Cuckoo For Cooking

I enjoyed my brunch at Wind Up Bird. On Thursday, I went for dinner to check out their summer menu. These were divided into categories but all were tapas-style (small plates). So it can be hard to avoid a higher-than-expected bill. I ordered 3 dishes: a small bowl of seasonal greens ($5), a sausage hot pot ($9), and beef tenderloin ($15). I was informed by the waitstaff that being tapas, the dishes would come out as they were ready and not in some particular order.

The greens were fresh and tangy from the vinaigrette. But I'm a bit mystified with these acidic-based salads in North American cuisine. Why not try savoury or other taste profile? In any case, some nuts would have added a nice variety to this dish. For both the skillet and hot pot items, the meat was the highlight. The beef was tender and moist, the pancetta was rich and fatty, and the sausage was the stand-out: earthy, fragrant, with just a hint of spiciness. I wasn't as enamoured with the vegetables. They were good but barely cooked. That was fine for the asparagus but I wanted more flavour and less crunch from the carrots, cabbages, and celery.

This place does dinner as well as brunch. But it doesn't seem to have the traction of other restaurants in the neighbourhood. It was true that the evening service had just started but even by the time I left, there were only a handful of patrons here.