Introducing: The Feasting Room, a carnivore’s delight of a pop-up on College
The Feasting Room is a six-month project by Noah Goldberg and Mathieu Dutan, who, much like the founders of certain other restaurants in the city, met on Craigslist. Goldberg, who has cooked at Lee and Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne in New York, was working at nose-to-tail temple St. John in London, England, when he decided to return to Toronto and posted an ad to enlist a general manager who would share in his vision. Dutan, who has spent time at Bistro Bakery Thuet, Gamelle and La Palette in Toronto and has also trained as a sommelier in Paris, answered Goldberg, and The Feasting Room was born.
Thursdays to Mondays from 5 to 10 p.m., The Feasting Room takes over The Orbit Room (after which your regularly scheduled Orbit Room bar takes its space back). The pop-up is a testing ground for Goldberg’s nose-to-tail menu concept and a means of measuring interest for a potential permanent location in the new year. Each week, a new six-course tasting menu focusing on one animal will be offered for $65, with an additional $35 for paired drinks. Each dinner is a blind tasting, which means guests don’t know what they’ll get until it arrives at the table. The “menu”—a diagram of the featured animal and its various cuts, packaged in the same rose-coloured butcher’s paper that adorns the tables—offers only a clue to the dishes. Each part is numbered and represents the course in which that part will appear on your plate.
This week’s menu features rabbit, and Goldberg has plans for hare, goat, wild boar, duck, goose, chicken, deer and buffalo, to name just a few. On the week of our visit, the animal of the week was pig. Dishes included a table snack of pork crackling paired with a glass of prosecco, head cheese with a selection of pickled vegetables and three types of Kozlik’s mustard, and pig spleen pounded with bacon and a frisée salad. Dessert was a play on pork ’n’ beans: cannoli fried in pork fat and filled with a red bean purée and candied bacon, sitting in a dulce de leche crème anglaise and paired with a sip of Barenjager honey liqueur. In other words, this is not food for the faint of carnivorous heart—even the soap was made of pig fat.
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- In the bathroom: pig’s fat soap
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- Dessert: a play on pork ’n’ beans, cannoli fried in pork fat and filled with a red bean purée and candied bacon, sitting in a dulce de leche crème anglaise; it was paired with a sip of Barenjager honey liqueur
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- The final course: pork tenderloin with purple potato and rhubarb compote, paired with a Satellite 2010 pinot noir from New Zealand
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- Fourth course: pig’s cheek on a bean salad, paired with a Ravine Vineyard 2009 Estates Riesling
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- Third course: pig spleen pounded with bacon and a frisée salad, paired with a Balcón Del Valle malbec
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- Second course: head cheese with a selection of pickled vegetables and three types of Kozlik’s mustard, paired with a 2009 Château du Coing muscadet
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- First course: pea soup with smoked ham hock, with a side of fried pig ears, paired with a Spanish 2009 Zuazo Gastón tempranillo
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- Amuse-bouche: a Scotch quail egg that’s been soft-boiled, wrapped in pork shoulder and served with spicy ketchup
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- The menu: a diagram of the animal, the numbered parts representing the courses in the blind tasting menu
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- The Feasting Room menu package
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- To start, a table snack of pork crackling
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- The tables are covered in butcher paper
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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- Thursdays to Mondays, The Feasting Room takes over The Orbit Room for dinner service
- Introducing: The Feasting Room
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The Feasting Room, 580 College St., 647-785-3557, thefeastingroom.com, @thefeastingroom
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/introducing-the-feasting-room/&title=Introducing: The Feasting Room, a carnivore’s delight of a pop-up on College&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/june12FeastingRoom_intro-624x414.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_143424" align="aligncenter" width="656" caption="Thursdays to Mondays, The Feasting Room takes over The Orbit Room for dinner service"][/caption]
The Feasting Room is a six-month project by Noah Goldberg and Mathieu Dutan, who, much like the founders of certain other restaurants in the city, met on Craigslist. Goldberg, who has cooked at Lee and Daniel Boulud’s DB Bistro Moderne in New York, was working at nose-to-tail temple St. John in London, England, when he decided to return to Toronto and posted an ad to enlist a general manager who would share in his vision. Dutan, who has spent time at Bistro Bakery Thuet, Gamelle and La Palette in Toronto and has also trained as a sommelier in Paris, answered Goldberg, and The Feasting Room was born.
