MEDINA AFTER DARK
Food and wine combine
We know Medina Cafe as the cool brunchy, lunchy restaurant where in normal times, you're lucky to score a table for the Middle East-inflected food and for the Liege-style waffles.
Kids seem to only notice the waffles: “They see me on the street and say, `Look, it's the waffle man,'” owner Robbie Kane says.
He's been waffling in another way. He and general manager/ sommelier Jenna Briscoe long had plans to open a wine bar, but spun their wheels. “It almost happened a couple of times,” Kane says.
When the pandemic hit and the bookings for private evening events as well as 13 Christmas parties vanished, they went into survival mode and powered up Medina After Dark — not a wine bar in a separate location they had planned, but close enough. Actually, I don't know if they could have found anything better. I love the room with its stratospheric ceiling, a hybrid of old Europe and clean modern.
Even better — who doesn't like a love story? Kane met his wife, a playwright and actor, thanks to the name of his restaurant. Her name, too, is Medina, and intrigued by the coincidence, she popped into the old Beatty Street location on a day Kane was there only to fill in for a no-show staffer and, well, they've been together for 12 years.
Medina After Dark is held Thursday to Saturday, a collaboration between chef Chris West's Middle Eastern sharing dishes and Briscoe's wine picks. The wood-fired oven is menu-central. “It's so wonderful that we spent $50,000 on another big one at Super Baba,” Kane says of the Middle Eastern casual spot he and some partners recently opened.
West, previously the chef at Homer Street Cafe, allows premium ingredients to do the heavy lifting, and sources from places like Sole Food Street Farms, Hannah Brook Farms, and Two Rivers Meats. And he's a regular at Jasmine Mediterranean Foods on Main Street to load up on spices.
The Medina After Dark menu is casual and homey, although the seared albacore tuna with olive and caper salsa with avocado purée and sumac ($14) could pass as fine dining. The tuna was silky and the accompaniments hit the right notes without taking over.
Broccolini, charred, served with tahini and sprinkled with sesame seeds and nutritional yeast ($12) gained a nice smokiness from the wood-fired oven. Halloumi, nestled in a cast-iron pan with harissa, green lentils, tomato, wilted greens and fennel ($14), was blasted in the wood oven and had a little spicy heat and a hint of sweet.
I loved the shredded braised lamb leg over a very nice bowl of hummus with pops of pomegranate seeds ($18). The meat took a two-day Mediterranean-spiced brine followed by a slow overnight braise with cinnamon, star anise and wine. The braising liquid, reduced to a syrup, was drizzled over the dish. So darn delicious! It came with flatbread, which I found too soft and pale, but it seems to be a matter of taste. It's chef West's preference. “I want it to stay moist and light and fluffy,” he says. On the other hand, the coca, a Spanish pizza with changing toppings, made with the same dough, was bronzed with bits of char.
For a bigger blast of meat, the grilled pork loin with romesco sauce and crispy potatoes ($24) is surprisingly moist and tender thanks to a sous vide treatment before a hot sear on the grill. And the lamb meatballs with tomato sauce and raita ($15) are delicious.
With the exception of the halloumi dish, the food on the menu travels well and can be ordered for pickup.
While there are craft beers on tap and a full bar with featured cocktails, the focus of the beverage program is wine. And what an intriguing list it is. Briscoe focuses not just on Mediterranean wines but on regions that rarely make it to restaurant lists, including Lebanon, Croatia, Greece, Corsica and Sardinia. These are wines that offer excellent value and complement the bold flavours of the dishes. “The No. 1 thing people comment on is that they didn't know Lebanon was a winemaking country,” she says.
There's happy hour, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., with a few Medina After Dark offerings. It's a switch-up from the happy hour which used to be from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and in pre-pandemic times, people dropped in for morning cocktails. Starting Dec. 13, the restaurant will have holiday gift boxes for sale, and on Dec. 23 and 24, a festive brunch kit for up to four people.
Medina sponsors an annual fundraiser for CLICK, which supports programs for inner-city kids and has raised more than $100,000. This year the pandemic intruded, but Kane would be grateful if you visit clicktokids. ca and make a donation to these vulnerable children.