Eadrey Foods and Goods and Provisions: two upcoming Leslieville foodie spots from familiar faces

Blink, and it was gone. The Foodist Market, which itself had replaced the ill-fated juice bar Pulp Kitchen, opened and closed quicker than its detractors could mutter, “Expired Earthbound organic mixed greens?!” We hope Eadrey Hemmings has more staying power. Since 2004, the Jamaican expat has been whipping up her small-batch homemade hot sauces, marinades and rubs for other retailers. Now they share the folksy white shelves of Eadrey Foods, her soon-to-open Queen East shop, with Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and other local and international goodies. The space is homey, in shades of chocolate brown and white, with a colourful painting of lush, red poppies on the walls. Hemmings isn’t a trained chef, but she has worked in kitchens since she was 15. Expect the display cooler to be brimming with grab-and-go sandwiches—made with breads from St. John’s Bakery—savoury pot pies, salads and roti. But not just any roti—Eadrey’s own jerk chicken roti with Trinidad-style roti shell. Oh, and in the fridge? Ting, of course.

Across the street from Eadrey’s is a sign bearing three auspicious little words: “Food, Liquor, Oysters.” Nikki Andriet and Dean Fletcher, co-owners of The Comrade, are branching out—albeit not too far from the tree—with Goods and Provisions, a new bistro and bar. Antique fair finds and salvaged treasures fill the charming 30-seat space, including original signage from the Big Bop, shabby-chic furniture, time-battered photographs of nameless, long-dead soldiers in uniform and a stunning marble bar. The menu, by 37-year-old chef Keith Hosein, promises to be as eccentric as the room. Born in Trinidad and raised in Winnipeg, Hosein has cooked his way up and down the West Coast in Seattle, Vancouver and California, but has spent the last three years honing his skills in Toronto, lately at Table 17. And though the owners are remaining tight-lipped, we can say that in addition to the aforementioned oysters, there will be bistro classics, such as steak frites, with idiosyncratic twists courtesy of their time spent travelling throughout Asia and their shared love of street food. Fletcher says, “We just want the place to be fun and the food to be amazing. It’s just a neighbourhood place…We plan to under-promise and over-deliver!”
Eadrey Foods, 1129 Queen St. E., eadreyfoods.ca.
Goods and Provisions, 1124 Queen St. E.
I guess the desperate-to-be-cool mommy bloggers will be happy with this. To me, it sounds like more of the same for, ahem, Leslieville: overpriced, pretentious crap. ‘Food – Liquor – Oysters’ . . . reads a lot like ‘Steak – Chickpeas – Alcohol’ at ELK (one of the neighbourhood standard-bearers for haughty and sanctimonious underperformance).
Dear prospective proprietors for, ahem, Leslieville: This neighbourhood has *way* too many of the same stupid, too-funky-by-half businesses. Do your homework before you open another poorly thought out and repetitive establishment that will close within three months. Hey! How about yet another doggy lifestyle store? I think we need six of them, not five. Same goes for gag-inducing, poseurish eateries (“shabby-chic furniture, time-battered photographs of nameless, long-dead soldiers in uniform and a stunning marble bar”? really? blech blech blech). There are lots of regular people in the neighbourhood who just want a basic, mid-sized grocery store on Queen . . . or a restaurant that doesn’t charge you $27 for wasabi-, frangelico-, and pancetta-infused blue mashed potatoes.
This neighbourhood has been ruined by the minds and machinations of mediocre people.
Sadly, Leslieville has been ruined by desperate-to-be-cool mommies. We don’t even have a place to escape the squeals of babies now that they’ve taken over the neighbourhood pubs in the afternoons.
sucks to be us.
Welcome to the neighbourhood! What is great about Leslieville is our diversity! You can’t please everyone!
As someone who has seen Leslieville go through a lot of changes over the years, it’s actually pretty fun to have such a great selection of independently owned places.
Welcome to the neighbourhood, Eadrey Foods. Can’t wait to try your Ting. If you’ve been working in kitchens since you were 15, you’re a trained chef in my books!
Can’t wait to try Eadrey Foods! It sounds fabulous and unique…two things that go far in this hood. Oh, and ignore the mommy-haters above…it’s a good thing they don’t have mothers who gave them life and raised them…oh wait…
Team Realosophy has already gobbled down sandwiches and salads from Eadrey Foods – very fresh ingredients, great taste, amazing family run place. Def. agree with commenters above – you see very different crowds in Leslieville, each anchored by very different pubs/coffee shops/restaurants/shop sitting side-by-side. Love the diversity in this neighbourhood.
Wow, someone must of had their foot rolled over by a stroller in leslieville to cause such angst….I myself, welcome anyone who wants to continue to invest in our growing and developing neighbourhood.
I tried one of the salads at Eadrey Foods and it was pretty good…on top of that they also were very welcoming! Hope they both do well and looking forward to tying out Goods and Prov. when it opens
Seeing as how I am one of those annoying mom’s spending my mat leave (and my money) in Leslieville, I of course am thrilled about the new additions to the neighbourhood.
To Baldy Cotton:
You’re right, the changes to Leslieville suck – a wealth of great restaurants, pubs and shops that have made Leslieville one of the most desired neighborhoods in the City to live in. After all, it was a much better area when the streets were dead after 6, all the run-down houses made the area look like a shanty-town and bottle of Bud with a bowl of Doritos at the “Tasty Chicken House” represented the epitome of fine-dining.
Stop your whining and enjoy the ridiculous bump in the value of your house that all of these “mediocre” people have helped bring about over the last few years.
Welcome to both Eadrey and Goods and Provisions, both welcome additions to the ‘hood.
Wow! Maybe it’s a good thing I live a safe distance from Mom and baby haters, as well as the highly addictive, delicious food Goods and Provisions serves! The quality of ingredients used and the experience of Chef Ryan is reflected in the taste of the dishes
The Steak was seasoned and grilled to perfection. The Korean taco and “Chocolate” dessert haunt my thoughts today. Also those were the best “frites” I have experienced. I think it’s the duck fat that they use in their fryers.
The prices are reasonable. Two delicious pork tacos with Kimchi is about what you would pay for a Big Mac combo (gross)
Dear Baldy Cotton.
You sound very important and it seems you know a lot of big words.
Now please go away from here and stops annoying everyone with your whining.
Yay for Baldy’s bad mood! My wife wrote to ask me if I had written that comment – because I would, in my meaner moods. Somewhere between the dead-after-6 Leslieville and the super-yuppie current Leslieville would be lovely. Something between Stratenger’s grunge lounge and the endless oyster bars would, too.
“or a restaurant that doesn’t charge you $27 for wasabi-, frangelico-, and pancetta-infused blue mashed potatoes.”
But Baldy, how then would these establishments be able to stay open for 1.5 hours, three days a week?
Went into Goods & Provisions. They weren’t serving any $27 wasabi-frangelico-pancetta mashed potatoes, but i did have the $6 duck fat fries with a Lugtread local brew. And all was well. I love this neighborhood!
Poor Baldy Cotton and bP… everything you say and do will be held against you, you poor pretentious too-hot-to-be in Leslieville sanctimonious pieces of sperm waste. Back to Little Italy with the two of you. Now go away and continue commenting in the Toronto Sun. They need you more than Toronto Life needs you.