What’s on the menu at Le Phénix, a French pop-up restaurant from the Chantecler team

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | January 28, 2020

By Caroline Aksich | Photography By Caroline Aksich | 01/28/2020

More on Chantecler

Inside Chantecler Boucherie, the Parkdale restaurant’s next-door butcher shop

Name: Le Phénix
Contact: 1263 Queen St. W., 416-342-1587, lephenixto.com, @lephenixto
Neighbourhood: Parkdale
Previously: IST Snack Bar
Owner: Jacob Wharton-Shukster (Chantecler)
Chef: Peter Robson (Le Banane, Enoteca Sociale)
Accessibility: Ramp at entrance; washrooms down a flight of stairs

The food

“When Chantecler burned down, we were feeling pretty dark about it,” says Wharton-Shukster, whose Parkdale bistro caught fire last November. Even though it was a smallish electrical fire, it will be a minute before Chantecler is back up and popping bottles and oysters. So, what’s a restaurateur to do without a restaurant? Why, open another restaurant, of course! And this one—named after the mythological bird that’s born from its own ashes—just happens to be right across the street. However, unlike the phoenix, which has a legendarily long lifespan, Le Phénix won’t be around that long.

A few Chantecler favourites (chicken liver pâté, steak tartare, French onion soup) are on the menu at Le Phénix, but chef Peter Robson has created a number of new French plates for the pop-up. Here’s a look at a few of the dishes you can nab from now until June.

The steak tartare is made with top sirloin. The red dollop on the side is a house-fermented hot sauce made with Fresno and Anaheim chilies. The crostini was made from Blackbird’s sourdough baguette. $15.

Here’s a side of roasted beets with house cheese, orange segments, horseradish and puffed chick peas. $11.

This poached B.C. halibut is dusted with leek ash and piled with salsify chips. It sits in a pool of herb oil-dotted lemon beurre blanc. $24.

The Butcher’s Cut changes every day. Le Phénix gets all its meat from Chantecler Boucherie, which buys whole animals, and ages them in house. Pictured here is some red wine-braised beef shoulder on top of a silky cauliflower purée. The plate is finished with a few pickled elements: beech mushrooms and pearl onions. Market price.

This chocolate-hazelnut terrine is dusted with Maldon salt and topped with souffletine-studded white chocolate. $12.

The drinks

Sommelier Jenny Lessie has curated an Old World–focused wine list with plenty of funky bottles to choose from. The beers, meanwhile, include craft beer from Quebec (Dieu du Ciel!), Oregon (Oxbow), and Ontario (Halcyon), with some populist brews like Labatt 50 rounding out the list.