W
hen Versace’s Driveway opened last year on College Street, many people had little faith in its chances for survival, pointing to its sad attempt at being suave and hedonistic, it's overbearing name and undefined focus. With the area's little pockets of gentrification, the short-lived venue – which despite a great location, attracted little attention - didn't have much in common with its College Street brethren. But the closure of the bar has brought two uptown interlopers to the scene.
With a rocky start and humble aspirations, first-time restaurateurs Bill Sweete and Casey Bee have taken over the abandoned spot for their own definition of the space. Now dubbed Sidecar, the handsome room is all brick and beam aesthetics, highlighted by little dots of candlelight. With a long and narrow dining area that spills out onto a gated front (come summertime), the more refined layout seems closer to the area's new sensibilities.
With Sidecar, the boys have managed to trick up the Italian trattoria cliché, turning it into a hipster bistro that just happens to serve up fresh Italian comfort food. Happily Versace-free, the kitchen doesn't seem to be making any culinary statements. It just wants you to say, "Hey, this is good" as you soak up the Sidecar vibe and the energy of the area.
The menu is lean yet layered; the fare fanciful but accessible and generally well crafted. It's hard to know where to start. But it's easy to know where not to start. That would be the low-value appetizer winter tomato salad. At $12,00, the bufula mozzarella and oven roasted tomatoes don't taste nearly good enough to justify the cost. But the other five appetizer choices are not only attractively priced, but also fantastic. The superb sesame crusted ahi tuna ($14.00) is imaginatively paired with avocado relish and soya citrus dressing. Irresistibly crisp, shrimp tempura ($12.00) come packed with high-intensity bonito dipping sauce.
Look to the sea for Sweete's best main-dish work. Thanks to a light butter sauce and a side of Swiss chard, the grilled Atlantic salmon ($16.00) is deliciously simple. Firm textured and bright coloured, the seared filet is wonderful when swiped through a pool of tangy, salty butter sauce.
Pasta is, curiously, a peripheral concern, with Fettuccine Alfredo ($14.00) as the lone entry. This dish isn't exactly breaking new ground, but it makes an excellent dish all by itself, its pliant, homemade noodles needing only the de facto sauce to make it work.
The oven-roasted chicken ($16.00), nicely cooked to show off its tenderness, is great, but sharply at odds with the accompanying sweet-tart baby bok choy. The mashed potatoes and jus are great perks though. Comfort food at its best. The tender, braised lamb shank ($18.00) is also a crowd-pleaser. Served with spaghetti squash, the plump and juicy meat is glazed with a significant quantity of lamb jus. All of its elements play on each other to create a balanced whole.
Name aside, simplicity is the theme at Sidecar, with a kitchen that doles out tried-and-true classics. On a recent Thursday night, the lively crowd at the little spot was as big as Coco Lezzone's down the street. With its quiet, modern ambiance, attentive service and appealing fare, Sidecar is on a trajectory that is showing staying power. DE
At a Glance
Service was lovely, except for the bar, too slow there. And desserts were bang on deliciosos!had a great evening and would definitely come back.
We ordered the Prix fix starting with the sidecar salad. Ladies and gent's if you're looking for a regular boring house salad with some lettuce...you wont find that here. The sidecar salad was flavourful and delicious. My fiance has an allergy to cheese, so after already making his salad the waitress immediately sent it back to make a new one with no problem.
Next up was the steak frites. The steak was cooked to perfection. the fries were delicious..small but perfectly salted and not in any way greasy.
Finally..and here is what I truly recommend...we had the flourless chocolate cake. I was a bit skeptical considering i hate chocolate cake, but this was not cake. It was the most decadent truffle of chocolate that melted in your mouth. Absolutely AMAZING.
All in all it was a fabulous atmosphere, with fabulous food for only the price of $24!!!!
I admit the drinks were pricey and are usually what make your bill. But these are not wimpy little 1 shot drinks. They always taste really good and are definitely worth the extra cost.
