Coquine
2075 Yonge Street
416-322-6767
Dinner for two with all taxes, tip and wine: $100

If “Coquine” means naughty in French, it’s an inspiration not for the menu at this uptown bistro, nor for the service, both of which are excellent, but for the ambiance. The restaurant, in the former location of the Manor Arms pub at Yonge Street and Manor Road, is owned by Robbie Prete and Amir Karmali, former colleagues at Grazie (2373 Yonge Street), an equally loud and popular Italian spot just a few blocks north on Yonge. Prete and Karmali have obviously attempted to channel their former haunt’s success, reproducing the “busy room with beautiful people” vibe to great success. There is a certain buzz, an undertone of excitement that begins from the first step inside the crowded front room. For a quieter experience, diners can opt for the back room, all dark wood and white parquet floors, but this more intimate nook lacks the fervent action that makes Coquine so appealing. Still, seated in either space, diners are in for an evening of culinary excitement at the hands of chef Alejandro Bustamante, with just a little touch of naughty.

The menu at Coquine opens with appetizers mixing the standard (onion soup gratinée, $7) with the novel (poutine topped with shredded duck confit, duck jus and smoked mozzarella and brie, $11). The Coquine salad ($12) is the go-to choice, with a light, sweet sherry vinaigrette bathing fresh arugula, topped with gorgonzola cheese and candied walnuts, and, most notably, warm figs wrapped in prosciutto. This atypical salad composition is successsful - the sweet warmth of the fresh fruit balancing nicely with the salty bite of the meat - a unique yet strangely comfortable start to our dining experience at Coquine.

For mains, the menu offers a choice of four pastas and eleven entrées, touching on French stand-bys like cassoulet ($19), as well as interesting options like mustard crusted lamb chops ($27), as well as a risotto du jour. We opt for the grilled Atlantic salmon ($18), continually on the hunt for a restaurant in the city that prepares this plebian dish with some kind of flair. Sadly, Coquine fails on this challenge - the fish is overcooked and dry, lacking the moist and tender flakiness one strives for on the grill, and is virtually void of any unique seasoning. The accompanying “Mediterranean salsa” is little more than some olives and cherry tomatoes in an olive oil dressing, and does little to redeem the salmon. Clearly, when dining in a vaguely French restaurant one is most likely to find success in the French dishes, so the halibut en papillotte ($22) is liable to be the safer seafood selection.

The salmon, like half of the menu’s entrée choices, comes with one choice of side. From the list of usual suspects like mashed potatoes and sautéed veggies, we choose ratatouille, interested to see if chef can add a unique “naughty” touch to this often-plain tomato/root vegetable stew. The ratatouille is a culinary coup de grace, the veggies (zucchini, peppers, onions and eggplant among them) still firm in the aromatic tomato sauce, which influences without overpowering. The side outdoes the main here, but we’d happily try one of the other offerings such as double loin pork chop in apple-fennel glaze ($20) to see if one matches the ratatouille’s strength.

The steak frites ($16) is the menu’s piece de resistance. At a price far more affordable than the steaks up the road at the newly opened Keg (2201 Yonge Street), the meal comes with a decent-sized portion of flatiron steak and a large bowl of parmesan frites. The meat is cooked as ordered, pink inside for medium rare, and the thin, salty, frites, with their accompanying garlic mayo, are more than an adequate side. An additional side of smoky sautéed mushrooms ($5) completes the vegetable food group, and proves more than our party of two can manage in addition to our entrées.

Still, after an extended period enjoying Coquine’s hopping atmosphere, we are ready to do the establishment’s name justice and tackle dessert. Never one to turn down a good apple dessert, we opt for the apple crumble tart ($8), served with vanilla ice cream. Warmed, as every good apple dessert ought to be, the tart is a threefold dessert delicacy - a flaky pastry tart, filled with rich, sweet apple-cinnamon goodness, topped with a brown sugar-based crumble. Even diners who don’t normally treat themselves to dessert can get a little naughty over this dish!

The service at Coquine makes us feel like we are in the middle of some well-orchestrated theatre production. Our waiter is a true performer, presenting everything from the steak knife to the dessert menu with flair to match the food’s flavour. Busers are ever-present with fresh ground pepper and water refills, and dishes are cleared promptly and efficiently. In a room that is consummately loud and busy, the service staff is like the engine in the machine, keeping the cocktails flowing and the mini-burgers coming.

When we enter Coquine at 7pm on a Friday night, there are several parties at the bar, as well as those seated at the oh-so-close tables, who seem to be well in to their nights of debauchery. At first glance, it’s easy to judge these clientele as the usual Young and Eligible suspects - the well-heeled blondes in little black dresses, the male escorts with one-too-many shirt buttons undone - all of them sporting more tan than a barely begun Canadian summer should allow. Still, a more focused look reveals groups of girlfriends out for dinner, couples on double dates, and multi-generational family groups sporting everything from Northern Reflections wear to rock band t-shirts. The common thread is that everyone at Coquine is enjoying themselves and the food, and aren’t afraid to get loud to show it.

By the end of our evening, nearly three hours after it began, thunderstorms outside send the patio crowds inside, and the room reaches a fever pitch as servers rush to find seats where the al fresco diners can finish their entrées in dryer climes. As our server graciously clears our bill and we step in to the downpour, we are sure the naughtiness is only just getting started at Coquine.