Introducing: Mangez, Parkdale’s new house of grilled cheese
When young entrepreneurs Paul Stavro-Beauchamp and Mike Scrimshaw set up newly opened Mangez (as in French for “eat!”), the idea was to address at least two deficiencies of the west-of-the-tracks bit of Queen West: the neighbourhood’s curious ice cream void and the limited grub options for late-night revelers. By day, Mangez is a quaint place to grab a sandwich or sample some ice cream from the east end’s Ed’s Real Scoop. Scrimshaw is particularly passionate about the French mint, which is drizzled with chocolate by hand as it’s crafted. The sandwiches are simple with gourmet touches, like the grilled portobello on ciabatta ($9) with aïoli, arugula and hummus. Add a leek and potato soup for $3.50.
That’s during daylight hours. When Friday night rolls around, the movable menu chalkboards flip and Mangez’s focus changes to the inebriation recovery food that looks like it might be the next poutine: grilled cheese. “When you’re coming out of a bar or a club at 3:30 in the morning, you don’t want to sit down for a proper meal,” says Scrimshaw. Adds his counterpart: “You want to go through your pocket change and grab something you can stumble home with.” Something like a straight-up, aged cheddar grilled sandwich with bacon and tomato.
Mangez is still finding its foothold, but the owners are locals (they live above the Parkdale Drink) and understand what the strip needs: something closer than Poutini’s that isn’t yet another falafel.
Mangez, 1320 Queen St. W., twitter.com/mangez_parkdale.
