Heirloom Cafe
The year is young, so it's somewhat brazen to declare the Heirloom Café the best meal of 2010. But it was good enough to guarantee our late-evening encounter with a Queensway-parking-lot of fan cars inching out of a Sens game did nothing to disturb the high spirits of well-fed women.
The Heirloom Café is owned by the husband-and-wife team of Richard Kletnieks and Brandy Nieto, both graduates of Le Cordon Bleu in Sandy Hill. The duo furthered their education at the catering company, A Culinary Conspiracy, and, briefly, at Savana Café. But when Nick Diak and Brent Pattee, chef-owners since 2001 of Fitzgerald's Restaurant in Almonte, announced they were moving on, Kletnieks and Nieto jumped at the restaurant space housed in the splendid Victoria Woolen Mill by the falls of the Mississippi River. They renovated a bit and reopened in October 2009 as the Heirloom Café.
So they are rookies at this restaurant ownership business and new to this Valley town, but they're starting in a sensible way with a short, seasonal menu of likable dishes at levelheaded prices.
The house-made gravlax is worth the trip all on its own. Scented with cumin and dill and set on greens, the spices build and reveal themselves as you munch. A slaw of green apples and radish cuts the richness of the oily fish, and gives the dish a bright crunch.
There are scallops to start, and they come with beets and bacon, as well they should. The sweetness of the beet, the milky softness of the scallop and the chew of the bacon make for endearing eating. A smooth chicken paté roofed with peppercorns is the highlight of the Heirloom charcuterie plate (built for two).
Foie gras comes with cranberry relish and gingersnaps. Sweetness with liver is always welcome, so long as it's kept in check, and the choice of these spicy cookies, especially such delicate, wafery ones, is inspired.
The most seductive main dish turns out to be steak. The meat (from Kerr Farms, the menu reports) has a crisp crust, a supple texture and fine beefy flavour. It comes with soft shallots, sweet and pink from their slow roast in wine, and a dark jus sharpened with mustard.
Preserved lemon gives a fine zing to a butter-baked pickerel, while surrounding vegetables are all perfectly correct. Rabbit has less appeal. The dark meat is tender enough, paddling in a cream sauce with oyster mushrooms, but without much flavour beyond the cream. The long saddle is wrapped in proscuitto, sliced and served with a pesto of walnut and arugula. While the meat is moist, it isn't dreamy.
Desserts, created by pastry chef Brandy, are uniformly good, none better than the spiced orange and sour cherry cheesecake with a snappy ginger crust. Though the pecan tart is wicked too.
If I had an itsy-bitsy criticism, it would be that the red wine is served either too warm or too cold.
Service is cheery. And so are we.
Cuisine: Canadian
Cost: $$$: Starters, $6 to $12; main dishes, $19 to $29
Hours: Open for lunch, Tuesday to Friday, and Sunday brunch; dinner, Tuesday to Sunday
Features: Fireplace dining, Patio dining.
Accessibility: Fully accessible.
7 Mill Street, Almonte, ON
613-256-9653
website
On the strength of this review, I went to this restaurant.
I think the review was generous.
Food was good but not extraordinary.
Service was far from perfect.
The major problem was the unacceptable wait for a table. Reservation time was seemingly irrelevant being seated one hour after the designated time. Offered the opportunity to wait in comfort on some leather sofas, we found we were unable to have a cocktail (licence issues). Instead we stood at the bar for an hour watching as other diners waltzed in and were immediately seated.
This indifference, unfortunately, set the tone (the wrong tone) for the rest of the evening.
The wait continued for the bread and the wine.
The main meal was good and thankfully timely.
Of three desserts, two were inavailable by the time we finally got around to it. Dessert was in any event not a major item for us but when told by wait staff that it was included, we went ahead only to find it was ultimately listed as a separate item on the bill. No explanation.
The offer of an after dinner drink on the house to make up for the inconvenience was a nice gesture but frankly not enough to make up for an average dining experience.
Personally I won’t be back. I’m not prepared to travel such a long distance for a dining experience only to be treated in such a rather indifferent manner.
I am not usually one to dine and then write, but after recommending Heirloom to a friend I had the other comment on this page brought to my attention. I believe that as there are two sides to every story, there are also two sides to every experience. I must say that after reading the comment posted above it elicited a response in me, so I chose to share a much different experience. After reading the wonderful review that Anne wrote I was also tempted to try Heirloom. I made an appearance at the restaurant on Valentine’s Day weekend. My assumption is that this is the busiest time of the year for a restaurant and still I was treated to vastly different experience than the one written above. If anyone was made to wait for a table, I am sure it was beyond the control of the establishment and certainly was not evident to me the night I was there. After being seated the first thing that I noticed was the way that the tables were dressed, each with crisp white table cloth and pink and red satin petals. The menu was set that evening and seemed to have something for everyone. I believe that the server referred to something as a “wine tour” in which a glass of wine was paired with the appetizer and main course to compliment the flavours of the meal. We also had a choice of a cappuccino, espresso or latte with dessert. It was a really lovely extra step that the restaurant took to enhance the meal.
From what I understand Richard and Brandy (sp?) have only owned Heirloom for a short time. I would take a wild guess that the two are extremely passionate about this endeavour, as it shows with the careful attention to detail that each plate displays as it leaves the kitchen. The meal in its entirety was extraordinary! I have a strong feeling that if any complaints were brought to the attention of the staff that night, these concerns would have been dealt with immediately.
I would strongly recommend Heirloom. I had a wonderful evening and look forward to many more returns.
Our party of three had a pleasant lunch at Heirlooms mid-week in June; there were just enough other diners to reassure us, but we had our choice of tables in a most attractive dining room. Of our three meals, the pulled-pork, chorizo and grilled shrimp combo was interesting and tasty, the lamb burger was as advertised but undistinguished, and the vegetarian wrap was positively unpleasant; the desserts were excellent. The generic dry white wine was fine; the beer drinker was satisfied with Steamboat, but a choice of draughts or upscale brews would have been more welcome. The service was just right — attentive, but reserved. We wouldn’t have made the journey just for this restaurant, but as a rendez-vous point for a leisurely lunch in a pretty town with lots of vintage/antique shops, it was a cut above average.