{"id":2432,"date":"2012-12-20T13:50:51","date_gmt":"2012-12-20T18:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/?p=2432"},"modified":"2012-12-20T13:50:51","modified_gmt":"2012-12-20T18:50:51","slug":"yakitori-bar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/?p=2432","title":{"rendered":"Yakitori Bar"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Yakitori Bar hangs out its shingle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The quality of Baldwin Street\u2019s restaurant strip continues to rise in a sinuous gyre \u2013 which is lovely for me since I live a three-minute waddle away (two minutes, if striding in a forthright manner). Hemant Bhagwani has taken over the old Jodhpur Palace property, turning it into a miniature recreation of his Global Tacos (the original version, on Mount Pleasant, closed some months ago). Now Sang Kim (co-creator of Ki and Blowfish) has set up shop on the corner of McCaul (right next door to the highly esteemed ND Sushi and Grill) with a flash, friendly, very cool Korean spot called Yakitori Bar as well as a second project in the rear of the building \u2013 a bi bim bap take-out spot cleverly called The Seoul Food Co. Yakitori has been packed since it opened \u2013 not so much with the Asian students who line up in all sorts of weather outside the ramen bar at the other end of the strip, but with 20- and even 30-something foodies who have followed the building\u2019s 30-day renovation on Sang\u2019s blog and are curious to see what all the fuss is about.<\/p>\n

Sang himself is one answer to that question. Dapper in his trilby, he is the consummate host, hip but warm-hearted (part of the proceeds of the sale of certain dishes heads straight to Japan and charitable post-tsunami reconstruction) and always interested in something more than the bottom line. He also teaches first-class sushi lessons on the premises.<\/p>\n

Another reason is executive chef Shin Aoyama (of EDO, Ki and Koko! in recent years). This time he\u2019s prepping yakitori to be sure but also serving forth a broad and delectable array of contemporary Korean street foods, all fresh and beautifully balanced, plus some great fusion ideas.<\/p>\n

Before we taste some of those dishes, however, consider another interesting aspect of Yakitori\u2019s debutante menu \u2013 the inclusion of guests chefs\u2019 signature skewers \u2013 an opportunity for talented chefs who aren\u2019t necessarily cooking in conventional kitchens to showcase their work through the signature medium of sauced yakitori. For example, Peter Minakis of the Kalofagas food blog has offered a butan kalamaki \u2013 a juicy, rigani-scented pork souvlaki by any other name, that reminds me of my youthful sojourn in the Ionian. Nettie Cronish, nonpareil of natural and organic cuisine has created an almond nut butter tofu-tori. Former private chef and educator Vanessa Yeung has proposed flank steak satays marinated in soy, hoisin and sugar which impart awesome flavour to the slightly chewy meat. And more and more\u2026 Such a nice idea!<\/p>\n

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Three ages of kimchi: three months, two weeks and one day<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, Shin Aoyama\u2019s own menu is a treat. $4.95 buys a flight of three differently aged kimchis \u2013 one day, two weeks and three months old \u2013 all crunchy, nicely chilied-up and increasingly acidic and funky the older they get. Kimchi poutine is another possibility \u2013 with melted cheese sandwiched between okay fries and awesome caramelized kimchi \u2013 or how about gochu rellenos, green korean chilies, panko-crusted and deep-fried, stuffed with dense ground pork. I loved the two soups we tried \u2013 one a sleak, creamy, subtle white miso chowder filled with little clams and shrimp, the other a busan bouillabaisse of hokkaido scallop, shrimp and flaky cod in a spicy house broth.<\/p>\n

Main courses (nothing costs more than $9.95) are big enough to share. Oxtail braised in red wine and soy was brilliantly tender, falling from the bone, but the meat hadn\u2019t lost its own sapid juices. It was sticky and rich but not heavy. Pork belly, too, was surprisingly delicate, seasoned with soy and topped with half a boiled egg.<\/p>\n

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Squash duk bok ki<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The yakitori themselves are robust rather than dainty, and perfectly grilled. The chicken thigh option was my favourite, though the beef tongue came a close second, both served with three dipping sauces of sesame, soy and kimchi. Then I tried the Godzilla skewer, another guest chef\u2019s creation, this time from the mind of Shinji Yamaguchi, who is owner-chef of Gushi, a shipping-container street-food resto on Dundas Street West. Godzilla turns out to be balls of ground chicken flavoured with onion, soy sauce and coriander and dressed with Yamaguchi\u2019s trademark Gushi teriyaki sauce.<\/p>\n

We finished with rice cakes (no dessert is offered) like long, very dense, very heavy cylinders of rice paste. In Korea, you see kids hanging outside the school eating these with a sweet red sauce. Here, they are served inside a hollowed-out squash with the self-same sauce and a generous smothering of melted cheese. Such is Baldwin Street\u2019s charming cultural melange.<\/p>\n

Yakitori has a list of sakes and fruity cocktails, four seasonal beers on tap, only eight wines and some first class water from Evian and Badoit. This place is definitely a filip for the neighbourhood and I am determined to become a regular customer.<\/p>\n

Yakitori Bar is at 1 Baldwin St., 647 748 0083, www.yakitoribar.ca<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The quality of Baldwin Street\u2019s restaurant strip continues to rise in a sinuous gyre \u2013 which is lovely for me since I live a three-minute waddle away (two minutes, if striding in a forthright manner). Hemant Bhagwani has taken over the old Jodhpur Palace property, turning it into a miniature recreation of his Global Tacos […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,19,95],"tags":[702,703,701],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2432"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2437,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2432\/revisions\/2437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jameschatto.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}