An elegant getaway
Cosy confines mix well with cocktails and conversation
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/12/2017 (2317 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Langside Grocery is not a grocery at all, but a darkly elegant little cocktail bar tucked away in the West Broadway neighbourhood.
With a curving wooden bar, leather banquettes, a few café tables, a stamped-tin ceiling and a fireplace, this intimate venue feels like a cross between a bijoux Paris bistro and someone’s living room.
The craft cocktails range from the classic to the unexpected (with ingredients like tarragon-infused tequila and salsa verde). The tight and seasonally shifting menu offers mostly nibbly bits of finger food, served on what looks like my grandmother’s — and possibly your grandmother’s — china.
Expect some elevated bar snacks like olives marinated with orange zest and chili, or Marcona almonds, their smooth texture and mild flavour spiked with smoked paprika. Winnipeggers will love the peppered Old Dutch chips (though they’ll probably notice the markup).
Deep and dark fig and olive tapenade is paired with perfect crostini. A sampled charcuterie plate featured, on one night, Manchego cheese, spicy coppa, wee sour cornichons, grainy mustard and fig jam. The current incarnation of the seasonal salad features lovely and lightly dressed arugula with walnuts and blue cheese.
The one letdown was a featured tarte flambé with fig jam, which was just too figgy, the sweetness muscling out the subtler flavours of duck confit and brie.
House cocktails are built up with two ounces of the good stuff, including premium spirits like 12-year-old Bowmore scotch and Buffalo Trace bourbon. A sampled Three Piece Suit was crisp but gorgeously subtle, simply finished with a lime twist and one big berg of slow-to-melt ice.
The vibe is sexy and nocturnal. Illuminated by some hanging lamps and bare Edison bulbs, the Langside is all about mood lighting, pulling off a velvety darkness that rivals the downstairs bar at Forth.
Be prepared for a wait to sit down, though the tightly packed house and buzzing conversation (and the Winnipeggy fact that everyone at my table ran into people they knew) do impart a cool cocktail party vibe.
● ● ●
At Trans Canada Brewing Co. (TCB), the latest local craft brewery and taproom to open wide its doors, it’s beer and pizza — and that’s all.
It’s good beer and good pizza, though, so what else do you really need?
The setup is casual. We ordered at the bar, getting a couple of beer flights for the table and ending up with an eclectic sampling of the 16 house brews, from a light and fritzy Witbier to a deeply dark pumpkin ale, with nudges of coffee and chocolate.
On the food side, we ordered some of Timmy Tom’s pizza pies, which include old-school classics like pepperoni and mushroom, and the polarizing ham and pineapple, but also some intriguing and ambitious ingredient combos.
The all-important crust is good — thin and crisp with a nice bit of chew, and browned but not blistered.
There are pies that start with tomato sauce — a feta and roasted tomato option or a hotsy blend of sopprasseta, peppadew peppers and parmesan. There are also several white pizzas, including a terrific ground lamb with lemon ricotta and a heady rush of garlic. The funghi is a beautiful mix of sautéed wild mushrooms, smoked gouda and blue cheese, swirls of pancetta and a scattering of arugula.
There are also vegetarian pizzas and one robust vegan option. Garden pizzas can be a little insipid, but this one, which starts with a base of curried butternut squash mash, is packed with big, emphatic chunks of cauliflower, zucchini, roasted red onion and finished with spiced and salted chickpeas.
Rotating specials at TCB include a brewer’s pairing, which brings together a special pizza with a complementary brew. The friendly staff is also happy to make suggestions for whatever you order.
The space is high-ceilinged and big, with those Beowulf’s-meadhall-type furnishings so beloved by brewers — basically long and heavy communal tables flanked by benches. (One quibble: the benches are fixed in place but seem to be just a bit too far from the tables.)
The neighbourhood isn’t exactly trendy. The massive 15,000-square-foot-plus venue — most of this space taken up by the big, shiny brew works seen through a window — is located on the Route 90 strip near outlet malls and industrial parks.
On the other hand, this could be a great place to go to restore your relationship after a stressful holiday shop at Ikea.
alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca
Alison Gillmor
Writer
Studying at the University of Winnipeg and later Toronto’s York University, Alison Gillmor planned to become an art historian. She ended up catching the journalism bug when she started as visual arts reviewer at the Winnipeg Free Press in 1992.
History
Updated on Thursday, December 14, 2017 8:50 AM CST: Cutline changed
Updated on Thursday, December 14, 2017 10:52 AM CST: Typo fixed.