WAKEFIELD’S NIKOSI BISTRO PUB DISTINCTIVE AND UNCOMPLICATED
A week ago, we got a jump on the long weekend by spending Friday afternoon in Wakefield. Some time kayaking on the Gatineau River would do us good, my wife and I thought. But first, we had lunch at Nikosi Bistro Pub.
In early 2017, this casual spot was opened by Wapokunie Riel-Lachapelle, who grew up in Wakefield. She went out west and worked in restaurants for a time, but eventually returned and launched Nikosi, where the fare is simple and from-scratch. Fish and game meat frequently star on Nikosi’s plates, and Riel-Lachapelle told me when we chatted on the phone this year that she makes a connection between the food she serves and her Métis heritage.
We ate on Nikosi’s river-facing patio, shielded from the blazing sun by big umbrellas. My wife and I enjoyed our starter of smoked salmon ($18), served on thin wedges of house-made bannock bread. The fish was luscious and maple-tinged, while fried capers added a salty pop and the side salad was fresh.
Two generously portioned mains followed. My boar burger ($20) was heftily meaty and fully loaded with caramelized onions, maple-sweetened mushrooms, bacon, aged cheddar and maple-garlic aioli. With some fine fries and a heap of salad, my order amounted to lunch and then some.
My wife, who can never get too much salmon, thought her barbecued salmon ($24), which came with the same fries and salad that I received, was just a touch too dry, but nicely flavoured. She too had leftovers, and we combined everything into a container that Riel-Lachapelle graciously kept in Nikosi’s fridge until we came back after kayaking.
At another lunch earlier this summer, a friend and I spent some time perusing Nikosi’s cocktail menu. The $10 options intrigued us, from the black currant margarita to a smokey Caesar to the “électrique powwow” made with Chic-Choc spiced rum from Quebec’s Eastern Townships, ginger ale, lime juice, berries and mint.
At Nikosi, the negroni is Canadianized with a bit of spruce reduction. I don’t know if Anthony Bourdain would have approved of this tweak of his favourite, potent, Italian cocktail, but I did.
After that drink came a mound of elk tartare ($17), which was lean, quite mild of flavour and enhanced with pickled mushrooms and Parmesan. While its seasoning could have been more bold, the tartare nonetheless disappeared quickly as we scooped the stuff up with bannock crostini.
The two main courses at that lunch were pleasant enough, but needed a bit more finesse to sparkle as they might have. Chunks of duck breast ($27) had an admirably crisp exterior, but were otherwise overcooked. Wilted kale, pickled blueberries and crisp potatoes made up somewhat for that flaw.
Pickerel, the day’s fish special ($24), was fried straightforwardly, but let down by the mix of wild rice and veg on the side, which did very little for me.
Last winter, I also ate twice inside Nikosi’s rustic, woody dining room that seats about 40. Then, some of the cooking was uneven. There was a flank steak ($27) that was fine, but the fries with them were the opposite of crisp. Confit duck wings with house-made barbecue sauce ($17), which remain on the summer menu, were under-seasoned and flaccid-skinned.
Better was Nikosi’s grilled cheese ($19), a still-available deluxe bannock-based sandwich made with some of the kitchen’s go-to ingredients (caramelized onions, maple-sweetened mushrooms, aged cheddar, spinach, maple-garlic aioli) along with chunks of duck sausage.
Duck sausage, spinach, caramelized onions and maple-sweetened mushrooms also turned in last winter’s rib-sticking mac and cheese, which was topped with a rich mornay sauce ($20). I look forward to having this dish again when the weather turns cold.
I’ve only had one dessert at Nikosi — a slice of salted caramel cheesecake that did the trick even if it wasn’t made in house.
When I spoke to Riel-Lachapelle, she told me that while she had a hand in developing the recipes at Nikosi, she is more of a do-everything general manager who has left the kitchen in other hands.
Her father, a keen hunter and fisherman, was a good cook, she continued. “I didn’t realized back then how lucky I was,” Riel-Lachapelle said. “Growing up ... that impacted my life and my appreciation of food.”
Nikosi Bistro Pub, then, is an uncomplicated but distinctive eatery of which its owner and her father can be proud.