Where Woodhouse Brew Pub chef Graham Pratt gets takeout oysters, cold-cut sub sandwiches and Portuguese pastries Where Woodhouse Brew Pub chef Graham Pratt gets takeout oysters, cold-cut sub sandwiches and Portuguese pastries
We’re asking Toronto chefs and restaurateurs which takeout dishes have been getting them through the pandemic
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The past year has been an adventure for Graham Pratt. After closing The Gabardine at the end of 2019, Pratt returned to the joys of being a chef not a business owner at Woodhouse Brew Pub, the kitchen of Brockton Village’s Woodhouse Brewing Co. “Unfortunately, the first lockdown began only a month and a half after I started at the pub,” says Pratt. “When we reopened during the summer, we continued to evolve the menu as restrictions loosened. Now that we’re back in a full lockdown again we’re using the kitchen to do takeout, offering pop-up-like specials for pickup and delivery. It allows us to continue bei
TV dinners, with their little pre-portioned rectangles and somewhat iffy ingredients, have historically had more in common with airplane food than fine dining. They are the ultimate convenience, but heating one up can feel like resigning yourself to a lesser food fate trading freshness and flavour for speed and freedom from washing dishes. Happily, with the launch of Woodhouse Brew Pub’s nostalgic “Hungry Friends” reheatable meals, we’ve entered a new era of TV dinners and not a moment too soon.
The Brockton Village kitchen, helmed by chef Graham Pratt (formerly of The Gabardine) has made a few “Hungry Friend” dinners to date, including one with a smoked chicken leg, one with Salisbury steak and a Thanksgiving special. Their latest tray is a limited-edition collaboration with Montreal’s Joe Beef dubbed “The Joe Beef x Woodhouse Primetime Holiday Relief Special,” with a chunk of the proceeds going to charity.