The Reveal: FARMERS Daughter - eatery
In our new series, The Reveal, we go behind closed doors and get up-close-and-personal with the folks opening their new restaurants.
This week, we enter FARMER’S Daughter - eatery.
The Gist: More modern and urban than her parents, FARMHOUSE Tavern down the street, you’ll find lighter, seafood-influenced fare with a bigger emphasis on cocktails here.
Grub: The small, focused menu features 5 apps, 5 mains and on the weekends, 5 brunch items. Currently, you’ll find fried shrimp ($9), quinoa salad ($10), clam salad ($12), burger ($18), octopus ($20), and a surf & turf dish ($21) on the menu.
While the menu might read simply, the dishes are anything but- everything is made in house, and the presentation is so stunning, you’ll be endlessly taking photos with your phone to capture the colour and composition. If only it could capture the immense flavours.
Libations: Curated by Renata Clingen, the cocktail list currently has 6 feature cocktails, including the Bruce Banner ($12) - white wine, honeydew, pear, lemon, and basil; and Corpse Reviver ($13) - bombay, lillet, cointreau, lemon juice, and absinthe. An international wine list features $9 glasses to magnums at $140.
‘Hood: The Junction
Deets: There are two choices of seating indoors – 20 tableside chairs and/or 18 bar stools. There is also a 40-seat patio on its way. Reservations are recommended, but some bar seating will be left open for walk-ins.
Fixtures & Fittings: Blue, green and turquoise accents (the teal cow’s head and blue glasses are particularly eye-catching) against the white walls with gleaming black tile sections keep it decidedly modern.
Owner Darcy MacDonell who handled the design himself got a custom-made neon sign that reads “Fried Shrimp & Friendship.”
The menu is playfully listed on a black rubber board with plastic white letters – the kind you see in diners and fish & chip stands. And should you want an up-close-and-personal experience, reserve the two stools at the kitchen pass and watch the chefs in action.
Off the Menu: Octopus ($20) – octopus sausage made with octopus, pancetta and dandelion, sautéed to warm, served on squid ink vinaigrette with mussels, sunchoke puree and crisped sunchoke. Beef heart tartare ($12) – beef heart with a quail egg and mixed salsa verde, bone marrow pebbles, pickled Cinncinati radishes, croutons, garnished with celery leaf. For brunch, oeuf mollet ($12) – soft boiled (5 min) duck egg, arugula/spinach sauce, house made lamb bacon, butterless hollaindaise, on tresse, a kind of Swiss version of brioche, served with blanched asparagus.
At the Stove: Chef Léonie Lilla (ex DaishÅ, The Libertine).
Head Honcho: Owner Darcy MacDonell, who also owns FARMHOUSE Tavern.
FOH: MacDonell has entrusted Alexandra Comrie, an alumnus of his former longtime employer Oliver & Bonacini Restaurants, to manage the new venture.
Visiting Hours:
Dinner: Thursday – Sunday 5:30pm – 11 pm
Brunch: Sat & Sun – Brunch – 10:30 – 2:30pm (with a small mid-day menu between 2:30-5:30)
Map It: 1588 Dupont St. (near Dundas St. W.)
Phone It In: 416-546-0626
Check out our Facebook page for more photos.