Craft Farmacy – Dispensing Deliciousness Farm to Table & FEAST ON Certified

-







BY BRYAN LAVERY

The talented Jazey-Spoelstra and Wolwowicz are partnered in Craft Farmacy with Harmen Spoelstra. General Manager Geoff Hammond and Assistant Manager Cody Ballman round out a powerhouse restaurant team. This is the ultimate neighbourhood restaurant. With 112 seats, it features sharing plates, fabulous house cocktails, craft beer, a superior wine list and plenty of pizzazz. There is a private event space with room for 40 on the second floor.

Jazey-Spoelstra’s stylish design sensibility is reflected in Craft Farmacy, and delivers style and comfort, with attention to the smallest details. Setting the tone is a long bar, stunning fireplace, custom-made leather banquettes and repurposed tables with comfortable chairs. The servers’ leather aprons are custom designed by Coakley’s.

Jazey-Spoelstra delivers cutting-edge and quality food experiences combined with extraordinary service, her forte and hallmark as the owner of North Moore Catering, River Room and Rhino Lounge. Wolwowicz (formerly of The Springs on Springbank Drive) cooks with reverence and purpose, sourcing ingredients from producers and farms dedicated to sustainable agriculture. Wolwowicz is aided by sous chef Kyle Trafford and cook Jayden Wickert. Menu items are progressive, rustic in style, featuring high-quality ingredients crafted from local, region-specific and specialty products, and executed with aptitude, innovation and attention to detail.

At a couple of pre-opening menu tastings, we watched Chef and Spoelstra tweak and fine-tune every nuance of the menu. Chef and his team are big on prep and having mise en place ready, allowing for quick and easy execution of the dishes.









We enjoyed Roasted Bone Marrow with Ox Tail Marmalade; Lamb Belly Croquettes; Chicken Schnitzel with Warm Potato Salad, Forked River Abbey Jus and Rapini; and Black Pepper Crusted Duck Breast, Root Vegetable and Duck Confit Hash with Blood Orange Gastrique. There is a fresh oyster bar featuring a changing selection including Malpeque, Irish Point, Daisy Bay, Raspberry Point, Lucky Lime and Savage Blonde varieties.

Craft Farmacy is London’s first Feast ON certified “Taste of Ontario” restaurant. Feast ON is a criteria-based certification program designed to promote, market, and protect the authenticity of foodservice operators whose specific attributes qualify their commitment to local food. It is a program designed to help you experience restaurants that champion Ontario food and beverages. The program uses both verification and enforcement mechanisms to maintain its integrity.

Craft Farmacy
449 Wharncliffe Road South, 519-914-2699
11:30 am–Midnight
Sunday Brunch & Dinner
Closed Mondays








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering Ann McColl's Kitchen Shop

-
Image
Ann McColl Lindsay and David Lindsay: A Brief History of a Road Less Traveled Hospitality and the culinary arts have always gone hand in hand. In London, Ontario, we have a history of exceptional restaurateurs, chefs and culinary retailers. Among the latter are Ann McColl Lindsay and David Lindsay, the former proprietors of the legendary Ann McColl’s Kitchen Shop, one of Canada’s finest cookware shops. Ann and David met, married and taught school in Windsor, Ontario from 1961 to 1968. They resigned their positions, sold their red brick bungalow, and embarked on a year-long food pilgrimage across Europe while camping in a Volkswagen van. Travelling in the van with a gas burner allowed them to truly enjoy the local terroir. The first six months of their trip , which ended at the French border, is described in Ann’s memoir Hungry Hearts – A Food Odyssey across Britain and Spain . The second volume, Hearts Forever Young, includes their travels in France, Italy, Austria
Read more

Homage to Toronto's Yorkville Landmarks the Coffee Mill and Le Trou Normand

-
Image
Homage to Toronto's Yorkville Landmarks the Coffee Mill  and  Le Trou Normand U p until just a few months ago, Le Trou Normand remained the oldest operating fine dining restaurant in Yorkville. Coincidentally, The Coffee Mill a venerated European-style cafe which recently celebrated 51 years in business closed earlier this month. Martha von Heczey’s Coffee Mill opened in May, 1963, in the now-demolished Lothian Mews, on Bloor Street. In 1973 , von Herczey  moved two blocks north to a mini-mall with Yorkville Avenue on one side, Cumberland Street on the other. There was a secluded terrace with an expandable awning in the event of rain. The Coffee Mill was practically right across the street from Le Trou Normand and it was one of my Yorkville haunts for over 30 years. Ms. von Heczey’s late husband Laci, a well-known wrestling champion, liked to wander around Yorkville with a tame cheetah on a leash.    Interestingly, in 1984, von Herczey even
Read more

Remembering Chef & Baker Extraordinaire Lindsay Todd Reid

-
Image
I was saddened to hear Lindsay Reid had passed away after a brief illness. Lindsay's motto was to “share really good baking,” made from scratch in small batches, using high quality ingredients. That required patience and precision – something Lindsay appeared to have in quantity. Lindsay incorporated only pure natural ingredients, unbleached organic flour, local eggs, honey and butter in his baking in the bake kitchen in the cellar of his Sebringville home. On offer were hand-made croissants, squares, tarts, muffins and seasonal specialties. Lindsay asked me not to refer to his baking as iconic – so instead I referred to his delicious baking as being emblematic. His baking represented everything good and comforting . The first time I tasted his baking was at the Stratford Slow Food Market. I was hooked. I was very happy when he decided to join us as a vendor at the Western Fair Farmers’ Market, after receiving plenty of encouragement from Alan Mailloux of Downie Stree
Read more