Review: Delica Kitchen, the new Leslieville location of the gourmet lunch counter
Delica Kitchen ★½ 913 Queen St. E., 416-546-5408
Last summer, Devin Connell closed her Queen East chicken-and-waffles place, Paulette’s, and opened a second location of her midtown lunch counter in its place. The menu advertises wholesome ingredients and inventive flavours, and mostly delivers.
A terrific Asian-inflected chicken slaw combines crisp napa cabbage, lots of soft breast meat and crunchy, spicy pepitas dressed in a puckery ginger vinaigrette. Sweet potato and jalapeño soup is a bit too salty, but still satisfies on a cold afternoon. Just about every dessert—sweet strawberry jammies, chewy, salt-spangled chocolate chip cookies—is buttery and wonderful. The doughnuts, in flavours like candy apple and pumpkin pie, usually sell out by midday, but not to worry: you can order them online by the dozen.
