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estaurant News R June 2014 Vol. 16 No. 3
N A T I O N A L
C O V E R A G E
R E G I O N A L
House of
lobster
Executive chef Erin Henry.
Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40010152
By Kristen Smith, Assistant editor, digital content CHARLOTTETOWN—At Row House Lobster Co., seafood—especially the namesake crustacean—is the star of the show. Named for its Victoria Row location, the restaurant opened May 5 at 146 Richmond St. in Charlottetown in the space formerly occupied by Castello’s Ristorante & Pizzeria. “The concept really was to take a product and a category that we think Prince Edward Island and Charlottetown should be known for, and build on that with a high-quality food ex-
perience,” owner Chris LeClair told ARN. The dinner menu for the 52-seat restaurant (which has an additional 40 seats on the patio) is organized into small plates, lobster dishes, signature mains and land and sea entrees. Executive chef Erin Henry, who studied at the Culinary Institute of Canada and has about 12 years of kitchen experience, met LeClair while running his self-serve frozen yogurt shop Berry Healthy. “We would talk all the time about food and food concepts. At one point Erin said to me, ‘It sounds like you are really interested in owning, not a
frozen yogurt shop, but a restaurant.’ I said: ‘Oh, absolutely. Would you be interested in being the executive chef in a restaurant?’ She said: ‘Absolutely.’ The conversation went from there,” recalled LeClair. “We have a lot of really great products on P.E.I,” said Henry, noting the Island has fantastic quality lobster, potatoes and dairy, in particular. “Just those three ingredients can be put together to make some pretty amazing stuff.” She said the idea behind menu creation was to showcase P.E.I. products—such as beef and chicken from farms 25 minutes away, mushrooms
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from St. Peter’s Bay, PEI, and blue mussels from Borden-Carlton— without overshadowing them. “As the weather warms up, all our produce will be [sourced] from down the road as well,” said Henry. Henry said Row House has all the staples one might expect, such as chowder and lobster rolls, which are served on Charlottetown bakery Buns & Things’ rolls, but the menu also features items such as tempura lobster lollipops and lobster tacos. Oysters Rockefeller are baked with double-smoked bacon, wilted spinach, Pernod Anise and aged cheddar crust. The artisan cheese board is served with house-made preserves. The church supper dinner is a platter with a whole lobster, a halfpound of steamed mussels and a cup of chowder, served with lemon, butter and a side dish. Henry also makes cioppino, a seafood stew with lobster, mussels, halibut and haddock in a garlic tomato and fennel broth. First cook and pastry chef Marliese McGee had a hand in creating the dessert menu, which includes vanilla bean panna cotta, served with lemon curd, berries and a shortbread cookie. Working with Ottawa-based McTavish Design and local interior designers The Ottoman Empire, LeClair said renovations opened up the 1,000-square-foot space. “The look that I tried to achieve in the restaurant is what I’m calling rustic elegance,” said LeClair. The back wall is made of horizontal barn boards, there are chocolate brown hardwood floors, honey-coloured banquettes and tables made from reclaimed wood with brushed metal bases. Continued on page 3
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Taking a bite out of Cape Breton By Jonathan Zettel, assistant editor
The Bite House location.
BADDECK, NS—A Cape Breton chef is inviting tourists and locals over to his house for dinner. On June 4, 26-year-old chef Bryan Picard opened The Bite House, an intimate, 10-seat restaurant inside his home, 11 kilometers outside the village of Baddeck, NS. “It just made sense because the house is big and I don’t need all this space,” Picard told ARN. It took four or five months to obtain all the necessary permits to open the 250-square-foot dining room inside his personal residence, which Picard said was the hardest part of the process. Guests can choose from a threecourse menu for $35 or a five-course meal for $50.
“It’s going to be kind of informal but the food will be very high top quality, which is what is important,” Picard said. “It’s more like a few people come to my house and I cook for them.” Picard said the menu will rotate and depend on what is seasonally available. For the opening menu, he prepared smoked trout, snow crab, and braised beef and served rhubarb and wild strawberries for dessert. The Bite House also offers a selection of Nova Scotian wines and craft beer from Big Spruce and Uncle Leo’s Brewery. Picard said he has no plans to open a larger restaurant someday and joked the business expansion plan might be to go from 10 to 12 tables. “I think smaller is better,” he said. “I moved out here to have a more sus-
tainable lifestyle and I think doing it in my home and growing the veggies is on the path toward self-sufficiency.” Prior to opening his own restaurant, Picard worked for two years at the Chanterelle Country Inn at the North River Bridge on the Cabot Trail. Picard studied at the l’Institut de tourisme et d’hôtellerie du Quebec in Montreal. Picard has a large herb garden, a smaller vegetable garden and some chickens for eggs, but will purchase the bulk of the restaurant’s supplies from local-area farmers. The Bite House is named after Picard’s blog, a collection of simple, home-style recipes featuring Maritime ingredients. 1471 Westside Baddeck Rd. (902) 3221436, www.thebitehouse.com.