Family Style Dining at Ruby Watchco

Ruby Watchco is the restaurant recently opened by celebrity chef Lynn Crawford (host of Restaurant Makeover).  The unusual name was inspired by the former resident of the building, the Ruby Watch Company, as indicated by the large sign hanging on the wall.

Ruby Watchco is unique in that it offers only one 4-course set menu per day for $49, with the menus for the week described in advance on their website.  There is a vegetarian option if you ask for it.  The food is served family style, giving you the feel of going home to mom's and finding out what's for dinner.  This restaurant tries to use locally grown, organic produce and ingredients.

Our meal started off with a beet and watercress salad with cucumbers, carrots and goat cheese covered in a pistachio vinaigrette.  The menu lists the farms that these vegetables come from.  The main course was grilled Ontario veal chops with a sweet bread lemon caper sauce, accompanied by corn on the cob covered with honey and smoked paprika butter, grilled zucchini with herb pesto and dill potatoes with caramelized onions.

The third course was a soft and aromantic Riopelle cheese from a local fromagerie, served with grilled bread slices and chunks of Ontario peaches with an orange marmalade.  Dessert was a refreshing fruit crisp consisting of blueberries, strawberries, apricots and raspberries topped with a small dollop of whipping cream.  Summer time seems to be a good time to come for dinner, since the local harvest is plentiful.

This was tasty, wholesome,  hearty food with nothing too showy or splashy in terms of presentation or ingredients.  It rather reminded us of a good home cooked meal.  And if you don't like what's on the menu for the day, then I'm reminded of what Rich's father used to tell him when he didn't want to eat his dinner .. "That's too bad, it's a long time until breakfast".

Ruby Watchco
730 Queen St East