Quatrefoil

Since opening its doors in May 2010, this establishment has been recognized as a special place. Within months of opening, En Route (Air Canada’s inflight magazine) had already ranked it one of the top 10 best new restaurants in the country.

Quatrefoil is housed in an historical building in downtown Dundas, with its gothic revival architecture dating from the 1860s. Its elegant setting includes a fenced patio that makes it almost feel like a peaceful country retreat.

The medieval reference does not end with the building’s gothic theme but also with the chosen name: Quatrefoil is a play on the French trèfle à quatre feuilles (four-leaf clover). It is said that each leaf means something: faith, hope, love, and luck.

Georgina (Gina) and Fraser are the founders and proprietors of this establishment. As customary in husband-and-wife teams, the division of labour is straightforward. In this case, Gina manages the front of house and Fraser the kitchen.

Following in French tradition

A little digression is required here for French cooking reference purposes and to enlighten us as to their professional background and influences.

Classical gourmet French cuisine was considered somewhat of a dark art until Auguste Escoffier, building on the great work of Emile Dumont in 1877, La bonne cuisine Française (The Good French Cuisine), established the basis of what was to become the fine dining bible, still being used to this very day.

The result of his attempt to codify French restaurant cooking resulted in a book published first in 1903. Called Le Guide Culinaire (A Guide to Modern Cookery), it laid out all the requirements for the various sauces and recipes. Most of the latter were omitted from the original English translation until much later. Most culinary schools teach classical French in some form or another.

A little background

Both Gina and Fraser learned the basics of classical cooking in school and worked at Scarmouche, a Toronto culinary institution, for a number of years. Then they honed their skills further by working in London, England, in Michelin starred restaurants where the demands for perfection resulted in long, grueling hours of work. When starting their own venture, they had the vision, skills, and stamina to make it a unique place. They truly filled a void in the fine dining world of our area and beyond.

Fraser’s cooking philosophy and style come through clearly in the quality of the plates delivered to your table. The look is impeccable; a plating so meticulous that it must have taken some time to produce. I read in Toronto Magazine, in the 30-year review of Scarmouche Restaurant, a reported exchange, where one of kitchen staff commented to another, “Listen, this is food! Not architecture.” Well, it seems that Fraser goes for the latter. His approach is to retain the essentials of French cooking, such as sourcing locally as much as is available, and this cuts across all ingredients and products. Then, using his creativity, enhance dishes with more contemporary twists to add freshness, complex flavours, and outright pleasant surprises on the plates. For instance, coffee comes from Detour and the cheeses are from Mickey McGuire, both based in Dundas merely steps away from Quatrefoil. Fish is from sustainable sources and vegetables are seasonal and from this region.

A note on bread: they make it in-house and several freshly baked varieties are presented on a small plate. The wine list is extensive and well thought-out, giving patrons enough choices to pair with all the menu offerings. One can start with a bubbly, in the old French tradition of apéritif and continue on with either light or full-bodied wines, depending on the food ordered.

True culinary art

When we visited, it was lunchtime so the menu was more limited than at dinner, but still enough to please the most demanding palate. Take the house-smoked salmon – yes, that’s right: house-smoked – with the fish displayed on a bed of sour cream and a quail egg adding to the color composition, not to mention capers, red onion, and chives all displayed like a painting. The taste is so balanced that no overwhelming flavour is detected. The Pingue prosciutto comes with a creamy gorgonzola dolce; a perfect association. One may argue that this is not French-inspired, but that would be ignoring the fact that prosciutto simply means ham. The Jambon de Bayonne, a French prosciutto that is the cured ham of southwestern France and tastes great. Remember, Fraser’s approach is to favour local when the right quality is available. The Pingue family invested decades in high quality Charcuterie and is deserving of recognition and admiration. The Confit Duck is as French as it comes, a delicacy from the southwest usually cooked in its own fat and preserved that way, but in this case it is cooked in foie gras. The effect is decadent and delicious. The dinner menu offers many more choices for fish and meat, all either wild-caught or from excellent sources.

We paired our lunch with a very good Italian Taurasi, a DOCG wine from Campania made from the Aglianico grape, one of my favourite wines. Wines are available by the bottle, half-bottle, or glass. With a wide variety of choice, you can order Ontario wines or go for New or Old World wines.

With Picone Fine Foods, Cumbrae Meats, Detour, and Mickey McGuire Cheeses as sources of great ingredients and food stuff in downtown Dundas, there had to be a home for culinary excellence as well. We are fortunate that a pair of talented and skilled professional chefs decided to establish Quatrefoil more than six years ago. I wish them many more years of continued success.

 

TRY IT YOURSELF!

Quatrefoil Restaurant
16 Sydenham Street, Dundas
(905) 628-7800
www.quatrefoilrestaurant.com