[URBAN NOTE] "Ojibway tacos land in Kensington Market"

[rfmcdonald]

NOW Toronto's Natalia Manzocco describes some very appetizing Ojibwa tacos sound like they could be quite good. (Of course they'd be in Kensington Market.)

POW WOW CAFE (213 Augusta, at Baldwin, facebook.com/CafePowWow). Brunch or lunch $17 per person, with tax, tip and a cedar soda. Open Thursday through Sunday. Access: No step at door, small single-stall washroom on main floor. See listing.

I have questions for Shawn Adler, owner/chef of the Pow Wow Cafe, but as we stand by the service counter chatting, we’re interrupted by customer after customer appearing in the doorway of the tiny Kensington Market kitchen. I should note that this was only the café’s fourth day in business.

That morning, Adler and his tacos, built on Ojibway bannock, or frybread, were featured on CBC-TV, and word (as it does whenever a brand-new food item appears on any table anywhere in the GTA) travelled fast.

Adler’s tacos are $12, and as a few customers learned that day, you only need to order one. His rendition of the classic pow wow snack is more akin to a platter-sized salad built on a softball-sized lump of frybread, which assumed its place in First Nations culture when the Canadian government began issuing rations of ingredients like white flour and lard. “It’s kind of like a savoury apple fritter,” the chef explains.