My Place has a long history within the community and has appeared in various publications throughout the city.

My Place is the place to eat, drink and be merry

Toronto Star, Saturday October 24th, 2009

You've got to love a restaurant that serves nuns' farts.

These "pets de soeurs," so-called by Acadians as a swipe against the Catholic Church, are actually cinnamon rolls, one of many delicious jokes at west-end Canadian pub My Place.

Besides its sense of humour, there are many reasons to love My Place. The food, as conceived by executive chef Brad Long, is good, unthreatening and well priced. The space is both sprawling and intimate. Historic area photos and handsome architectural salvage decorate the adjoining bar and restaurant areas. The service is well-informed to the point of dazzling: Is there another waiter in Toronto who can list the grape blend in Niagara's Wildass red, then so smoothly replace an oxidized glass? Prove me wrong, kids. Prove me wrong.

And don't forget the context. Bloor West Village may be ham hock deep in Eastern European delis but there's precious little in the way of good restaurants. Before principal owner Randy Metcalfe opened My Place in a former sports bar in September, area diners had their choice of rubbery hamburgers, rubbery schnitzel or rubbery pasta.

So My Place brings hope to a flavour-starved neighbourhood. It also raises the uestion: What is Canadian food?

In answer, some chefs would serve a survey course of culinary standards from coast to coast. Others feel that what's grown and eaten north of the 49th parallel constitutes Canadian.

My Place blends both approaches. There are traditional favourites from B.C. (nanaimo bars), Quebec (a gorgeously smoky habitant pea soup) and the East Coast (although, sadly, no more cod cheek chowder).

Most of the menu, though, comes from Ontario - literally, thanks to a zealous commitment to local producers. Even the icy house lager, by Great Lakes Brewery, is brewed just five kilometres away. This locavore focus is My Place's special genius, and where chef Long comes in.

Long, who also runs Veritas restaurant on King St. E., is a bit of a fanatic when it comes to organic, sustainable ingredients. When I say a bit, I mean he has a quarter-acre market garden and just finished shooting a documentary about farming with integrity. He started as consultant on My Place but soon became deeply invested.

He also knows pub food.

"This is what all those other dumps are supposed to be serving, instead of the frozen, pre-portioned crap you dump into a deep-fryer," Long says.

Hence the rich jus, irresistible stubby fries hand-cut from yukon gold potatoes, well-timed meats. It goes without saying that a Port Dover, Ont., chef like Long can fry Lake Erie yellow perch impeccably.

Side dishes, too, are commendable, like the nutty barley risotto that steals the show from ruby-centred duck breast ($28). Roasted fingerling potatoes couldn't taste any fresher. Even the crisp napa coleslaw ($5) kicks it up a notch.

There's a dish at My Place called "maple rednecks" ($9). In my house, we call them barbecued drumsticks. However, my children much prefer the sticky-sweet version at My Place and happily gobble them up. Adults do, too, especially when they realize they're healthier and meatier than wings.

It may be a joke to some, but My Place takes poutine ($8) seriously, raising the bar with intense chicken gravy and buttery curds. Even more sobering is the portion size, as serious as a heart attack.

Sometimes the joke is on us. A too-rich Berkshire pork melt ($16) is one of many overflowing sandwiches served without extra napkins. The mustard crust on lamb chops ($29) is indiscernible and rough-cut onions get in the way of sea-sweet steamed mussels and clams ($14).

Desserts can be a letdown: Long has already yanked the gelatin-stiff banana "flapper pie." If you dare, go out with the butter tart squares ($8), a caramelized brown sugar bomb that packs extra ordinance with golden rum filling. I can't in good conscience recommend more than three bites. The whipped cream, of course, is overkill.

Or try the cinnamon buns and see if they live up to their name. Not to worry if they do. My Place is ours to feel at home in.