Duck confit at Rich Uncle
After a brief interlude for repairs after a fire and water damage, downtown Kitchener’s The Rich Uncle Tavern has opened its doors once again for dinner service: that is a very good thing for commerce in the core.
It’s also very good for Rich Uncle staff paycheques and for patrons looking for well-executed rustic dishes ranging from a ploughman’s lunch and truffled fries for sharing, to burgers and steak and mushroom pie.
The menus are accessible and locally-driven, as well as seasonal, according to chef de cuisine Michael Naismith, who joined the team in June.
“We stay as local as possible and will be using nice fall flavours and lots of root vegetables,” says Naismith, 27, who has cooked locally and but did his Conestoga College School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts co-op at Moraine Lake Lodge in Lake Louise, Alberta.
[ I also like the duck confit at Artisanale in Guelph. ]
The menu he guides includes a stout-braised beef cheek that’s a sturdy upscale casual dish as is the classic braised lamb shank: they both make the most of proteins needing a slow and gentle cooking to produce big, hearty flavours that characterize a tavern with its wood, brass and brick-and-beam decor.
It’s the same with the confit duck, a dish that changes with the seasons but blends the fatty succulence and savoury richness of King Cole duck to which might be added the sharpish nip of a wild-berry gastrique. It’s a favourite dish of mine.
For the rest of the story, visit Waterloo Chronicle.
