全新的硬件is a special restaurant in the sometimes overlooked area on Oakwood north of St. Clair. I went to high school on Oakwood, so the neighbourhood has a down home, untouched feel to me.

Chef and owner of Oakwood Hardware Anne Sorrenti has been everything from a Chopped champion to a political assistant. Growing up inKensingtonwith a German mother and an Italian father, and now married to a Trinidadian, food has always surrounded her.

A ladder strung with lights hangs from the ceiling, an antique hand-operated drill serves as the house beer tap, and knick knacks are buried in a bar top that emulates a sandbox or archeological dig.

Bartender Nick Watson (formerly ofParts & Labour,The Wren, andThe Shore Leave) has created an often-changing cocktail list ($12 - $14), with drinks like the Plum’s the Word: house spiced plum shrub, Woodford Reserve bourbon, Dolan vermouth, a bit of lime and maple and Autumn Bog Cranberry bitters fromBittered Slingover crushed ice with a sprig of thyme.

The Yellowtail is a lovely take on a margarita with Tromba Reposado tequila, spicy and herbaceous Strega, sweet black pepper and fennel honey house syrup, lime juice, and egg white to make it a kind of margarita sour with an aromatic sage leaf on top.

A charcuterie board (market price) comes out laden with spicy sopressata, liverwurst, strong seed mustard, sharp Stilton, truffle and ancho potato chips, pickled eggplant and preserved mushrooms.

他们提供一个标准的汉堡(14美元) to which we add double smoked cheddar and crispy double smoked Ontario bacon, a nicely coarsely ground brisket and chuck mixture.

A hearty vegetarian shepherd’s pie that isn’t losing anything without the meat, still offering up the standard expected flavours of sweet corn and creamy potatoes, with lentils and a formidable cheese crust.

Corn arepas ($10) are topped with nopales and a BBQ brisket that’s been braised in the Wellington house lager for a little bite that’s airy and rich.

Pork done two ways features achop and crispy, fatty pork belly with red cabbage, apple, stewed plums and braised onions, which create a sweet and savoury interplay that reminds me of a homestyle chops and applesauce pairing.

Korean fried chicken is a boneless thigh brined in buttermilk overnight, sometimes for a day and a half, until it’s sublimely tender, topped with house kimchi. The Korean element is right on, not too overpowering, just has that lip-licking spicy quality of gochujang.

The name Oakwood Hardware has always been on this 1928 building, and the inside of it speaks to that. A piece of an old fireplace frames the entrance to the washrooms which are complete with old baby bathtubs for sinks.

Photos by Jesse Milns