Kickin' it Old Shul

They say, “Necessity is the mother of invention.” For Zane Caplansky, truer words may never have been spoken. Not a fan of what he considered sub par deli in Toronto he would pester friends to smuggle the good stuff back from Montreal. Not a long term solution Zane taught himself the centuries old art of curing meat and began making his own goodies. At first it was to satisfy his own palate. Eventually, at the behest of his friends, he opened a little spot in the Monarch Tavern. To say he was a hit doesn’t begin to scratch the surface. Eventually he’d outgrow the hotel and open his own place. I’d love to say that it was a run away smash hit but that doesn’t tell the story. Simply put, the review are mixed.

There has, perhaps, never been a restaurant that stirs up more passion than Caplansky's Deli in Toronto. For the most part, no one LIKES this place. They either love it or hate it with a heat of a thousand white hot suns. It's just about that simple. I have to admit, I do love the place. I’m not alone either. He’s got fans at the New York Times, Maxim and Gourmet Magazines and both John Catucci of You Gotta Eat Here and Guy Fieri and the Triple D gang have paid visits. He’s also featured in the David Sax book, Save the Deli.

Sitting just north of Toronto’s Kensington Market neighbourhood Caplansky’s is a beautiful place. Decked out in blue and white the corner unit reminds me of a circa 1940’s milk carton. The small patio is abuzz on summer nights and the whole restaurant nicely complements the trendy neighbourhood.

Inside is just as nice. A mismatch of tables and chairs complement the old school feel inside. The pressed tin ceiling was preserved and art deco lighting brighten the place. The large windows allow plenty of light during the day. It just has a nice warm yet utilitarian feel inside. In front where you wait to be seated you’ll find the “Trophy case.” Displaying the many dessert options available. Mid dining room there’s a counter where the meat is sliced and wares are sold. Always on patrol is Zane himself. Ebbing and flowing between the dining room to great guests and the kitchen in back.

So let’s get a look at what’s coming out of that kitchen. All sandwiches are served on near by Silverstein's bread and come with a Putter’s pickle.

They have a caddy on the table with your typical ketchup and mustard. They also have 4 of their (made in) house mustard varietals. All come in your standard mustard squeeze bottle.
Mild and Delicious: Yes it is.
Hot and Horseradish: This is really nice although I think a hint more horseradish would improve it. That said, it may make it too much like the next one.
Super, Extra-Hot Mustard: Wow!! This is not for beginners. Perhaps not quite to the level of Keens but in the same ballpark. It's everything you want from a hot deli mustard.
Honey Mustard: I really don't care for this one. I don't like the balance between honey and mustard. It's pretty much honey with some mustard. Not nearly enough to balance out the sweetness. I'd like more mustard than honey.

Being a Jewish deli you absolutely can’t have pork products. But, but bacon!!! Well don’t you worry, Zane is curing and smoking his own. From cow. Beef Bacon is really interesting. It’s got just about all the attributes of regular bacon but lacks the bold, assertiveness. I described it to my wife as “gentle bacon.” It’s just more subtle and delicate in flavour.

An often soup du jour is Bean with Bacon. More like a thick stew actually at first glance it looks like chili. Loaded with tomato gravy and beans with some meat. Just remove the cumin (an other chili seasonings) and you have this dish. It's very nice and homey and tasted great on a cold winter day. 

I'm somewhat torn with the Smoked Meat Poutine. Fries covered with cheese curd, topped with smoked meat simmered in gravy. Did I enjoy this dish?? Sure I did. It was tasty. Do I think I could've loved it?? I think so. First and foremost I don't like matchstick fries. Much like with pasta, the chunkier the sauce, the bigger the noodle needs to be. So a heftier fry would work better for me. Also, my favourite way to eat poutine is to let the cheese curds melt. Ya, the fries get a bit soggy but I like the trade off. The gravy here wasn't hot enough to melt the curds. It wasn't cold though, so don't misunderstand. And I just plain prefer regular poutine best.
For those that it matters to, the cheese curds had some squeak to them. For those who don't understand, poutine freaks rank curd squeak as one of the most important parts of the dish. Much like hot dog nuts are all about the snap of natural casings.

