Restaurant review: Ruby Watchco

As a big fan of Lynn Crawford on her Food Network show "Pitchin' In," I had long wanted to try out Ruby Watchco her family-style menu-free resto in Toronto's Leslieville.



For those of you who haven't seen the show Crawford takes us on a journey centred on one specific ingredient. She joins in the dirty jobs of feeding, harvesting, cleaning etc. then rewards those who taught her with a chef-made multi-course meal featuring said ingredient.

Needless to say, she's focused on local, seasonal food--and like on her show, diners have little choice in what they're treated to on any given night. The $49 four-course menus (salad, main, cheese pate and dessert) for each night of the week are set and posted on the website at the beginning of the week. Thus, this may not be the place for picky people or those with dietary restrictions (though they did prepare a separate plate of beef for my gluten-free friend).

Ruby Watchco specializes in comfort from the food to the setting to the hospitality. Our reservation was for nine, but our large table was still occupied and we waited about 10 minutes in the doorway. While this is an inconvenience to be sure, it's one I've become accustomed to in Toronto, and one that I thought would go unacknowledged.

But know the friendly co-owner Joey Skeir apologized and offered us a round of mimosas on the house to start off (though we ended up paying them back for that in the form of $16 glasses of wine!). With the interior designed by his wife Cherie Stinson, of Restaurant Makeover fame, Ruby Watchco (named after finding the sparkly sign that graces its back wall) is rustic and warm.

There were seven of us girls, and to start every two diners shared a salad of greens, frisse, fingerling potatoes, cucumber, dill, hen's egg and prosciutto in a not too heavy dressing that let the fresh ingredients sing. Even the hard boiled eggs tasted that much better than regular ones. It was accompanied by warm chive and cheddar biscuits.

Our main course came promptly after the salad. The meat du jour being a perfectly cooked strip loin with a stroganoff sauce. For our table of seven two of each dish were served and there was plenty, along with some leftovers.

The three sides were simple fall veggies but served in interesting ways with flavours that complimented one another. Charred broccoli in a lemon butter sauce, chunks of roasted butternut squash with a beet relish and a mash of apple and rutabaga (my favourite). 

Shortly after the cheese plate selection followed, a soft Quebec cheese with a carrot an orange marmalade. A quite generous wedge for each of us.

And last but certainly not least was perhaps my favourite part of the meal---a dessert of green tea poached pears with a vanilla marscapone filling and the cute addition of a mint leaf.

Overall, the experience here, while a bit of a splurge, was total comfort through and through. While it's a bit of a gamble, I'd say based on the meal we had, it was one that paid off.