What’s on the menu at NishDish, Toronto’s new Anishinabe café
Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette’s Anishinabe catering company, NishDish, moved into the old Tacos El Asador space earlier this month. Since then, the all-day weekend brunch menu has had people lining up along Bloor West, waiting patiently for braised bison short ribs with eggs and cedar tea. During the week, there’s no à la carte menu. Instead, Whiteduck Ringuette serves a rotating selection of dishes informed by his catering gigs: dandelion-cranberry salad, elk with cranberries, roasted buffalo, thyme- and sage-spiced pheasant and a variety of stews. “My father was a hunter, fisher and trapper, and he taught us how to snare and clean rabbits at a young age, but I never learned about indigenous cooking,” says Whiteduck Ringuette. “I talked to all the kokums [grandmothers] to find out what traditional food is.” Using this knowledge, he closes the store every Monday to teach a culinary class to a group of indigenous youth.
690 Bloor St. W., 416-855-4085, nishdish.com, @nishdishmarketeria
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/food/whats-on-the-menu-at-nish-dish-torontos-new-anishinabe-cafe/&title=What’s on the menu at NishDish, Toronto’s new Anishinabe café&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/toronto-restaurants-nish-dish-indigenous-koreatown-squash-corn-beans.jpg&description=Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette’s Anishinabe catering company, NishDish, moved into the old Tacos El Asador space earlier this month. Since then, the all-day weekend brunch menu has had people lining up along Bloor West, waiting patiently for braised bison short ribs with eggs and cedar tea. During the week, there’s no à la carte menu. Instead, Whiteduck Ringuette serves a rotating selection of dishes informed by his catering gigs: dandelion-cranberry salad, elk with cranberries, roasted buffalo, thyme- and sage-spiced pheasant and a variety of stews. "My father was a hunter, fisher and trapper, and he taught us how to snare and clean rabbits at a young age, but I never learned about indigenous cooking," says Whiteduck Ringuette. "I talked to all the kokums [grandmothers] to find out what traditional food is." Using this knowledge, he closes the store every Monday to teach a culinary class to a group of indigenous youth.
[caption id="attachment_422119" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] A bowl of Three Sisters Stew (green beans, butternut squash and corn). $6.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_422118" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Carrot, sweet potato and ginger soup with a hit of maple vinaigrette. $6.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_422120" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Roast venison and a fig balsamic reduction served with maple flake-topped butternut squash and shimeji mushrooms. $16.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_422113" align="aligncenter" width="853"] Chef Johl Whiteduck Ringuette.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_422117" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Many of the products on the menu are sourced from First Peoples producers. The Moccasin-Jo coffee beans, for example, are roasted in Kanehsatake, Quebec. They're available for sale by the pound, along with maple syrup and some non-edible items like moccasins and earrings.[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_422121" align="aligncenter" width="1280"] Ren Lonechild painted the front of the building and this 13 moon calendar.[/caption]
690 Bloor St. W., 416-855-4085, nishdish.com, @nishdishmarketeria){kind=link}