Kukum Kitchen will win you over
Kukum Kitchen (out of 4) Address: 581 Mt. Pleasant Rd. (at Manor Rd.), 416-5192638, kukum-kitchen.com Chef: Joseph Shawana Hours: Wednesday to Saturday, 5 to 9 p.m. Reservations: Yes Wheelchair access: No Price: Dinner for two with wine, tax and tip: $100
We need more restaurants like Kukum Kitchen.
Kukum serves Indigenous food. I can count on one hand — NishDish, Pow Wow Café, Tea N Bannock and the now-closed Keriwa Café — such places in a city that otherwise prides itself on the diversity of its cuisines.
Kukum represents a much-needed point of view, both culinary and culturally. Chef Joseph Shawana, who grew up on the Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve on Manitoulin Island, shares his heritage through his new Davisville restaurant.
And it’s good. If the interesting food doesn’t win you over, the charming service will. The vibe Kukum, pronounced KO-kuhm, means “grandmother” in Cree. Shawana’s own grandmother is painted on the wall with his mother and mother-in-law.
Other such touches contribute to the room’s personality. The former Moguette Bistro now sports wooden chandeliers and handwoven table runners by Indigo Arrows in Winnipeg.
Cree as well as English marks the bathroom doors. The bill, when it comes, is weighted down with a chunk of iron pyrite.
First, though, is the welcome provided by Cocktail 2 ($14). It balances the vinegar from the cranberry shrub base with spicy fresh ginger, bracing cedar and the native botanicals in Ungava gin. Seal here Kukum serves food we won’t find elsewhere. Foods like lawfully hunted harp seal from northern Quebec and Labrador. As tartare ($20), its bruise-purple colour is more impressive than its mild taste. In the Arctic trio ($22), it is outshone by smoked char and marinated salmon.
Foraged cattail hearts, fiddleheads and milkweed pods ($16) are another distinction. Their brines reinforce Shawana’s commitment to gastronomy, as does his use of artisanal dishware and edible flowers.
There is also bannock, long golden slices of Indigenous bread that here resembles soda bread crossed with focaccia. A dark purple version is stained with blueberries. Tame game When it comes to mains, halibut ($22) is huge and meaty. Venison chops ($28) are a bit dry. Farmed elk ($26) chops are taken off the bone and cooked medi- um well, tasting like roast beef more than game.
Pheasant stew ($20) is unexpectedly yellow thanks to puréed squash. It’s a lovely bistro-style dish, fragrant with thyme and white wine and holding soft cubes of celeriac.
Root vegetables deserve a shout-out. Think onion purée as sweet as candy or the sophistication of Jerusalem artichoke velouté. There are crisp potato threads and soft baby turnips, melt-in-the-mouth parsnips and puffy fingerling potatoes. Limp finish After that vegetable finesse, desserts are a letdown.
Not the cedar tea, a free mug of evergreen essence the server tells us is sacred. It makes a fine digestive.
But crème brûlée ($10) infused with sweet grass — like cedar, an important Indigenous medicine — has the texture of scrambled eggs. Saskatoon berry ice cream ($12) is a big scoop of cold, with little flavour. Apple beignets ($10) are dark and hard.
Better the kitchen moved its berry salad appetizer ($12) to the dessert section. Then Kukum could impress us coming and going. apataki@thestar.ca, @amypataki