Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown

The Best French Restaurant in Riverdale's Chinatown

Bon Jour, Bon Chow in Riverdale’s Chinatown

March 26, 2010

Batifole

744 Gerrard Street East

416-462 9965

Photo: Batifole

Last week my friend Steven and I went out for dinner to celebrate his recent move into Riverdale, the relaxed friendly central east-side neighbourhood that runs south of The Danforth towards Queen Street's newly re-named Riverside Neighbourhood, just east of the Don Valley.  This pocket of the city was once the town of Riverdale before it was annexed by the City of Toronto in 1884.

Consisting of a collection of pretty tree-lined streets home to an eclectic range of Victorian and Edwardian residences primarily constructed between the 1880s and the Great Depression, this charming enclave of residences has evolved from its working class roots of English, Irish and Scottish immigrants into a high-demand multi-cultural neighbourhood, including a Little Chinatown running along Gerrard Street East at Broadview.

Amidst the chinese storefronts on Gerrard Street East is the french cafe Batifole which, like the neighbourhood, has an intimate scale and relaxed vibe. Open since 2004, this comfortable pretense-free bistro has been consistently celebrated for the classic flavours of its Gallic cuisine and spectacular selection of french wines.  Sipping our pernod and pastiche in the simply decorated dining room seating around thirty, the french music, fresh baguette with salted butter, and wonky flickering track lighting reminded me of the homespun magic of Parisian cafes. I wish I could articulate it better, but there's a "je n'est sais quois" about the place that seems perfectly authentic and engagingly romantic. In fact, I can see why in 2007 Toronto Life called it a "Best First Date Restaurant".

Chef/owner Jean-Jacques Texier does a superb job with his eight appetizers at $8, and eight mains for $18. The lentil salad with crunchy cucumber tossed in a maple & thyme reduction and topped with warm double-smoked crispy pork belly was textural and tasty. The filet of skate sautéed in butter and finished with tarragon cream sauce was a delicate composition of flavour, in contrast to the Ontario Angus beef tenderloin topped with melted blue cheese & a red Dubonnet demi-glace (a speciality at $24) which was bold and hearty. The pomme frites and mixed green salad we choose to accompany our mains were bang-on francais.  Batifole has all the elements that make me want to go back. Attentive service without any pomp and circumstance, an intimacy that comes with a cosy dining room perfect to unobtrusively people-watch, and stellar food for a reasonable price that says "Wednesday night" more than "special occasion". It's one more reason to dine east.

~Steven

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