Beer taps pour gold in city’s once-dry Junction
Indie Ale House K (out of 4) GOOD
Address: 2876 Dundas St. W. (at Keele St.), 416-760-9690, indiealehouse.com Chef: Patrick Fraser
Hours: Monday, 5 to midnight; Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 1 a.m.; Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sunday dinner, 5 to 10 p.m. Reservations: Sunday brunch only Wheelchair access: Yes Price: Dinner for two with beer, tax and tip: $50 The Indie Ale House says it’s all about the beer.
“We are a brewery first and foremost. There are very few breweries in town and lots of restaurants,” says owner Jason Fisher, who compares himself to Bellwoods Brewery.
Indie has a beer retail corner up front and copper vats in back. Friday nights it’s hard to push one’s way to the long wooden bar through throngs of thirsty Junction residents who like the quirky beer selections; they’re turning away 150 people each weekend.
Be that as it may, from my perspective on a plump banquette with a plate of take-notice smoked chicken wings ($9), Indie sure looks — and tastes — like a restaurant.
Open since Oct. 4, it looks like most other new Toronto restaurants, with its brick walls, vintage lamps and tin ceiling. What’s different is the sheer length and height of the room. The O Broth
er, Where Art Thou? soundtrack plays low enough to let you hear nearby debates on Samuel Adams vs. Muskoka Brewery.
Chef Patrick Fraser (ex-Chiado, Salt Wine Bar) builds his largely classic bar menu around a gasfired pizza oven and his smoker, with a few pleasant surprises.
The popcorn ($3) is one, seasoned with parmesan, chopped sage and — this is the killer — butter whipped with the drippings from his smoked pork shoulder. (Pulled and tangy, the shoulder piles up nicely in a Cob’s Bakery bun for $13.)
Fraser tried a dozen spice-fat combinations before alighting on this one. The cheese makes itself known by the third handful (and believe me, there will be more).
Too bad it’s served in a paper bag. When the server puts it down without explanation, I think she’s mistakenly delivered someone else’s takeout. Fraser is looking for an alternative.
The quality of ingredients is another surprise. There are no freezer foods; the kitchen stocks organic or local products, such as the fresh mozzarella and artisanal pepperoni — less angry looking and packing more blackpepper heat than commercial pepperoni — from Dolce Lucano butcher in Woodbridge. Fraser deep-fries cubes of the mozzarella ($6) to serve with basil-inflected marinara and a well-dressed baby arugula salad.
There are other unexpected touches, like the fried parsnip chips used as garnish or the Strub’s kosher dills on the sandwiches. There’s even a kids’ menu that offers whipping cream-enriched macaroni and cheese ($6) in a cute red casserole.
It’s largely plain food, designed to complement the beer. The cheeseburger ($12) is stripped down to just ketchup, no tomato or lettuce. The homemade patty — ground from brisket, short ribs, chuck and top sirloin — is smashed on the grill to create telltale ragged edges; its crust is dark and highly seasoned.
The rosemary-flecked fries are good on their own. They deserve better than a blob of habanerogoosed chili ($9). Like a bad marriage, french fries and chili fail to communicate.
Similarly, Indie’s pizzas don’t achieve the high standards of Vesuvio’s down the street. The crust is chewy, wonkily shaped and unpleasantly heavy on the cornmeal along the bottom. Then again, Vesuvio’s doesn’t serve high-alcohol beers with witty names.
Also in the minus column, the barmaids have little grace when waiting tables and there’s a near total lack of dessert, save for a scoop of crystallized ice cream plopped into a pint of porter.
Overall, though, Indie is pretty convincing for a non-restaurant.