DINE OUT REVIEWS: Donna Mac
donna Mac opened this past fall at the base of Versus, a new, 400-unit luxury rental tower in a part of the Beltline where, miraculously, it is generally still possible to find parking. Yes, when it comes to eating out, ease of access and egress is sometimes a deciding factor. And so, two friends and I found ourselves at Donna Mac on a wintry afternoon.
Although the restaurant is named after the grandmother of one of the owners, the space, as designed by Sarah Ward Interiors, is more GlamMa than grandma. There’s a long marble bar, lots of blond wood and white walls. Dark red banquettes and a bright yellow door add tasteful pops of colour. With floor-to-ceiling windows on two sides, it could feel cold but doesn’t.
The food isn’t what I usually associate with grandma either, although there is pasta. Pulled duck and lentils? A pork salad with charred cabbage, pear, chili and lime? If only I knew a grandma—myself included—who made such things.
We started by sharing a few items from the snack list at the bottom of the drinks menu. Sharing is recommended, even urged at Donna Mac, and we asked our attentive server to recommend his favourites. He suggested the shawarma-spiced chickpeas (at $2, perhaps the cheapest and best snack you’ll ever order) and the porcini-and-Gouda crullers, $6, puffs of mushroom and cheesy goodness which, despite being fried, were light as air.
One of the owners has been eating vegan of late, and the menu had two new $16 vegan options: tagliatelle with mushrooms and arugula, and the “Mac” burger (get it?), with smoked almond cheese, pickles, and lettuce on a sesame bun. I chose the latter. The patty comes from Beyond Meat, a company whose investors include Bill Gates and Leonardo DiCaprio, and whose Beyond Burger contains 20 grams of mostly pea protein but neither soy nor gluten. Though it would never fool a meat eater (that’s not the point), it was tasty and messy, as a good burger should be. I only wished that it had a slice of avocado in it. (It comes with a side salad of charred cabbage that is a crisp and fresh complement.) Donna Mac gets kudos for having two vegan mains on the menu, something more restaurants need to consider.
There are seven main dishes on offer, but my lunch mates both chose the salmon salad. One thought it just fine; the other regretted her choice, saying it was overdressed to the point of being mushy, and needed less salt and more salmon. She was also disappointed that the salmon arrived not as a filet but chopped. “I need to have some bread and the dessert menu, stat!”
Thus, when the dessert menu was offered, there was no demurring.
All five were tempting and we chose the first three on the list. The fennel cake, $5, had an herby edge and tiny bits of candied fennel, while the chocolate-and-malt, $7, is a chocolate mousse with pistachio brittle. The almond tart is almost two desserts in one: the tart topped with goat yogurt pastry cream, on top of which was a sublime scoop of apple-rosemary sorbet.
My hungry lunch mate was hungry no more.