A brief look at my Facebook feed prompted me with a notification from Keep6 Imports (an importer of popular craft beer to Ontario and owner of the exceptional BarVolo) regarding an upcoming Trou de Diable event at Bar Isabel. Having never heard of the place before I checked out their website to find out more. I was surprised to find it had newly opened. Toronto charcuterie guru Grant VanGameren (the original chef and previous co-owner of The Black Hoof) has opened a new venture. Alongside VanGameren is Isabel's Chef de Cuisine Brandon Olsen; he was CDC at the Hoof while VanGameren was there, and took over as Executive Chef after VanGameren's departure. VanGameren has a bit of a cult following after the immensely successful Hoof, and I had the pleasure of working with Olsen for a few months, so I found no reason not to head down at the nearest opportunity.
Anticipating the place would be riotously busy, I gave a call in advance. Being a Saturday night, I was informed that reserved tables were sold out, but the bar was available on a first come first serve basis. Good enough for me. We arrived just before 8 to find the place mostly full, including the bar. The hostess was kind enough to try to work something out. She asked us if we wouldn't mind coming back in about 15 minutes for a space where we would be able to have a drink while we waited for room at the bar to open so we could eat. We were pleased to find out when we came back that chairs had conveniently opened at the bar and we were seated promptly.
The interior gives the feeling of a prohibition era saloon, with the exemption of the flooring which was every flamenco dancers dream. A long closed bar was simply done in polished wood and left plenty of show space for the active bartenders. Concealed inside was a very large bar rail and cabinetry with doors of framed frosted glass. Cocktail lists were handed out, as well as a wine and beer list with the menu on the reverse. The cocktail list was extensive and featured both classics and modern fair. The wine list offered both glass and bottle selections of solid value. A moderately sized beer list featured exceptional quality. Large format bottles from Trou de Diable headlined, followed by draught pours from Trou de Diable, Bellwoods and House Ales and lastly a standard format bottle selection--all craft beers once again.
The menu was largely Spanish influenced tapas, rounded out with a few larger plates for sharing. 'Bar Snacks' included cheese, charcuterie (surprisingly not house made, but of very good quality) and oysters. The rest of the menu was divided into 'To Begin', 'Vegetables', 'Meat' and 'Fish'. We stuck with many of the more authentic Spanish dishes on the menu: boquerones went excellently with pickled japapeno pepper; mojama garnished with citrus supremes, Marcona almonds and a liberal quantity of good olive oil, and grilled hanger steak pinchitos with shishito peppers (called padron peppers in Spain, these tiny green peppers are simply grilled or roasted and served, the trick is that albeit most of them are sweet, a few of them are spicy). We also had the 'Whole Fish' ceviche which was fantastic. A whole sea bream was filleted and marinated, garnished with avocado, tamarind and crispy leeks, it was served atop the deep fried fish carcass which made for great grazing material as well. For dessert we opted to share the house cheese plate, which was generous in size, but accompaniments must be ordered separately, as well as the Basque Cake with Boozy Cream which was rich and buttery with an almost cookie like, crunchy texture. The menu offered a lot of modern options as well, but we shied away from them as many of them contained flour, which is off limits for my girlfriend. Devilled duck eggs with morcilla, bacalao and hollandaise sounded appetizing, as well as the cold rice with crispy pigs ears and the chicken wing escabeche.
Overall an excellent meal, great beer and wine. It was nice to visit an old friend. Meal for two with 5 drinks, tax and generous tip, a jealousy-inducing $140.
Bar Isabel
barisabel.com
797 College Ave
Toronto
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