats are a testament.
Also on hand for service today are the Howell's parents and also another brother (there are four). The right atmosphere is here, but, it is definitely a credit to this warm family dynamic and not so much the decor. The builder's beige walls and tile floors lean more towards diner than family restaurant. The very focused, but casual menu evokes (for me) an eclectic, homey vibe, but here, the decor falls short of the concept. At only a week old, there is surely still room to grow and the space has good potential.
Lunch and dinner menus feature all the familiar classics; mac 'n cheese, tater tots, meatloaf and fried chicken. I'm excited to see Deviled Eggs ($4) on the menu, served with olive tapenade and fried onions. Today, we are here for brunch, but, already I'm plotting my next visit to try the Confit Turkey Club ($14) made with house cured bacon and brown butter sage mayo.
The brunch menu is divided into savoury and sweet. Staples like The Benny ($10) and The Classic ($8 for 2 eggs any style) are on offer, but we order some of the more unique items like, the Muffins and Gravy ($8). The sage sausage and cheddar gravy is super rich and served over a house-made english muffin with a side of homefries. This is total hangover food.
The Scotch-ish Egg ($9) is a playful vegetarian option and features two panko fried, semi-soft eggs on top a thick-cut baguette and finished with brown butter hollandaise. The accompanying arugula and aged provolone salad is tart and cuts the richness well.
On the sweet side, the Breakfast Custard ($7) is a nice twist on the standard yogurt (who eats yogurt when they go out for brunch anyway?) This dessert-like brunch offering features a creamy egg custard generously topped with fresh fruit and cinnamony, maple-honey oats.
The White Brick Kitchen bucks the trends that most restaurants aspire to. The point here is not to be the most trendy or original but instead, to appeal to the nostalgia of the past. These guys could perhaps benefit from a couple weeks to work out the kinks, but the menu seems solid and I can totally see neighbourhood residents embracing this good, old homestyle kitchen.
Liquor license is pending.
Photos by Stephani Buchman
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The sandwiches range from $12-14 (brisket burger, grilled cheese, confit turkey club, pork n pickles) and mains between $14-17 (meatloaf, fried chicken, pork chop). But there are many restaurants nearby that offer hearty, family-style Korean food (probably cooked by a Korean mama) for around $10-14 or less. And there's also Sky Blue Sky which has sammies for around $5. So I don't know how good I feel about paying $13 for a grilled cheese (that's higher than Cheesewerks) or $17 for fried chicken in a space that used to be an EggSmart and physically hasn't evolved much from what it was before.
But the menu items do sound really appealing and I love the idea of it being a homey restaurant that serves quality food. So theoretically, it could be a place I'd dine at as a local joint every other night, if only the price were right. Pour Boy is packed every night. Not saying their food is any good, but it does say a lot about the demographic of this neighborhood and what kind of establishments thrive here.
And considering the decor isn't great, I don't can't imagine a lot of people who don't live in the area wanting to go out of their way to come to Korea town to dine in a former EggSmart.
But welcome to the hood!
I'll definitely be going back for brunch soon :)
Side points: the staff were very friendly, love that they give you a jug of water so you don't have to keep bugging the waiter for it, and I'm not sure why everyone is complaining about the decor - I thought the place looked very clean and simple, which I like, and I'm sure they will improve on it at some point but they did just open.
The burger I had was seriously awesome. At $13 for the burger with fries, I was a little weary of dropping that much coin for what I was expecting to be a simple meal. A simple meal it was not. This was a burger forged to perfection. Within this burger takes place a war between simple elegant beefy goodness and exquisite, sweet, complex flavours. The fries were homey and crisp. The fry sauce had a smokey honey quality that paired well with both the fries and the burger.
All in all, I had a damn good time eating some fresh, house made food.
10/10 would munch again
I just had lunch there today and I will tell you, the food is worth the price. We were actually shocked at how low the prices were for the obvious quality of food received. We had the confit turkey club, pork & pickles, chili cheese fries and the daily side special of spicy garlic broccoli. All was wonderful and we will return.
Others are mentioning the decor... and it's true, it leaves something to be desired(!) But the friendly service made up for the sparse interior.
All in all, while some find the decor lacking, I find the humility of WBK refreshing -- attention is placed foremost on service, as well as the tightly edited, expertly wrought menu. I appreciate this absence of gimmickry and pretension in a city filled with too many restaurants reliant on flash, fashion, hype and misguided experimental menus! Again, modesty and quality are the dual tenets of the White Brick Kitchen, and I would recommend it to anybody looking for an undeniably delicious, comforting meal.
I really hope these guys can succeed but if they can't attract customers especially on a busy street with plenty of foot traffic how can you deny there isn't a problem of some sort.
Admittedly, at first I thought the prices were a bit of a splurge, but after the fact I've got to say that they're actually pretty reasonable considering the portions and quality.
My boyfriend and I tend towards trying something new every time we eat out, but with this place we were immediately planning our next visit. Can't wait to try the rest of the menu...
(*My working theory is that it's just because every ingredient is super fresh... and the homemade bacon probably takes it up a notch. That, or possibly WIZARDRY?)