Look for bigeye tuna tiradito, Wagyu lettuce wraps, and chorizo PEI mussels
(Left to right) Gabrielle’s dining room keeps it classic.; Bigeye tuna tiradito exemplifies the new chef’s Latin and Japanese influences
Gabrielle
Tasked with pleasing as many palates as possible, hotel restaurants can fall flat in their quest for compromise—or so goes a commonly held belief among food folk in search of the next hottest table. But experienced diners know they’re as likely to find a gem of a dish on the menu of a fancy hotel dining room as they are in the latest trendy spot. Lucky for us, Hotel Bennett’s white-tablecloth restaurant Gabrielle has several of them on its revamped menu, courtesy of new executive chef Edgar Kano.
A veteran of Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Kano has helmed kitchens from Berlin to Singapore, but it’s his upbringing in Mexico City by Japanese parents that has inspired his cooking style the most. Judging by the menu, which lists a roster of local purveyors, including Tarvin Seafood and Storey Farms, that means keeping it fresh and fairly simple exemplified by a bigeye tuna tiradito—an elegant rendition of sashimi (via Peru) lightly dressed in a kombu-chile ponzu—and a perfectly seared golden tilefish in lemon beurre blanc with shaved fennel. Other notable plates, such as the chorizo PEI mussels and the Wagyu lettuce wraps with a winning smoky salsa, nod to Kano’s heritage.
(Left to right) Wagyu lettuce wraps get a kick from two salsas; local oysters with all the trimmings; seared golden tilefish.
Nonetheless, if your idea of a night out is caviar service, a rare rib eye, truffle fries, and Veuve by the glass, you’ll still find those mainstays from the original menu. In fact, little else has changed in the dining room since the hotel opened, including the friendly and attentive service, desserts from Bennett’s pastry chef extraordinaire Rémy Fünfrock, and those uncomfortably long two-top tables. Thankfully, plans are afoot to update the latter, but in the meantime, couples looking for a more intimate dining experience can order from the entire menu in the Bennett’s lounge.
404 King St.
Open daily: 7-10:30 a.m.;
noon-3 p.m.; 5-10 p.m.
hotelbennett.com
