Food for Thought with Alex Bielak- Dishcrawl , A win for Hamilton

What an extra-ordinary few weeks culminating last Tuesday in Hamilton’s 2nd-ever Dishcrawl in Hess Village. 

On the heels of my 60th birthday, and retirement from my day job, I had a broad variety of culinary adventures that will be grist for reflection and future columns. I attended the inaugural (and, for me, life-changing) Food Bloggers of Canada conference. What I learned on many fronts will help improve how I write about food and wine: if you want a taste of what went on see this recap of recaps by a variety of attendees.

I also: got to use some serious molecular cooking equipment at Cedarlane Culinary; took in a demo of Cutco knives and cookware; and participated in the Hamilton Partners in Nutrition volunteer recognition luncheon (they feed breakfast to ~23,000 kids A DAY!). I also survived an Icarus-like cooking disaster in my own kitchen, but that’s another tale…

I’ve mentioned Dave Hanley, the man behind the Dishcrawls, in recent columns about the Hamilton food scene. When I got to the gathering place for the Hess Street event, Koi Restaurant, Dave was there in his pork pie hat greeting guests, and seeing to last minute logistics.

The basic outline of a Dishcrawl is this: Guest stump up a paltry $60 online (actually $71.79 after taxes and processing) to secure their spot. This includes all taxes and tips but not drinks. 48 hours prior to the event participants are notified where to gather. After some introductory remarks by the restaurant owner or chef they are fed. The next location is then disclosed and the crowd decamps. This is repeated again and again, with each of the four restaurants seemingly determined to outdo the others. The atmosphere is great,
conversation plentiful and the evening flies by.

Our Hess adventure saw us walking all of perhaps 100 meters in total. When we left Koi we crossed the road to Konoba, then dropped into the neighbouring Che Burrito and Lounge, and finally crossed the road again to Viso (new website coming soon).

Dean Collette is the owner of Asian-inspired Koi, which at 9 years, was the longest-operating venue we visited. He had heard good things about the inaugural Dishcrawl from the owner of the West Town Bar and Grill on Locke Street and was keen to become involved when approached by Hanley.

“I’m a fan of exposing our restaurant to people who like food… I’m proud of our food… Our chef is very talented and passionate,” he told me as we chatted before a sample of dishes from the menu appeared. The trio included the signature shrimp, made with fresh grated coconut, as well as a piece of “voodoo beef rib” in a house-made hoisin sauce. By the end of the evening I was glad that portions had mostly been tasting-sized.

In what quickly became a refrain for the evening, echoed by all the chefs and owners at the other venues, he said that people tend to see Hess village as a place for younger people (read “drinking and partying” in the words of one of his colleagues) and not as a restaurant destination. The Dishcrawl crowd (and I do mean crowd, the event was sold out and we bulged the seams at the smaller venues - Konoba and Viso) skewed somewhat to the Boomer generation.

My tablemates at Koi were three couples: Jim and Mary McColl, Sally and Sam Morgante and Art and Sharon Meneian were from Ancaster, Mount Hope and Burlington respectively. All Dishcrawl first timers, they unanimously gave thumbs up for the concept while voting the beef rib as the tastiest morsel on the plate.

We were in for another single plate tour-de-menu when we arrived at the newest kid on the block, Konoba, a Croatian eatery that opened in December 2012, in the space I previously knew as the Hess Wedding Chapel. We were greeted at the entrance by a trio playing some jolly tunes, though I’ll admit to not being certain if they were Croatian or not.  [Based on an email exchange with David Aldham after the Dishcrawl, I learned he is part of a Cuban trio called Solstice. Though I’m unclear on the Cuban/Croatian connection their tunes certainly were lively.]

The very animated Chef and co-owner, Vedran Sostaric explained his cooking as having a pan-European influence. The food was sourced locally and freshly made, and I’d be happy to sample more, particularly the hormone-free meat dishes. One of my table mates, Kate Sharrow, “absolutely” loved the food. We agreed the most tantalising taste, for me perhaps of the evening, was an onion pickle that just sparkled on the tongue. Chef’s wife, Sabina told me they carry over 25 varieties of Rakija fruit spirits and no less than 7 Croatian wines to accompany the food. (That’s for an evening where I have a DD.)

Since she loves Mexican food more than I do, it was a shame my wife was not with me when we moved on to Hamilton’s first Burrito and Taco joint adjacent to Konoba. Che Burrito is a funky spot owned by Scott Mcdonald, who had an interest in the property when it was a skateboard shop. (He still is a skater at heart, and organizes an annual charity drive to deliver new skateboards to kids in Havana, Cuba. That generous spirit was evident when he talked about his new neighbours: he really wants them to succeed.)

McDonald says he lived on tacos and burritos when he was in Southern California. When he opened up Che Burrito he strove to keep his sauces freshly-made and as authentic as possible. We were treated to a variety of zingy salsas (the jalapeno sauce was outstanding) before we moved on to a shared, messy “Supreme fries,” and then two soft tacos filled, respectively, with fish and chicken.

That was when I began to think that perhaps there might not be any room for more food. But onward we ploughed to Viso, a small Italian place across the street where we were greeted by a jaunty accordion player. There is no space for a freezer so by necessity everything is fresh. Pizza, arancini made with a secret blend of cheeses, a salad and dessert (a tasty Tiramisu) rounded us out.

Dave (who I’ll profile in a future column) was beginning to relax, and I think I actually saw him eat something, while owner Josie Di Trapani said “this was just a taste of what we do” as she encouraged us to return. “Hess Village really needs things like this. It has had such a bad rap” she said to me as I bade her good night.

The evening was perhaps best summed up by project-manager-by-day and freelance-photographer-by-night Nicole Longstaff: “There is something happening in Hamilton. There is a buzz.”

There certainly is, and Dishcrawl is contributing to it. Count it as a win for the restaurateurs, the diners and the City. Dates for three more Dishcrawls have been announced and tickets are selling fast: James St South (May 21st), James St North (May 28th) and the International Village (June 25th).

In closing, a shout out for my home community: The Taste of Waterdown prix-fixe promo continues April 29th – May 2nd, and might be something for Mr. Hanley to consider checking out. Also mark your calendars for the 2013 Oh Canada Rotary Ribfest in Memorial Park June 28th – July 1st. As always they need volunteers and you can sign up via the website.

Note: the author was a guest of Dishcrawl Hamilton for the Hess village event. Dishcrawl Hamilton did not see or review this article prior to publication.

To see more pictures, click here. 

Alex (Alex can be reached at fft@thehamiltonian.info ) or on twitter @AlexBielak

Food for Thought logo, designed and kindly donated by Ninka Bielak. Ninka can be reached at ninka.bielak@gmail.com.