The drink prices were outrageous. We were charged $14 for a dirty martini made with their bar vodka (Stoli), which was served in a ~2.5 oz dessert cup. A mildly boozy coffee at the end of our meal was $10. Much of the wine list was overpriced as well. The worst part of our night out was the service. Our server (a thin, dark-haired lad), was uncomfortable and nervous. He would often back away from the table while speaking to us, and he continually touched our personal items on the table and chairs for no reason. It was very odd. Our drinks were empty for 15 minutes after he cleared our entre plates, and after flagging him down for our next drink selection, he took two of our orders and then ran off without asking the remaining member of our party if she wanted another.
The weird server and the price of the drinks turned me off this place.
even preparing the Lamb Shank that is not on the menu at this time as my guest has wanted to try it for a while now but could not find the time to make it to Sidecar until now. As well the owners brought over tastings of items on the menu while we waited for our dinner .
Thank You sidecar for making sure it was an evening to remember-- as we were leaving there was a lineup out the door!! we will be back often and will bring our friends Oh, the cocktails were all delish!!
Went on a Monday night, and arrived around 7:00 with no reservation- the place was packed! Owner Casey Bee greeted us at the door, apologized that he had was full and it would be at least an hour's wait if we decided to stay. The $22 prix fixe deal was too tempting- we couldn't pass it up. We opted to stick it out and have a drink at the bar while waiting.
The drink menu is very creative, made up of nostalgic cocktails featuring liquors they infuse themselves- The Cucumber Caesar is my favourite, made with cucumber vodka and dill-infused clamato.
While we waited, Casey brought us a plate of Shrimp Tempura on-the-house, and the bartender brought us a basket of bread to snack on. When we finally sat down at our table, we were surprised again with a second round of cocktails, also on-the-house. Talk about knowing how to keep your customers happy!
The food was to die for - I had the mushroom soup to start (practically licked the bowl clean) and salmon with swiss chard & butter sauce (I second the reviewers note about this being the best dish: perfectly cooked and flavourful, in a very generous portion)
The gracious, friendly service and delicious meal left me with a great impression of this restaurant-- It was all well worth the wait.
I'm now planning my birthday dinner here, because I want all my friends to try it too!
The service was incredibly slow. Four of our friends were already seated when the remaining three arrived. It took about 10 minutes to even get water and we never received additional menus. It took an hour to get bread on the table.
I would estimate it took about an hour and a half to get our meals. You would think with that kind of a wait that the alcohol would come quickly, but drink service was also a complete drag. I did not need to worry about over drinking because it took so long to get my next drink. Our reservations were for 8PM so I don't believe that we were crashing the main dinner rush, although the restaurant was busy. When the food finally did arrive, my ceviche was tasteless and added to my disappointment. We practically had to beg for our bills since those were also incredibly slow in coming.
As I said, I will not be returning. Don't bother checking out this location
I liked the steak frites, the small fry was yummy with whatever the sauce was..... I had the steak the third time I was in as well, but this time I kindly asked for a vege....a girl has to watch her figure, the waiter was smiling and sweet when they mentioned it wouldn't be a problem..probably the kitchen hated me but was I ever happy when this gorgeous steak and plate of asparagus is placed in fromt of me. A little too much butter on my asparagus, but I am a fitness buff and this stuff hits me hard!
To the writer whom was so extra ugly.... you are awful! How dare you slander a place like SIDECAR! to tell people to never eat there you are a disgrace to the reviewing public who would like to inform others of their experience. You are a negative ugly person!!!
thanks,
try sidecar, oh and p.s. their cocktails blew me away. small but strong! I wanted to try one of everything.,...soon i will!
I will be back soon!
John
The service is the type that you would find in a much higher priced restaurant. Friendly, exact and unassuming.
This is the perfect place for a first date or a regular date night.
Excellent value for you money.
It's all about the Tuesdays, GO ON Tuesdays! Best value in the city for the food you get. Both Bill and Casey are superb as chef and host.
2 words. Lamb. Shank. you'll go back
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