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Bridgette Bar
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The Well seems determined never to run dry.
One of the latest thirst (and hunger)-quenching establishments to set down roots in Toronto’s new category-defying, norm-exploding urban project at the corner of Wellington and Spadina is an Albertan transplant by the name of Bridgette Bar.
Like its sister establishment, Lulu Bar, which took up residence at The Well earlier this year, Bridgette is also owned by the Calgary-based Concorde Entertainment Group. Over the years, the original Bridgette in Calgary’s Design District, and a second Rocky Mountain location in Canmore, have earned considerable love and acclaim for their stylishly presented, chef-driven comfort food, so much so that Concorde felt it was time to pack up the winning concept and bring it out East.
Bridgette has arrived in Toronto like a bracing Chinook. From Wellington, a breezy outdoor patio leads inside to an intimate bar that’s comfortingly dim and woody. However, it’s the vast upstairs dining room, with seating for over 100, that gives you that intoxicatingly Western sense of open space, with sky-high ceilings and immense windows that open (weather permitting) to urban landscapes stretching north and east.
The furniture’s lustrous wood and leather upholstery carry the warm sheen of cowboy culture. That the shapes and forms are mid-century modern – (you can really get your teak on here!) – lend a stylish, yet casual retro edge to the proceedings. If the furnishings, like the restaurant’s Bardot-inspired name, nod to the 1950s, the soundtrack is a child of the ‘70s, with a smooth flow of Top 100 tunes that veer from pop, rock and soul to disco.
Speaking of which, Lipps Inc’s “Funkytown” on the sound system provides a great excuse to indulge in an equally funky cocktail. Befitting its name, the First Wives Club is silky and floral with a smooth Pisco base, fleshed out with sweet orgeat, piquant Cocchi rosa and spiced white cranberry and lemon juice. Served in a tall glass, the pale pink drink is crowned with a dense fog of egg white foam.
Darker and more brooding, Blurry Nights kicks off with a bold bass line of bourbon and rye. From there, things get delightfully out-of-focus fast with the addition of sweet cream black tea, blueberry amaro, salted pecan syrup and chai.
Non-alc drinks are no mere afterthoughts. The Mothership takes you on a smooth, refreshing ride fuelled by undone white “Vermouth” and enlivened by the zingy ensemble of pickled celery syrup, lime juice and a cordial made from Fuji and Granny Smith apples.
When it comes to wines, the extensive, but thoughtful list reveals a predilection for French and Italian vintages, with a smattering of North American vineyards. By contrast, the beer menu betrays unconditional love for hometown breweries.
Although this Toronto outpost of Bridgette Bar is far from home, the young restaurant is in constant contact with its Alberta headquarters, engaging in a dynamic to-and-fro of ideas, inspirations, recipes and even staff.
As regional manager Amy Campbell, herself a recent transplant, points out, Bridgette’s decor is signed by Calgary-based FRANK, the architectural firm behind the design of many of the Concorde Group’s restaurants, and its playlists are created by one of the Group’s owners. The beverage menu is curated in conjunction with Calgary. So is the food, with chefs regularly flying back and forth across the country to sample techniques and brainstorm the Mediterranean-influenced dishes that are as elevated as the Rockies and as earthy as the Prairies.
Executive chef Andrew Moore arrived from Alberta in 2017 and enjoyed stints at Avling and the Ace Hotel before taking over the helm at Bridgette’s kitchen. In addition to recreating Bridgette “staples” that have become synonymous with the brand, he’s also responsible for dreaming up original “Toronto exclusives.”
By popular consensus, Bridgette’s staple par excellence is its garlic bread. Served as a starter, it’s much more than you ever thought garlic bread could be – or has a right to be. Dough is rolled out, slathered in garlic butter, sprinkled with cheese curds, then rolled into a large log and sliced into little (cheesy, garlicky) bundles. After being plunged into the deep-fryer, the bundles receive a crunchy coating of grated Parm and herbs. When you tear into one, the flaky layers part to reveal a core of melted cheese whose stretchy pull rivals the gooiest mozzarella sticks.
More sophisticated, but no less satisfying is the smoked tuna crudo, a dish developed especially for the Toronto restaurant. Smoked albacore tuna, its exterior lightly seared, is topped with grated fresh tomato and garlic aioli. To drive home the flavours and enrich the textures, each delicate piece is finished with a scattering of fresh horseradish, baby arugula, oregano, and toasted bread crumbs.
Inspired by the abundance of fresh produce encouraged by southern Ontario’s (relatively) warmer climate, Moore makes enthusiastic use of seasonal fruits and vegetables. A summery snap pea salad features julienned snow peas and snap peas, mixed with arugula, all heaped onto a creamy green lagoon of pureed peas and fresh mint. Sesame crumble – a house-made version of those addictive sesame snacks you can buy for 10 cents at your corner convenience store – adds crunch along with a nuttiness that is echoed in the tahini dressing. Reinforcing the pea trope is a garnish of fresh pea shoots.
Pizza is another Bridgette staple – especially come Friday when it’s a staple of “Crazy Happy Hour,” during which both pies and cocktails are available for 50 percent off. Treating the pizza dough to five (!) days of fermentation results in a crust that is particularly tender on the inside, crisp on the outside. One of the most popular toppings showcases house-made fennel salami on a layer of tomato sauce, accessorized by provolone and mozzarella. Shaved onion, fresh basil and caramelized, chili-infused honey bring sweet heat to the proceedings.
At Bridgette, mains are known as “large plates,” no misnomer since they’re truly generous enough to share. Unless your appetite is very robust, you’ll definitely need two diners to wrangle the grilled farm chicken. This signature dish from Calgary makes use of an entire bird, grilling it to succulence, then removing the legs, which are ground and seasoned to make the accompanying chicken sausage. Dill gravy and a lavish pile of golden fries round out this robust, satisfyingly simple dish.
Infused with Middle Eastern flavours, the grilled lamb sirloin is sprinkled with a dukkah made from pumpkin and sesame seeds, cumin, coriander and chilies, before being roasted to pink perfection. As an accompaniment, the trim from the lamb is used to make a subtly spicy merguez sausage, which after being grilled, is crumbled up and mixed with warm potatoes and fresh herbs. Before serving, the lamb slices are arrayed on a pool of labneh and garnished with mixed spring greens, pickled shallots and mint.
All the dishes at Bridgette’s are beautifully plated, but for full-on, over-the-top spectacle nothing achieves the epic grandeur of its signature dessert: The Banana Pie. The emphasis on “The” is no accident: after you’ve seen it, gaped at it, and snapped pictures of it from every possible angle, you’re going to taste it and realize that, yes, there are other banana pies in the universe, but this multi-layered extravaganza is "the" one.
Providing a foundation for this Banoffee-inspired pie is a brown butter pretzel crust, with just a hint of salt. Then comes the filling(s): a layer of caramelized banana jam, followed by a layer of banana pudding, followed by a more substantial layer of coffee cream. So far, so (very) good. But also so modest. Things take a turn for the more ostentatious with the topping: a mile-high cloud of Italian meringue, its surface shaped into rosettes that are doused in rum and caramel and torched to a gold-black crisp.
Photographing it is a cinch compared to eating it, but it’s a worthy challenge, albeit one easier to tackle with multiple forks. Even so, scaling the sweet Rocky Mountain peaks of this dessert is undoubtedly the most strenuous undertaking you’ll face at this otherwise relaxed bar and restaurant, whose arrival has definitely upped the wellness factor of The Well.
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