Restaurants
Woodlot
Woodlot is a charming Canadian-inspired restaurant and bakery on Palmerston on the eastern edge of Little Italy that's gotten quite a bit of buzz since it opened in 2010. The name is a no-brainer — greeting you from the street is a woodshed and chopping block, no doubt to feed the beast that is their beautiful wood burning oven, where most of the kitchen's creations get their heat treatment.
Woodlot is the brainchild of Robyn Donio and David Haman, the latter of whom formerly helmed the kitchens at impressive Toronto institutions such as Noce, Lucien and Senses.
After being shot down (as a walk-in) more than once, I booked a table for a Saturday night about a month in advance. Service, much like the oven itself, is warm and engaging. We felt immediately at home upon arriving, and were pleased to find our table in the upstairs-loft waiting for us.
Menus are short and concise. Four starters, four mains, and a couple pastas and sides are offered. Of note, however, is the presence of a specific vegetarian menu, which substitutes ricotta stuffed squash and tofu and mushroom pie for meat courses on the regular menu. Why don't more restaurants do this?
Celebrating with friends gave me the opportunity to try the Ember Grilled Hen-o'-the-Woods Mushrooms ($13) as well as the Baked Caramelized Onion Soup ($11). The mushrooms were a glorified carb-rich salad, with wild rice, black walnut, mixed greens and a solid portion of somewhat squeaky mushrooms. It was perfectly seasoned, with just the right amount of balsamic and olive oil. The soup was rich rich rich, with oozy gruyere cheese, salty onions and their in-house made sourdough bread to soak it all up. The couple tastes I had of the soup were satisfying, and I noticed my partner struggle to finish it all before our mains arrived. It might be worth wearing your loose-fitting pants when making this particular trip.
I opted for the combo of a whey-fed pork chop ($26, see top photo) with brown bread and walnut sauce, whole prunes and chunks of briny bacon, to which I also added a side of roasted Brussels sprouts ($6) with bacon and juniper. The pork chop was magnificent, bone in, tender and drenched in sauce. The portions were huge, so sharing was easy.
I snagged half of my mate's giant Chicken and Porcini Mushroom Pie ($25) in exchange for some of my chop. While the buttery crust was delectable, notably absent in the pie were the aforementioned mushrooms. We took the crust off the whole pie to inspect and were disappointed, not a single fungi in sight. Oh well.
Meanwhile, the fan favourite would have to go to the naturally raised Flat Iron steak ($29). Cooked to a perfect medium rare and accompanied by black trumpet mushrooms (found em!) and drizzled in a creamy green béarnaise sauce, it was superb. This cut of beef deserves more attention than it gets. Pairing it with the Yukon gold potato and porcini gratin ($6) added a touch of sophistication to the comforting dish.
From the bar, Woodlot offers an extensive and well curated wine list, with selections that span mostly Canada and Italy. There's a heavy focus on "natural wines," — not necessarily organic, but ones in which the growers show respect for the fruit and land. Four beers are featured, three from Neustadt Springs and one Duggan`s IPA.
Woodlot was absolutely worth the wait. The food is solid verging on stellar, and although the service can be slow at times, the team more than makes up for it with their charming and convivial attentiveness.
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The feel of the restaurant is very homely, not in the least pretentious or yuppie. We ordered some wine and they brought a very generous helping of bread to the table. After a few minutes we each ordered a french onion soup and my friend had the gnocchi. Having grown up in the UK I opted for an old favourite; chicken and ham pot pie.
After what felt like a very short time our soup came, it was fantastic! To me the best french onion soup is that with the correct ratio of onion to bread to cheese and this was spot on. Really enjoyed it. Once our mains came, again, we dug in and both agreed that the food was superb.
Having dinned at most of the "hip" places in the city, I highly recommend checking out woodlot, just make sure you have a reservation, even on week night.
Everything about this place is perfect! Every dish is made so well with interesting flavours that clash in an amazingly delicious way. Everything they make is made their fresh including the pasta. The service is always amazing.
I suggest trying their cocktails, 2 oz of deliciousness.
I am not rich by any means but I would pay any amount for their food and drinks. 110% recommend.
And I believe they also make their own pop?
The food here is unpretentious in its simplicity, but god damn delicious. Seriously, make a reservation well in advance and try it for yourself.
Adjective:
(of a person) Unattractive in appearance.
**(of a place or surroundings) Simple but cozy and comfortable, as in one's own home.**
Maybe because they don't want the trouble of catering to the 5% of Vegetarian/Vegan/Who the HELL knows special diets of the loony left?
Dan, the "loony left" isn't responsible for your complete ignorance; I'm afraid that is entirely up to you. Some of us need a "special diet" in order to live. Be thankful you don't have that problem.
The waitress from the very start was incredibly condescending to everyone at my table, correcting our wine choices, speaking down to us when we asked how a meal was prepared. We let her know that we did not appreciate her attitude and as we were leaving she told us to "fuck right off".
Not only was the service AWFUL but the food was nothing at all what we expected. we had heard good things about this restaurant but for the prices they were asking the food was truly the pits.
I would not recommend this place to my worst enemy and i will be sure to let all my friends who frequently eat out to avoid this place like the plague!