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Local Guides
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THE BAUER KITCHEN
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by Andrew Coppolino
February 18 - 24, 2010 |
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The Bauer Kitchen
#102-187 King Street S,
Waterloo
519-772-0790
Open daily
Lunch for two: $50
Amuse bouche: Another strong addition to the Charcoal Group. The ambiance is warm while the atmosphere is hot. Lots of energy. Lots of activity. Form meets function in terms of retro–industrial décor meshing with upbeat vibe with young and old(er) chilling together. Best of all? Solid food from TBK’s kitchen. Why can’t downtown Kitchener have a venue like this?
Is there anything that the Charcoal group of restaurants doesn’t do well? To wit, the popular über–urban Wildcraft and W Bar; the varied swizzle sticks of cosmopolitan Martini’s; the Mediterranean del Dente; and the half–century flagship Charcoal Steak House. And now the Bauer Kitchen.
TBK has urban energy. I love the brownfield, old–factory reclamation, and concrete floors, repurposed wooden beams and old brick and pipes that form the restaurant’s bones. It’s a dynamic yet comfortable setting—you might even sit amidst cases of San Pellegrino water lined up adjacent to the bar.
Sidebar one: I dislike being forced to sling my coat on the back of my chair at a restaurant. So kudos to TBK for a gratis coat–check arrangement (and hardware washers as funky tokens to boot). Sidebar two: Hint to TBK—the ladies would like you to add purse hooks to the high–tops for convenience.
Service is generally fluid and competent, though on one visit there was some awkwardness in seating us at a row of high–tops alongside the bar. There were not candles in this section and it made it a bit tough to read the menus. Leave it to the Charcoal Group, though, to sort all of this out tout de suite.
As for the food, there’s a good energy emanating from the kitchen, lead by executive chef Michael Hodgson. They toss around several good thin crust pizzas (you can see the flames of the pizza oven doing their job from the dining room).
The arugula and prosciutto is a strong contender for my favourite—the salt touch from Mario Pingue’s charcuterie is stellar. Grilled eggplant is good too, but the pizza winner is duck confit: it came, I ate, I stopped to think: Is that apple? No, pear. It conquered. Thanks to nip of Stilton.
Short rib gnocchi with a touch of wilted spinach is good too. Pork tenderloin comes in a cast–iron pan and is cooked to rosy pink—perfect for pork. Veg chef just needed slightly more attention paid to undercooked onion.
Good, too, are crab cakes with a lemony aioli, as is crisp duck confit spring rolls with a balanced orange chili sauce. Retro bacon–wrapped scallops get a modernizing boost from chili–lime vinaigrette. A short rib ravioli is tender, pasta and beef both, and gets a kick from fried shallot. Nice move.
Born at San Francisco’s Meigg’s Wharf, briny and packed with nicely prepared seafood, daily soup cioppino (which startles me because I think my surname has been misspelled) is packed with seafood flavour. Just a touch more salt for seasoning, please.
At the end of the day—and at the end of the meal—service is always key. I’ve said it repeatedly in six years of critiquing restaurants in the region and adjacent areas: service excellence is paramount. There are only a few places in the region where that rings true, including Charcoal Steak House. That’s their métier, and it has meandered its way from Weber Street East to King Street South and TBK.
500 Word Lunch reviews are based on anonymous and unannounced visits to the establishments. Restaurants do not pay for any portion of the reviewer’s meal. Listen to “The Food Show” Sundays at noon on 570 All News Radio.
Andrew Coppolino can be reached at andrew@andrewcoppolino.com.
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