Thursdays to Mondays from 5 to 10 p.m., The Feasting Room takes over The Orbit Room (after which your regularly scheduled Orbit Room bar takes its space back). The pop-up is a testing ground for Goldberg’s nose-to-tail menu concept and a means of measuring interest for a potential permanent location in the new year. Each week, a new six-course tasting menu focusing on one animal will be offered for $65, with an additional $35 for paired drinks. Each dinner is a blind tasting, which means guests don’t know what they’ll get until it arrives at the table. The “menu”—a diagram of the featured animal and its various cuts, packaged in the same rose-coloured butcher’s paper that adorns the tables—offers only a clue to the dishes. Each part is numbered and represents the course in which that part will appear on your plate.
This week’s menu features rabbit, and Goldberg has plans for hare, goat, wild boar, duck, goose, chicken, deer and buffalo, to name just a few. On the week of our visit, the animal of the week was pig. Dishes included a table snack of pork crackling paired with a glass of prosecco, head cheese with a selection of pickled vegetables and three types of Kozlik’s mustard, and pig spleen pounded with bacon and a frisée salad. Dessert was a play on pork ’n’ beans: cannoli fried in pork fat and filled with a red bean purée and candied bacon, sitting in a dulce de leche crème anglaise and paired with a sip of Barenjager honey liqueur. In other words, this is not food for the faint of carnivorous heart—even the soap was made of pig fat.
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The Feasting Room, 580 College St., 647-785-3557, thefeastingroom.com, @thefeastingroom){kind=link}
This sounds repulsive. I thought mankind is supposed to be so advanced? Humanity is definitely devolving, not evolving.
From reading this explanation, you would think those involved are civilized people. Obviously not. This is revolting and extremely disturbing. I am not a vegetarian or vegan but I would never dine in a place like this. I sincerely hope the venture fails big time.
This sounds so cool. Makes me wish I did eat meat.
I don’t quite see what you (Lynn and Alex) are disgusted by. I see the logic in objecting to animal consumption in the first place, but Lynn, you say you are not a vegetarian. What about it bothers you, I am curious?
I completely agree with you Rachel. Also Lynn, there is a difference between something bothering you/choosing not to eat there vs. you sincerely hoping the venture fails. The former is your opinion (which you are entitled to), the later is hateful.
I ate during Pig week and it was a fantastic experience. Something unique to this city and I wish the Chef (Noah) best of luck!
I definitely disagree with Alex and Lynn.
Think about how much of the animal doesn’t get consumed because our traditional dining views are “Oh that’s gross! I would never eat that, I’ve never even heard of it!” HOW WASTEFUL!?
Let’s have an open mind, reduce animal wastage by consuming off-cuts, and enjoy the process of trying new things.
All the best to the Feasting Room!
sounds absolutely amazing, i can’t wait to try it!
This place is awesome!! Went last week for the Rabbit menu and enjoy every course. Good luck Noah & Mathieu!!!
I hope this new venture takes off! I think Rachel & GM makes excellent points. I certainly don’t wish failure on raw restaurants, just because I cook my food. And to think … what courage to start something so unique, ecologically friendly, creative and (from what I hear) delicious. Good on ya, boys. I’ve been saving my pennies and will be eating there this weekend. Cannot wait. :)
Alex and Lynn are the fails here – f*ck both of you. Looks super cool and will try to hit it when I am in TO. Even though the “pounded pig spleen” makes me a bit queasy, it needs to be tried.
Pretty funny to have a guy named Noah Goldberg so dedicated to pig. Mazel tov to you!
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This sounds repulsive. I thought mankind is supposed to be so advanced? Humanity is definitely devolving, not evolving.
June 13, 2012 at 3:16 pm | by Alex
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Translation: “I’m so dim and spiteful I’m going to shriek that the more efficient nose-to-tail philosophy is a demo of humans being less evolved. I’m off to protest Dim Sum joints now because I heard they serve chicken feet. How revolting and ooky!”
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From reading this explanation, you would think those involved are civilized people. Obviously not. This is revolting and extremely disturbing. I am not a vegetarian or vegan but I would never dine in a place like this. I sincerely hope the venture fails big time.
June 13, 2012 at 3:25 pm | by Lynn Graydon
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Translation: “I eat meat but I don’t have a clue how it gets to my table. This menu is so foreign to me and my teeny tiny food worldview that it must be stupid and I hope the venture fails. I’m also so selfish and narrow minded that I don’t want anybody to experience this menu. I am an enormous clown.”