Love Lovage in Stratford
Also known as Ligurian celery, lovage has leaves that look like parsley for herbs, roots for the vegetable platter and seeds offering a flavouring spice.
Its linguistic roots derived from the Medieval French “love ache,” lovage is also the name of a lovely casual restaurant and wine bar on Wellington Street in Stratford.
With 30 seats inside and 30 on a back patio, Lovage opened in May 2022 by chef Jamie Crosby in the space where he ran a previous pop-up pizza venue.
Crosby, who has cooked at Bayfield’s Little Inn, Grey Gardens in Toronto and The Prune in Stratford for two seasons, says the name was a placeholder as plans for the restaurant were evolving.
“It just stuck. I like the herb itself a lot and the name’s ambiguous enough that it didn’t really tell people exactly what to expect. And it has a connotation that we liked,” he says.
The approach is trattoria and Spanish tapas, but which occasionally includes a bit of British pub.
“All that plays into it. European drinking food and cuisine du marché. What do we have that we can cook today and what can we cook tomorrow?” he says.
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