EPICURIOUS MORSELS TINY GEM
OF A FIND
Epicurious Morsels
5529 Young Street
Non-smoking
Not wheelchair accessible
Closed Tuesdays
An awful lot of Nova Scotia’s
fine-dining restaurant menus are near to interchangeable.
For appetizers, there are
crab cakes, mussels, chowder, sauteed shrimp and salads.
Next, some pasta, usually
seafood linguine, some chicken and pasta in a garlic cream
sauce, something with pesto and a vegetarian dish or two.
Then there’s lamb,
salmon and steak. Maybe duck.
For dessert, how about a
chocolate something or other, with chocolate mousse and
pate and some raspberry coulis from a squirt bottle?
This is the standard repertoire
of your average Halifax fine-dining restaurant, and it succeeds
because people like these dishes and they’re neither
expensive nor difficult to cook.
Perhaps it doesn’t
bother people who aren’t jaded by eating out all the
time, but these same choices can become boring.
No one could make that complaint
about Epicurious Morsels, the sort of place that makes me
feel grateful to have this job.
Epicurious is tucked into
a little space in the Hydrostone Market, the heart of one
of Halifax’s coolest neighbourhoods, one without a
lot of good restaurants.
The dining room is intimate,
simple and pleasant, with comfortable chairs and a muted
colour scheme.
At the back of the room is
an orderly looking open kitchen.
You can sit at your table
and watch chef Jim Hanusiak move about the kitchen, putting
your dinner together with an air of calm competence.
And what fine, fresh plates
he produces – meals that are original but not the
least bit showy.
His seafood bisque, for instance,
is so well-balanced and pleasant that it tastes like a new
dish. The creamy tomato broth is delicious, with the rich
flavour of seafood stock balancing the sharp tomato tang.
The flavours are blended, I think, with liberal quantities
of cream.
There are lovely bits of
seafood floating about, including some scallops that have
been cooked until they’re chewy, which makes a nice
contrast in textures with the soup.
The shrimp, avocado and mango
salad is almost as good.
The bits of avocado and mango
are the perfect thing to remind Haligonians in February
that the sun in shining brightly somewhere far away, and
the cocktail shrimp make a nice contrast in texture and
flavour.
It does seem to be missing
some element that would bind the flavours together more
successfully, but that’s quibbling.
The baked crab cakes are
likely the only good ones I’ve ever had that haven’t
spent any time swimming in oil.
These savoury little patties
have somehow acquired in the oven a pleasingly crispy texture.
They are served with an intense homemade tartar sauce that
gives the dish a bit of edge.
Hanusiak, who worked for
years in the fish-farming business, seems to understand
seafood better than almost anyone else cooking in the city.
I often find fresh salmon
served in Halifax restaurants has a stronger flavour than
it ought to.
Not here.
The salmon in phyllo with
arugula pesto is a perfect appetizer, although it’s
almost too big.
The salmon is fresh and beautiful,
and cooked until it is falling apart, but not flaking. It’s
shell of perfect phyllo gives the dish a pleasing juxtaposition
of textures, and the thin layer of arugula between the fish
and the pastry adds a grace note. And there’s more
of that strong tartar sauce.
This mastery of things from
the oceans continues with the entrees.
The grilled scallops are
lightly dusted with spice and grilled so they have a pleasant
al dente crust, yielding to pillowy flesh within.
They’re served with
a sort of hash of peas, corn, fennel and pearl onions, which
is interesting and savoury, and a good taragon sauce.
The flounder, an unjustly
neglected fish, is also handled expertly, sauteed until
it is crispy and served with a subtle warm vinaigrette.
On top of the flatfish fillets
is a mound of shredded crab mixed with bits of asparagus.
It’s an arresting combination
of flavours and textures, but I’m enough of a peasant
that I keep yearning for a carbohydrate.
The beef tenderloin is tender
and delicious, and comes with an intense green peppercorn
sauce that I like very much.
The pork tenderloin is similarly
good, with a sharp, tasty mustard sauce.
Both, though, seem slightly
oversalted. I like the bold, strong flavours of the sauces,
and strong flavours need salt to carry them, but here they
are verging on overwhelming the other tastes.
That’s a petty complaint
to make about such a fine place, though, when there are
so many good things about it that I haven’t mentioned.
The low prices. The fresh,
carefully handled vegetables. The excellent mild sourdough
bread. The efficient and gracious waitress, Holly. Good
house wines. Even the other customers seem to be a good
bunch.
The only other thing I can
find to complain about is the name. It’s accurate
enough, but aren’t restaurants usually named for what
they are, not what they serve?
It’s confusing, hard
to remember and a bit showy.
But, really, who cares?
We’re lucky to have
it, no matter what it’s called.
Stephen Maher is
an editor with The Chronicle Herald and The Mail Star.
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