Bless Your Heart

I've never done Winterlicious. Outside of the desire to check out (on the cheap) prestige restaurants like Canoe, you're unlikely to get a great meal. Most places don't seem to enjoy it either except for the increase in foot traffic. But for a business lunch on Monday, I stopped off at The Tavern By Trevor on Spadina. Looking over the 3-course lunch ($18), I opted for the flatbread appetizer, a buttermilk fried chicken main, and a sorbet for dessert. Unfortunately, the meal looked good but was a bit of a mess (kind of like their décor and ambience). It started OK (you can't really screw up toasted bread), but the main was poorly executed: overly salted kale salad, mushy mac and cheese, and stringy chicken. I've also never had a sorbet that tasted medicinal before. I reflected that the bistro was an on-the-nose metaphor for the "disruptive" businesses in the area: lots of flash, not much sizzle.