Wednesday, October 29, 2014

The Cornerstone: 4.2/5


The Cornerstone
Score: 4.1
Platter: $13



Papa Gorgeous
Score: 4.9
Platter: $12.5



You can expect great food and the best service at The Cornerstone. The sister to The Grove opened in the Papa George’s location at 93 Osborne Street in February and it’s a perfect fit with the Village vibe.

As a nod to the iconic former occupant, the first burger to go on the menu was the Papa Gorgeous. The self named Cornerstone Burger was added during Burger Week and for those in the know, you can also order the off-the-menu Grove Burger.

The Cornerstone is roomy and brightly lit, dominated by a large bar overlooked by the open kitchen. It’s an acoustically bright space and I'm sure Burger Club were the noisy ones when we were there for supper. Karen and I arrived about an hour early and they already had us comfortably setup on the River Ave wing of the L shaped restaurant. Geoff wrote “My first time in the building since it was Papa George's. I like how they opened up the inside, taking out the walls and putting in a multitude of large windows. The beer selection is expansive, but not very expensive which is a bonus.

Our waitress, Elodie - “Melodie without the M” – was fantastic. She was all smiles, quick with the drink orders and refills, and happy to answer questions about the restaurant. The Cornerstone received Burger Club's highest service rating: 4.9/5. Head Chef Norm Pastorin dropped by our table to say hello and see how The Cornerstone was doing. “I thought there’d be more of you …” Tonight we were a smaller group of ten. Norm told us about the locally sourced ingredients such as the soft fluffy buns from Stella’s and the bacon that’s smoked and seasoned at a local butcher. He likes it because it cooks to leathery perfection; so did we – the burger had a folded layer of bacon that made everyone happy.

Eric, the award winning bartender, told us about the beer machine made in Chicago, the only one in Canada, that chills and pours 20 different drafts. The self contained cooler keeps the whole keg at a perfect temperature which means no foamy waste as the barrel warms up. The lines are only 3 ft long so it’s quite easy to maintain and hook up the latest craft beer offering. Several of us opted for the Cornerstone Caesar with Sriracha – it was tasty and the second one was even better!

Most of us feasted on the Cornerstone Burger with bacon, cheddar cheese, and onions prepared 4 ways. Karen and I tried it during Burger Week; the main difference being the prototype patty was a blend of beef and bacon. We wanted to share it and our waitress offered to cut the stack in half and serve it on two plates for us. They each came with a shiny skewer to hold the compromised assembly together. There was no sharing today though, and we all devoured our own burger.

The patty was well seasoned and had a good grill crust. It was juicy – the kind of grease that makes a burger heavenly. When the patty's just about done, the cook piles on succulent sautéed onion and a heap of shredded cheddar cheese turning the grill into a delicious mess of love. Green onion, pickled red onion and aioli go on the bottom, and crispy fried onions and more aioli are on the top with the sandwich presented bun-open. It was a good sized patty and plenty to satisfy my hunger. When I had it in September, the sauce was very rich – today’s burger wasn't so rich and that was fine with me. Looking at the pictures afterwards, it looks like the dollops of sauce varied a bit.

Les waxed poetic “This was one of the best burgers ever - very juicy, spiced, tasty burger. My taste buds fairly sparkled when the rainbow of onions (4 kinds) hit the mouth. The in-house bacon was zesty & tall on taste creeping over the cheese.”

Brian added “The bun was perfectly sized for the patty, and the patty was nicely seasoned. This is a burger not disguised by an overabundance of toppings, and what toppings there were, were superb.  The star of the show was the aioli sauce that brought all of the flavors together making it an above average burger, in comfortable restaurant, at a great price.

Karen ordered the Papa Gorgeous and had this to say: “I ordered my Greek burger as-is. It was very nicely presented with a pile of feta on the burger patty. Leaf lettuce and marinated onions were on the top. Overall the taste was excellent; great Greek flavour came out from the feta. It became a lovely mess as things fell apart towards the end. Fries were excellent as was the Caesar.

I had tomato soup with a dollop of Crème Fraiche. I like saying dollop. It was a good sized serving and pleasant enough. I stole Karen’s fries and they were delicious – crispy perfection. Most everyone enjoyed the fries but Geoff commented “Fries were a bit soggy and not my favourite.” Not sure what happened there.


The Cornerstone Bar and Restaurant on Urbanspoon

1 comment:

  1. Ya gotta have the double fat boy......Best in town!!!

    ReplyDelete

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