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| - Ok Greg C. this one's for you! I could wait no longer to meet up to finally check out the Gilead to discover for ourselves if the guru of the local food movement still had his mojo working. I know that Chef Kennedy has had a few ups and downs over the past couple of years, perhaps expanding way too quickly and effectively watering down his personal trademark that garnered his reputation.
I believe that that Gilead has really become the sanctuary that JK has turned to refocus on what made his brand so damn good in the first place. He, much like chefs such as Mark McEwan, David Adjey, Roger Mooking. and the king of them, Susur, become larger than life when flooded by the corporate greed of backers who want to ride their culinary coat tails. I'm quite sure it's not easy to resist that lure but when they fall, they fall hard.
Jamie Kennedy cleared the dishes off my table all three times I have dined at the Gilead. He seems so much more relaxed than the Jamie Kennedy I met at the Gardiner one afternoon. He cooks. He waits tables. He works side by side with his staff and you can see this all unfolding in front of the patrons who dine here. It is almost impossible not to feel the food vibe wafting out of the kitchen. I think what has really happened is that by going back, up close and personal to the people, when they get fed by Chef Kennedy and he picks up their plates, they in turn, feed him. The human condition of food that transpires between the creator and recipient is transcendental, ultimately becoming the X factor in Chef Kennedy finding his food legs once again. We are all the better for it.
I think what we are seeing here is something I refer to as the "counter connectivity". In the old days, in cafes & diners, we'd sit up at the counter, the cook would be in front of us or at the very least in our sight line. Their passion to cook was fed by the up close reactions of us sitting up at their counter, eating their food, feeling satisfied and sharing those feelings.
The Gilead menu is basic, seasonal, driven by what can sourced locally and ethically. I've tried most of the things on the chalkboard menu. I've been here both in the daytime and in the evening. There isn't any pretentiousness here in this cafe. The staff are friendly. The dinner menu is small, hand written then copied for the tables. Daytime service is walk up, order, sit down then delivered. Dinner service, which starts at 5:30 p.m. is all table service.
My food highlights have included a Pulled Lamb Poutine with Montforte Dairy curds and a lamb jus. Double smoked Berkshire bacon sandwich on thinly sliced bread and salad with Soiled Reputation greens and scapes. I'm fairly certain I could eat in this little cafe daily and never tire of its menu or of the comfort it has afforded on some very hectic days of my life. The fries are as good as ever and yes, the spuds are grown on the Kennedy farm.
I like the Gilead. This is a place that I would comfortably dine all by myself and that, in of itself, speaks volumes.
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