Trust the Drake to be different, even with something as basic as pot pie. The hotel’s new chef, Anthony Rose, returns to his native Toronto after years in the States spent cooking with Jonathan Waxman, Bradley Ogden and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Though simplicity and seasonality are his watchwords, rustic arcana also get a look in, especially in this fall pot pie. Rose roasts monkfish, pan-fries wild mushrooms and whips up a classic roux-based sauce flavoured with cognac, lemon and barolo. But the secret ingredients are cockerels’ wattles, gizzards and cockscombs, all confited in duck fat and delectably tender. The rich flavours of fish, fowl and fungi harmonize brilliantly under the shortcrust pastry dome. If drakes could do more than quack, this would really give the place something to crow about.

The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W., 416-531-5042.