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| - Once a month, I get together with my high school English teacher Ms. B (yes, I was that nerd in high school). And since we both live to the East of the city, we usually don't venture downtown for our monthly gathering. Having tried most of the reputable restaurants in Durham, I was starting to get worried that I might be in a bit of a rut for restaurant choices. I stumbled across the Whitbylicious lineup and found 1847 Wine & Beer Bistro.
1847 doesn't have anything to do with its street address; it refers to the year. One of the first things you notice when you drive onto Baldwin Street in Brooklin, Ontario is how historic the buildings look. It gives the strip charm very much the same way Unionville does (although right now it looks more like a blizzard tore through it with all the ongoing construction). Many of the heritage buildings were built in 1847 and so the namesake pays homage to that. The restaurant itself is housed in 2 heritage buildings; one formerly a hardware store. In keeping with the overall theme, the furnishings consist of hardwood, antiques and vintage posters.
The wine list is regrettably short, but well-chosen. I personally enjoyed a class of Anselmi San Vincenzo, a white wine from Veneto, Italy which boasted exotic aromas of pineapple and peach without actually being sweet. A healthy selection of craft beers is available, including the newish Northwinds Brewery from Collingwood, ON.
The food can be described as "Canadian-inspired" with a French flair, reflecting the cultural roots of executive chef Rob Marchand.
We didn't end up ordering off the prix fixe menu as we felt the food choices were limited so we just ordered à la carte.
Escargots ($11). "Bourguignon" garlic butter, flat leaf parsley, Chardonnay wine.
Definitely not the presentation I was expecting, but nonetheless tasty. You can't really screw up a dish that is drenched in butter. It was extra-garlicky so I wouldn't advise you order this if you're on a date. It almost guarantees you won't be getting a goodnight kiss.
Goat Cheese ($13). Pistashio-crusted herbed Ontario goat cheese, local beet pavé and walnut apple slaw.
Goat cheese lover's will embrace this dish because there is a pretty generous serving of it. The beets are slightly cooked and reduce some of the tartness of the goat cheese and the Granny Smith slaw adds a great bit of crunch.
Pork Tenderloin ($20). Herbed Ontario pork tenderloin with a red wine Woodland mushroom sauce and Yukon Gold potato latke.
I myself generally shy away from pork (unless it's pork belly or Porchetta) because I find they're usually bland and one-dimensional. The pork tenderloin here was a pleasant surprise as the jus and mushrooms gave it more character and flavor than just having a "milky" flavor to it.
Foie gras and sage stuffed chicken ($25). Chardonnay rosemary pan jus, butternut squash risotto.
While I would've much preferred duck; I'm glad it was chicken because otherwise this giant plate of risotto would've been much, much too heavy. The chicken was perfectly browned and the pan jus made for a rich risotto. The butternut squash thickened the risotto without adding weight. I could only finish half of the half chicken but it made for tasty leftovers the next day.
Lindt Chocolate Terrine ($8). Chocolate truffle bar with vanilla ice cream and raspberry coulis.
The undisputed best part of our meal. The truffle "bar" was luscious and went perfect with my espresso. It was almost the texture of cheesecake, sans the fromage and was velvety smooth. The raspberry coulis did a nice job of cutting through some of the richness of this dessert and who can say no to ice cream?
Overall, an enjoyable meal at 1847. While it doesn't compare to restaurants in the downtown core, I enjoyed the ambiance and the food is at least trying to be "downtown" which is often difficult in the suburbs where diners may be more harder to entice to branch out in culinary adventure. Portion sizes definitely need some down-sizing but the food was yummy (even sans finesse of fancy plating and abstract techniques). Classic is the word I'd use to describe it. Definitely worth trying if you are in the area, but nothing to drive up for. My go-to restaurant in Durham is still KB Food.
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