I have found that Canyon, chef and owner Scott Kidd’s diminutive Edgemont Village eatery, glides nimbly into each new season, taking the best of what is available on the market and turning it into fare well suited to the weather outside.
On my most recent visit to this consistently solid North Shore room, said weather was frightful, with petulant little drops of rain falling sideways, creating chilly gutter rapids atop mounds of soggy leaves.
Against this hopelessly autumnal backdrop, I took comfort in the hearty dishes on offer at Canyon, drawn both from their regular menu and from their dinner specials list. I visited the restaurant with my friend Gil, with whom I have sadly endured a recent spate of mediocre meals around the city.
While he has been a frequent co-pilot on my reviews over the last couple of years, it had been a while since our last professional foray together and we were both ready for a really good meal. Canyon did not disappoint.
We were seated at a comfortable and spacious booth at the back of the room near the open kitchen, which was staffed with only two cooks who nevertheless managed to turn out meals for about 20 or so diners over the course of our visit. Gil and I were impressed with the speed and proficiency of the kitchen team and were left fully sated when our forks were finally set to rest for the final time that night.
At the outset of the evening, our server described three appetizers and three main specials, an ambitious set of features for a rainy weekday evening.
Each one sounded very appealing, making the meal selection process so challenging that it was a full half hour into our visit before we ordered. Specials ultimately not chosen by either of us included Lobster Bisque with seared scallops and prawns, Ling Cod Fish Cakes, and Beef Tenderloin with Gorgonzola Butter.
Gil began with an appetizer of Seared Scallops with prosciutto, pineapple salsa, arugula and treviso radicchio. When the dish arrived we both remarked on the size of this appetizer. Four giant, beautifully seared scallops, each separated by weighty coils of thinly sliced prosciutto, sat atop a significant bed of greens. I would not have batted an eyelash had I been served this dish as a main course elsewhere; at $16, it was great value.
The prosciutto was melt-in-the-mouth fresh and light and paired very well with the plump, rich and round scallops. The peppery rocket and bitter radicchio provided a great flavour and textural counterbalance, and the whole thing married well, Gil assured me, with a bottle of Anchor Steam beer.
For my first course I chose Grilled Mackerel with Fennel and Grapefruit Salad, with white anchovies and basil pistou. Once again, the dish was sizeable, featuring a hefty fillet of crispy-skinned, lightly seasoned mackerel, fresh and mild, on a generous salad of segmented pink grapefruit and mandarin orange with crispy shaved fennel.
Two delicately textured but pungent anchovies topped the mackerel and lent a welcome, heady intensity to the dish, while the smooth and fragrant pistou, presented as quenelles on either end of the plate, offered a nice do-it-yourself saucing option.
After much conflicted deliberation, I chose the evening’s special of Beef Bourguignon for my main, forfeiting other tempting dishes such as Duck Leg Confit with bacon and potato cake and Pan-seared Liver with onion rings from the regular menu.
While I have every reason to believe the road not chosen would have been rewarding, I was very happy with my selection, a not surprisingly large dish featuring three slowly cooked, fall-apart-if-you-even-say-the-word-fork medallions of beef resting in a deep, concentrated red wine braising stock.
Beautifully caramelized fingerling potatoes accompanied the dish, as well as tender carrots, bright green peas, Brussels sprouts and tart Cipollini onions. Bourguignon is a perfect fall dish and Canyon’s execution was spot-on; I highly recommend it if it is available when you visit.
Gil’s main, the Coq Au Vin from the regular menu, was similarly rustic, comforting and delicious with earthy notes of thyme scenting the wine-based braising stock, creamy garlic mashed potatoes, peas and Cippolini onions. We couldn’t resist ordering a basket of fries with truffle mayonnaise, an excellent side dish priced at only $4.
While completely superfluous to our needs, the fries were nevertheless delicious and served well as an additional means by which to soak up the gorgeous stock from both mains.
On the topic of superfluousness, Gil and I ordered dessert to cap off the evening. A simple Crème Brulée, suitably creamy and capped with the requisite torched sugar shell, was thoroughly enjoyable but was ultimately trumped by the other dessert, a dense, not overly sweet chocolate terrine topped with an absolutely phenomenal Chantilly cream.
The thick and velvety cream was flavoured with coffee and had a perfect, deliberate bitterness that was the ideal accompaniment for the chocolate; I’d happily take a dollop of that stuff in my morning coffee any day.
Our meal, including two beers and two cappuccinos, was $129 before tax and gratuity. Canyon is located at 3135 Edgemont Blvd., smack in the middle of Edgemont Village. 604-987-8812 thecanyon.ca
Chris Dagenais served as a manager for several restaurants downtown and on the North Shore. He can be reached via email at [email protected].
