Fine-dining chefs take on casual dining in Canada

Fine-dining chefs taking on casual dining
By Jana Mann
June 5, 2012

Few of us have been immune to the financial difficulties of the current economy. For many people, dining out has become more of a splurge than a necessity, which could’ve meant the kiss of death for fine-dining chefs around the country. But Datassential, a leading food industry market research company, has found one surprising effect of the economic downtown: the evolution of fast-casual food, with fine dining chefs becoming some of its newest and most influential key players.

Fuss-free sophistication, high-quality familiarity

In an industry once highly associated with lamp-heated food, monosyllabic ingredients, and kitschy décor, a revolution is occurring. Buzzwords like “fresh,” “organic,” and “all-natural” are becoming part of the vernacular. Food trucks have introduced new concepts like ethnic fusions to consumers. Brick-and-mortars are adding understated, rustic touches (think artfully designed chalkboard menus and retro-inspired furnishings) to create a cozy, classic feel.

According to Datassential MenuTrends, which stays on the cutting-edge of food-service news, high-end chefs in Canada are getting into the game as well, creating fast-casual restaurants that cater toward budget-conscious consumers while maintaining high quality and sophistication. They’re taking popular platforms, like sandwiches and Tex-Mex, and bringing them to the next level in the casual-dining realm.

For example, Rodney Bowers, former executive chef for upscale eateries The Citizen and The Rosebud, opened up a restaurant in Toronto called Hey Meatball! that serves a fancier meatball than one normally finds in casual dining, with ingredients like butter chicken, eggplant, ricotta, and veal. Another executive chef, Gord Martin (he runs Vancouver’s Bin 941 Tapas Parlour), started a seafood shop in Vancouver called Go Fish Ocean Emporium that features sandwiches like seared tuna with mango and wasabi mayo, and grilled oysters with nori and Japanese pickles. Go Fish’s rather nondescript exterior might fool passersby into thinking it’s a run-of-the-mill fish ‘n’ chips place, but the frequent long lines out the door suggest otherwise.

Burgers and sandwiches

Ensemble Tap, a mid-scale sit-down restaurant by Top Chef Canada winner Dale MacKay, sells burgers and sandwiches with named proteins (“AAA Kettle Ridge Hanger Steak” and “Fraser Valley Pork Chop”) and enticingly unique toppings like avocado mousse, smoked paprika mayo, and housemade sauerkraut. Chef Nick Hodge, owner of Montreal’s upscale Kitchenette, opened a Tex-Mex-style restaurant called Icehouse in Montreal in 2011. This mid-scale eatery’s menu includes dishes like lobster burritos, Dr. Pepper ribs, and crab-stuffed jalapenos. Icehouse is well-known for its extensive taco menu in particular, which features both vegetarian and meaty fillings: everything from Texas redfish and short ribs to sweet potato tempura and fried chicken.

The chart below lists a few more examples of the high-end, unique ingredients (highlighted in bold) you’ll find on these restaurants’ menus.

Restaurant	Location	Menu Item	Description
Hey Meatball!	Toronto	The Rodfather	Three pork-and-beef meatballs with basil, Grana Padano, and veal bolognese sauce
Go Fish Ocean Emporium	Vancouver	Clam Chowder	Clam chowder flavored with sweet chili sauce and miso
Go Fish Ocean Emporium	Vancouver	Salmon Sandwich	Grilled Wild Pacific salmon with organic greens and Japanese cucumbers
Ensemble Tap	Vancouver	Mussels and Fries	Thai curry broth, fresh cilantro, lime, Kennebeck fries
Ensemble Tap	Vancouver	Caesar Salad	Includes foccacia croutons, bacon, and Grana Padano parmesan
Icehouse	Montreal	Pulled Pork Tacos	Tacos stuffed with pulled pork, pickled watermelon, coriander-spiced pecans, and chicharrones (pork rinds)

Fancier meals at a fraction of the cost

Though Ensemble Tap and Icehouse fall into the mid-scale, sit-down category and have elevated price ranges compared to Hey Meatball! and Go Fish! ($9-$22 versus $10-15, respectively), they, too, are great examples of how Canadian chefs have brought fine-dining tastes to casual diners at cheaper prices. All four of them are making the fresh quality and focused menus of high-end restaurants a staple of fast-casual establishments in Canada.

What sets these restaurants apart from the pack is that their menu selections are innovative without reinventing the wheel. Unlike the mainstream offerings at fast-casuals and the adventurous fusions common on food truck menus, chef-casual restaurants take familiar dishes and enhance them with freshness, high quality, and skilled cooking techniques that have been honed in some of Canada’s most famous dining establishments. Just look at the difference in price between these chefs’ high-end restaurants and their new casual counterparts in the table below.

High-End Restaurant	Menu Item (Price)	Chef-Casual Restaurant	Menu Item (Price)
Kitchenette	Pulled Beef Taco ($12)	Icehouse	Fried Chicken Tacos (2 for $9)
Ensemble	Lobster Iceberg Salad ($17)	Ensemble Tap	Caesar Salad ($14)
Bin 941 Tapas Parlour	Ahi Tuna with Shitake Chow Mein ($17)	Go Fish Ocean Emporium	Seared Tuna Sandwich ($12)
The Rosebud	Grilled French Veal Chop ($25)	Hey Meatball!	The Rodfather (pork-and-beef meatballs) sandwich with a side dish ($11-12)

As the fast-casual category—and QSR in general—undergo this culinary revolution, the expectations and preferences of consumers are changing as well. Chef-casual restaurants give them the option of comfortable, modern atmospheres, small and focused menus, and a high-end approach to ingredients. As the trend extends, industry insider Datassential predicts that these elements distinguishing chef-casual from food trucks and fast-casual establishments, such as the purposely understated atmosphere and the reliance on higher quality ingredients, could start popping up into the other QSR sub-segments as well.

Thanks to Chefs Bowers, Martin, and others like them, even consumers on tighter budgets still have access to the merits of upscale dining. The ambiance is more casual and the price points are lower, but the fine-dining sensibilities remain true. Pretension and pressure aren’t on the menu – just top-notch food at prices today’s consumers can swallow.

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About the author

Jana Mann is Director of Menu Trends at Datassential based in Chicago, Illinois. Jana helps engineer, deploy, and manage a variety of consulting and research services. As the leader of Datassential’s cli-ent services team, she plays a key role in developing optimal, intelligent solutions. Jana brings with her extensive foodservice research experience, having helped manage various services during her six-year tenure with The NPD Group. Prior to that, Jana was responsible for sales and marketing duties at a division of Sara Lee Corporation. She holds an MBA with an emphasis on Marketing from DePaul University.

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