Introducing: Brockton General, Dundas West’s new snack bar
Adding to the influx of small, simple restaurants in the city is Dundas West’s week-old, low-key snack bar Brockton General (staff: three, dishwashers: zero). As the chef, Guy Rawlings, explains, opening a room that seats 30 means less bureaucratic finagling. Look at Nathan Isberg’s similar setup a few blocks down at The Atlantic.
Friends and first-time restaurateurs Pam Thomson and Brie Read found the space on Craigslist in June (it was previously a Portuguese sports bar) and hired Rawlings (Cowbell, Célestin) to man the small kitchen. Each night, Rawlings writes the menu, starring produce found at Downsview Park’s urban farm, on a roll of chart paper hung on a blank wall. On one visit, it included two appetizers and three mains—all under $20—in the nose-to-tail Cowbell tradition. Tagliatelle with wild boar’s head, anyone?
Dinner is served on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but drinks and the bar menu are available nightly, when the old sport bar’s rowdy regulars mix with Ossington Avenue runoff. Nibbling plates include olives, pickled vegetables and almonds ($3), as well as duck liver mousse ($7) and cheeses like Bénédictin Blue ($7.75) and Grey Owl ($7). Bourbonade—fresh-squeezed lemonade with bourbon and soda—makes a nice summer sipper ($8).
Brockton General, 1321 Dundas St. W., 647-342-6104. Closed Tuesday.
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