aking over an administration office on Gilead Place, just south of King Street E, the latest addition to the Jamie Kennedy Kitchens (JKK) group is open to the masses. What was previously the organization's office space has been reworked to encompass the Gilead Café, where a production kitchen and business office still remains. Ever mindful of urban sprawl, His Kennedyness has gone from the sublime to curiously anonymous; if you didn't know the Gilead Café was there, you would clearly miss it, so discretely is it hidden down an alleyway.

Though the café is organized cafeteria style, it remains true to Kennedy's tradition of utilizing seasonal produce and serving his stupendous French fries. Center stage is Canadian, if not provincial, content; everything is homemade, right down to the paté. Jars of rotating preserves, depending on the season, line the walls, allowing the "menu to stay local, even in the winter," said Laura Hipple, Café manager. JKK stays true to their mandate of supporting a sustainable supply of local ingredients to the public from surrounding farms and producers, as well as using meat from naturally raised animals and fish species. The sparse venue features a large communal table and a couple smaller, more intimate dining surfaces; so you can come to hang out, read a book, or pretend to be working.

While you are lounging, feel free to watch the behind-the-scenes action of the JKK production kitchen. In the café one Tuesday morning, the scene was filled with no lee than a dozen chefs completing orders for the restaurants and catered functions; all of which gives the space great energy and charm. As Dan Donovon, Director of Operations and VP of JKK, explained, in order to get the best baked goods at all the restaurants, full time bakers were necessary, but there wasn't quite enough for them to do. With all the items sold in the new place being house made, and a frequently changing menu, the café was thus a perfect mechanism to keep them busy. At another JK restaurant, the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar, diners are invited to the bar to watch some of the stages of the production. With a desire to make the public realize that, "this is food made by real people, out of a real kitchen, with ingredients that come out of real dirt," the Gilead Café brings the public as close to the kitchen that "the health department will let them be," said Donovon.

Pastries such as pain au chocolat ($2), which are über buttery and chocolaty from end to end, are available for breakfast, with sandwiches such as pulled pork with frisée ($9), soups and artisnal cheese plates, and of course the infamous poutine, all available from the à la carte lunch menu. For dessert, the lemon tart ($3.50) is perfectly tart lemon curd with a dense, but flaky crust. Coffee is great but a bit pricey with a regular cup or cappuccino clocking in at $5.50. The café is hoping to attract residents in the area and people looking for a "quaint little time," says Hipple, in addition to the working crowd for a quick, gourmet lunch. Kennedy is also trying to make life easier for the working guy or gal by providing prepared foods to take home. With delicacies such as marinated elk ($8/100g), prepared salads (running up to $3/100g), and chicken liver paté (3.50/piece) for takeout – but with the full glamour treatment - what's to stop you from telling your friends you made it yourself? Now open. -C.S.