On the edge

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/08/2016 (3323 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As some Kildonan Park regulars might know, the onetime Food Evolution has, in fact, evolved. After a brief shutdown in the winter, the WOW-owned location re-opened in the spring with a menu shift and a new name: Prairie’s Edge. (The website has not yet caught up, which can be confusing.)

This is one of the most beautiful restaurant venues in the city, a cool modernist pavilion with floor-to-ceiling glass that dissolves the barrier between interior and exterior, with a patio overlooking the newly renovated duck pond. On an August Winnipeg day, the view is deep and green and peaceful.

Unfortunately, the food doesn’t always live up to the setting.

For the restaurant’s latest incarnation, veteran Winnipeg chef Michael Dacquisto offers an upscale take on earthy regional ingredients such as bison, wild boar, pickerel, smoked goldeye, lentils, beets, heirloom farro, Bothwell cheese and buckwheat honey.

Some of the dishes come together beautifully, which makes the kitchen’s niggling inconsistencies even more frustrating.

The bumpiness starts with the drinks. Prosecco with raspberries and mint was balanced, crisp and cool, but a glass of sangria was absolutely overwhelmed with ice — I mean, diet-Coke-at-the-movie-theatre amounts of ice.

The bread basket — for which the restaurant charges — comes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. The super-skinny breadsticks and chewy focaccia were tasty, but plain white rolls were stale and out of place.

Sampled starters were strong, including smooth smoked Arctic char served with potato latkes and capers, and crisp ruby-red beet fritters garnished with a licorice-y fennel and orange slaw.

An entrée of steamed pickerel was under-seasoned, as was the accompanying rice, a mix of white and wild rice that skimped on the latter. House-made pasta with goldeye, capers and dill butter was meltingly rich, the garlic confit adding flavour that was both intense and mellow.

The lunchtime menu focuses on soups, salads, sandwiches and poutine. The bison burger was very good, not because it was tricked out with gourmet add-ons but because it got the fundamentals right, including juicy charred meat and a soft house-baked bun. A side of coleslaw was also good, a mix of string-thin red and green cabbage in a sharp, snappy dressing.

For dessert, the ice cream sandwich featured delicious banana ice cream but the homey ginger and honey cookies were unworkably thick. More successful was a parfait that alternates creamy layers of milk chocolate and orange mousses, offset with the crunch of white chocolate pearls.

On Saturdays, Prairie’s Edge offers wood-fired pizza, while Sundays centre on brunch.

Despite the recent rebranding, there seems to be some confusion about whether the restaurant wants to offer haute dining or a more casual experience. (Anyone paying $29 for an entrée should not be getting paper napkins.) Service is also uneven, mostly smoothly professional but with lapses into well-meaning incompetence.

Overall, the restaurant’s new conception is promising, with the concentration on regional ingredients paying off in some standout made-in-Manitoba dishes, but there is an undermining carelessness in the details.

One note for Kildonan Park newbies: Despite the Main Street address, the restaurant is quite a way inside the park, and you’ll need to keep a sharp eye out for the small sign indicating the turnoff.

alison.gillmor@freepress.mb.ca