Charcuterie at its heart is a frugal, rustic thing, adopted by high-end restaurants but more at home in peasant kitchens and blue-collar urban brasseries. What Agricola Street Brasserie lacks in old-country style – it’s a big, airy space, despite the exposed beams and carefully rustic touches – it makes up in culinary prowess. The selection will vary, but expect house-made pates, terrines, sausages and even head cheese to appear in turn. The board’s breads, pickles and even crackers are house-made.
The food is French-inspired, the ingredients are resolutely local and this once-industrial space is big and airy. Not every dish is a bistro classic – the menu includes occasional Asian and Latin elements – but it’s all carried off with gusto. If you really want to go all out, order the over-the-top seafood tower and wash it down with Quintessence from Planter’s Ridge or Tidal Bay by Avondale Sky.
You'll find oyster aficionados everywhere, but the French are especially mad for them. It's only fitting, then, that French-inspired Agricola Street Brasserie serves them daily. The eatery is known for building relationships with its local suppliers and, in the case of oysters, that's Nova Scotia's Sober Island. These oysters have a bold, mouth-filling flavour, good on their own or as an appetizer before one of the Brasserie's fresh, modern entrees.