Pick yer fish dish a hit
Forget ‘today’s special’ — at Honest Weight restaurant, the choice is up to you
It’s a common thing on many menus: that small disclaimer at the bottom that reads “no substitutions.”
And it can be annoying for so many reasons — diet restrictions, taste preferences — and, says restaurateur Victoria Bazan, “control.” “People like to feel in control.” Especially when it comes to their food.
That’s why Bazan believes the Pick Yer Fish dish at Honest Weight, the year-old restaurant and retail fishmonger she co-owns, is so popular.
Between 60 to 80 customers pick their catch every week at this unassuming eatery at 2766 Dundas St. W. in the Junction.
It invokes a maritime vibe with rustic tables of shiny blond wood and sun that blasts through the large front windows, pinging off all the stemware in sight.
Of course, you can eat in. Or, take your cooked catch to go.
Customers delight in choosing the star ingredient of the meal, Bazan says. They gaze into the glass case, which brims with a variety of raw fish.
The offerings change frequently, staff say, depending on what’s fresh, good quality, as local as can be in “landlocked” Toronto and sourced as ethically as possible. “As long as we stand by the farming and fishing methods, we’ll stock it,” says executive chef Jason Brown.
Honest’s salmon is from P.E.I., for instance, from a farm that ensures no runoff of fertilizer into the ocean, Brown says. And, Honest Weight won’t stock monkfish because there’s something fishy about how it’s caught or farmed and how much of it is caught, he says.
All seriousness aside, Honest Weight’s concept was forged around the time Bazan and business partner John Bil decided to open the restaurant. The Pick Yer Fish dish was “kind of an obvious thing to do,” she says, because half the space is devoted to retail — with customers popping in to purchase fish to cook at home. The business’s unorthodox approach to ordering extends to the “menu,” which doesn’t really exist but is displayed on mini chalkboards above the bar.
Chef Kenneth Gilmore says this approach eases the customer into Honest Weight’s different way to dine.
If customers are overwhelmed by the choices — the day I went the selection included crustaceans, crab legs, shrimp, trout, char, salmon, tuna, cod and others — staff will talk them through it.
And, when it comes to cooking the fish you pick, it’s all about keeping it simple. The Arctic char I chose was seasoned with salt and pepper, seared skin side down and baked in a hot oven with a pat of butter lubricating it to extreme crisp yumminess.
The pink flesh was supple — and perfect. It was served with seasonal veg — garlicky sautéed rapini and smashed potatoes that were both rustic and creamy — yet understated. They let the fish shine.
Just as I like it.
“You come in and tell us what you’d like to eat and we’ll make it for you,” Bazan says. “As long as it’s fish!” Got an idea for Sourced? Email mhenry@thestar.ca.