A recommendation by one of the wait staff is a combination of Pickled Tongue and Smoked Meat sandwich. First of all it's not like Montreal Smoked Meat. It's not supposed to be either. Caplansky's is doing their own style which I thoroughly enjoyed. Hand sliced it was so tender it pretty much fell apart. As did the tongue. This was a terrific sandwich. It came on that same basic rye and I added a good dose of the SEH mustard. It was smoky, beefy and rich. It was fantastic.

The Bingo is a Friday sandwich of the day. Slices of fried salami on an onion bun with slivered red onion and cheddar cheese. It came dressed with the honey mustard. Again, as with the other sandwiches, I added the SEH mustard and it knocked it out of the park. The griddling of the salami really gets the oils going and helps carry the flavour. I'd have liked to see more cheese but that's just a fine tuning detail.

Definitely my favourite sandwich is the Meatloaf. It comes on Ciabatta and you can get cheddar. Which I did. The meatloaf has smoked meat in it and is as good a meatloaf as you’ll find. The bold tomato flavour of the sauce is a great complement. My big concern is the bun would be too chewy and the guts would squish out the back. Not so, the tender bun is perfect and tasty to boot. I added a couple pieces of the cow bacon on half of it and while it was somewhat lost, the crunchiness added was nice.

The dessert (trophy) case is full of homemade goodies for your sweet tooth. I've had 3 options now and they've all been great.
Lemon Square: Rather like a square of Lemon Meringue Pie withouth the meringue. The crust is a bit like short bread which was fine. The curd was sturdy with a nice, but not puckeringly so, tartness that I loved.
Apple Crisp Pie: Among my favourite apple pies I’ve had. Bold with cinnamon just the way I like it.
Chocolate Cake: Let me just put it this way. If you love chocolate cake, you’ll love this.
Pecan Pie: It looks great in the case. A perfect looking pecan pie under a swirl of chocolate butter cream. It tastes great but sadly, when it’s heated that icing melts. I also found the chocolate distracts from the pie. It was good though I’d rather have the pie unadorned.

So there you have it folks. Fine old school deli served in a nice place.

You can find Caplansky’s at 356 College St. in Toronto, Ontario.

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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.


Well that’s all for now folks, see you next time in the food court.

Uncle Betty’s Diner (Toronto, On)

Eat Well and Smile

In 1950, die hard perfectionist and butcher Rudy DeSanti Sr. started offering donuts to his Dreesen's Excelsior Market clientele. So popular they were that people started shopping just for the donuts. "Hand made" by a robot they would gain such a following that Rudy Jr. started licensing establishments to not only sell Dreesen's Donuts but prepare them on site. The recipe and robot were sold all over the metro NYC area and eventually neighbouring counties and states. The robot would be displayed prominently and customers could watch their goodies made fresh before their eyes.
When Toronto ex-pats Rob Lewocz and Samara Melanson returned home from a  life in New York City there were two things they missed. Dreesen's Donuts and the neighbourhood diner. Face with the reality that those two things were sparse to unavailable they decided to fill their particular void. In spring of 2011 they started second careers as restaurateurs and opened Uncle Betty's Diner. Named for Melanson's "Take charge, no guff" mother, Uncle Betty's is doing diner fare with it's own unique, gourmet twist. The menu is a blend of classics and nouveau diner foods featuring home made Twinkies, meatloaf, sloppy Joes and Toronto's first, Dreesen's Donuts. Hand made by their very own robot.

I had this on my “To do” list almost since it opened but for one reason or another I hadn’t made it. Then last week I saw it featured on “You Gotta Eat Here.” Canada’s spin on the very popular “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives. The grilled cheese sandwich looked far too good to resist. I made plans with a buddy and off we went.

