Nice night out won’t break the bank

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This article was published 05/03/2018 (2742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The creators of a new South Osborne eatery are challenging the expectations of fine dining.

Lucien Joyal and Sean Bernard, two self-described “normal guys in our mid-20s and early 30s,” opened The Oxbow at 557 Osborne St. in the former home of Sawatdee Thai on Jan. 4.

Bernard, the restaurant’s head chef and co-owner, is in charge of the fluid and changing four-course menu (which currently features dishes such as rye spaetzle, chicken glace, venison loin, and tempura pear fritter) while Joyal, general manager and co-owner, handles the day-to-day operations and natural wine list.

“In Winnipeg, if you say fine dining it conjures up all these images of white table cloths, six forks, and wine that no one can afford to buy,” Joyal said. “We didn’t want to do that,”

Though dinner runs just shy of $50 and is accompanied by a wine list with prices starting around $40 a bottle, Joyal insists the experience at The Oxbow is something people from across the spectrum can appreciate.

“We like all these fancy things but by no means would anyone look at us and say these guys are ‘hoity-toity,’” Joyal said. “We’re trying to make this as accessible as possible. So I think what our goal is, is to deliver fine dining quality without all the pretense associated with it.”

According to Joyal, he and Bernard met while working at The Roost on Corydon Avenue. Bernard was the chef at the cocktail lounge and Joyal was working as a server. After Joyal shared his desire to open up his own food and drink establishment with Bernard, the two began to talk about partnering on a project. And when owners of The Roost, Ike Hedenstierna and Caiden Birchman, caught wind of the idea they came on as partners as well, Joyal said.

The Oxbow is a bit of a passion project for Joyal, who has been working in restaurants since he was a teen. In that time, Joyal said he’s seen the best and worst of the industry and only after a few influential experiences locally, did he realize what owning a restaurant could mean for him.

“The jobs that mattered to me the most in the most recent period, was working at The Cornerstone in Osborne Village,” Joyal said. “I told (the owners) that I credit them for me still being in restaurants, because I was done with restaurants.

“I was so disillusioned with them, I had worked for a lot of big brands, and I was finished with it. But I started working there and what was so cool about it was that they just had this feel of people who cared.”

Joyal said he hopes to carry that ethos forward and the focus of The Oxbow will be on stripping away “the fanciness of things” and getting down to the core of the customer experience.

“You can have fun, you can have personality, you can have humility but you’re also there to deliver an excellent experience,” he said. “That’s what I’ve tried to bring here more than anything.”

For hours and a full menu listing go to oxbowwpg.ca