What’s on the menu at Her Father’s, the city’s first all-cider bar

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | June 27, 2016

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | 06/27/2016

Name: Her Father’s Cider
Neighbourhood: University
Contact: 119 Harbord St., 647-347-7747, herfathers.ca
Previously: Loire
Owners: Joshua Mott
Chefs: Ryan Barclay (Splendido, The Grove)

The drinks

Over 80 kinds of cider, all from small-batch brewers. The focus here is on local and hard-to-find international ciders. “Ontario is making some of the most interesting and innovative cider in the world,” says Mott, who’s made sure to stock a few bottles from his parents’ Thornbury orchard, Beaver Valley. Ice and fruit ciders, like a French pear version and a dry cherry number from Hamilton’s West Avenue, are also available. Even the cocktails are apple-obsessed: the Ello Sweetpea combines County Citrus cider with gin, black currant port and lemon bitters.

Here’s the current tap list. Flights of three go for $12.

Not Her Mother’s Appletini: ginger-infused vodka, fresh-pressed Granny Smith apples, maple syrup, lime. $12.

Ello Sweetpea: County Citrus cider, Bombay Sapphire gin, black currant port, lemon bitters. $12.

The food

Chef Barclay dug deep into the history of cider. “The first thing I did was research cider’s origins, which are both English and French,” he says. The resulting dishes are based on Old World recipes (Barclay even referenced some vintage cookbooks like The Cook’s Oracle, circa 1822), but feature seasonal Canadian ingredients such as fiddleheads, ramps and chanterelles. Cider shows up throughout the menu, of course—the cod, for example, is glazed with it.

Devilled eggs with snow crab and grebiche. $3.

Spring vegetables on toast: crusty hunks of bread topped with a carrot-ricotta purée, asparagus, ramps, zucchini and chanterelles. $10.

Raclette (molten cow’s cheese) comes with new potatoes, asparagus, broccoli and endives. $16.

Lobster wraps with celery, sour cream, pickled onion, English mustard and lettuce. $18.

Cider-glazed cod in a beurre-blanc sauce with mussels, apple, fennel and zucchini. $24.

Citrus- and honey-glazed steelhead trout served with carrots, blue potatoes and dandelion. $24.

The space

The 60-seat space is divided into two rooms: the front with a bar and epic cider fridge, and the back with a cool country vibe thanks to age-weathered tables, farmhouse chairs and strings of exposed bulbs.