On the outside there isn't much to talk about. It's a corner unit in a string of small mom and pop type shops on Toronto's famous Yonge St. The teal paint has it stand out from the rest of the Lawrence Park merchants.

Inside there's 60 some odd seats, a dessert station, counter and, of course the donut robot. The walls are fairly spartan and seem to be just waiting for autographed head shots and framed magazine articles. It's what a venerable old place looks like when it first opens I suspect.

In the kitchen they're doing stuff they way it should be done in a diner. In house. Practically everything is made on the premises and what isn't is top notch. Nathan's hot dogs, perhaps the best widely available dog around and Greg's premium, all natural ice cream are notable items.

Myself and JEB paid a lunch visit on a snowy Friday. While the weather reeked havoc with their 10am opening, once inside Rob treated us with gratitude for our patience. We were in turn rewarded with an excellent lunch.

So let's take a look at the food shall we.

The onion rings are really good. Panko breaded and served with Fancy Sauce they had a good taste and nice crunch. I prefer beer battered rings but these provided a nice change. Usually served with garlic aioli they subbed out the Fancy Sauce. House made it’s pretty much Thousand Island Dressing. A pretty nice match.

Quebec’s favourite street food, poutine, is given due justice here. A terrific gravy smothers cheese curd and shoe string fries. I’d prefer a heftier fry but these tasted very good so I won’t complain. The purists will deduct points for the lack of squeek in the curds but I prefer to let the dish sit so the curds start to melt. Ya, the fries get kinda soggy but they’re going to anyway, so why fight it. The cheesy, gravy goo is worth it.

Perhaps there’s no better hot dog on the planet than Nathan’s. At least, not that I’ve tried. It’s certainly the king of the grocery store brands. It should then come as no surprise that the Uncle Betty Dog was hit with me. Sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and garlic aioli are invited along for the ride. I would never have put mushrooms on a dog but here they fit right in. A great dog all in all.

The Chicken Fried Steak is not exactly traditional but close and quite good none the less. A nice crispy breading envelope a piece of (not cube) steak and smothered in a milky white gravy that’s got sauteed onion and mushroom. I’d prefer they leave those out but it was good with them. A delicious take but I must deduct points for the beading falling off.

The accompanying Mashed Potatoes are very nice. The gravy on here was much better suited. I like that the potatoes aren’t whipped so there’s little bits of unmashed tater. They say they shouldn’t be lumpy but I like ‘em better that way. These are some good.

One of Uncle Betty’s signature menu items is the Ultimate Grilled Cheese. Cheddar cheese glues this sandwich together and it needs adhesion. Stuffed inside is mac and cheese and meatloaf. A slice of great tasting old school M&C and slab meatloaf. On it’s own it was great. The workhorse kind like Ma used to make. The whole is better than that of it’s parts which is always a good thing.

We both had donut ice cream sandwiches for dessert. JEB’s was cappucino ice cream with toffee sprinkles. The ice cream was quite rich and creamy and the toffee added a bit of crunch and some more flavour. It’s wasn’t sickeningly sweet either which was nice.

My sandwich was malteezer flavoured ice cream and oreo cookie crumbs. The ice cream was a terrific flavour and I though was matched perfectly with the donut. The Oreo sprinkles on top punched up the chocolate flavour.

Another of their signature items is the Twinkie. Again, taking artistic license in the kitchen this is a chocolate cake log with whipped cream injected and topped with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Oh my. I need a moment. Ahhhhh.

As for those Dreesen's donuts....they're every bit as good as advertised. Cakey but not heavy and with a slight chew. I prefer the cinnamon sugar version but both are great. I took a bag home with me and even the next day they were still good. Straight off the line is certainly the way to go. Incidentally, they come in powdered or cinnamon sugar flavours.

So for some great diner food that’s sometimes old school, sometimes contemporary head to Uncle Betty’s.

You can find Uncle Betty’s at 2590 Yonge St. Toronto, Ontario.

 
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You can also find them on the web and facebook.


Well that’s all for now folks. See ya next time in the food court.
 

Davwud