Ciao Dec/Jan 2016 number one hundred one | Page 58

ciao! reviews
MÁQUÈ
Neighbourhood . Crescentwood
Address. . . 909 Dorchester Ave
Phone . . . . . . . . 204-284-3385
Small Plates. . . . . . . . . $5-$22
In a city as culturally diverse as
Winnipeg, there is no lack of
inspiration for chefs seeking to explore
flavours from across the globe. The
resulting fusion across cultures has
birthed new diverse dining categories.
It is into one such novel genre that
Máquè, the new open for Deseo and
Enoteca chef Scott Bagshaw, steps.
Like Enoteca, Bagshaw’s River
Heights haunt, Máquè features few
seats, an open kitchen, and small plates
made for sharing. The twist comes in
the flavour profiles that populate the
carefully considered menu.

Inspiration comes from Chinese,
Japanese, and Thai cuisine, translated
into carefully balanced plates that blend
far east flavours with French derived
technique. Plump dumplings, with
tacky dough giving way to juicy pork,
are paired with a thick smear of almond
butter, playing off the warm notes of
Chinese five spice powder with pairings that both complement and deepen
the complexity of its flavour. Coins of
Japanese eggplant—each topped with
a piece of lobster—swim in a gingery
black bean sauce which replaces the
saline punch of traditional Chinese
versions with an earthier richness.
A dish of tender crab, lobster, bacon,
and caviar is a menu highlight. The
delicate jumble of seafood is doused
tableside with a fragrant, swooninducing blend of red curry and lobster
bisque. This revelatory French-Thai
mash up is impossibly rich, savoury,
and spicy, overset with hints of sweet
coconut and a whisper of black truffle.

Straight adaptations from the world
of take out boxes are also found here,
like greens fried with XO sauce or fried
rice elevated with the likes of oyster
mushroom and truffle. Multiple orders
of steamed buns can be spied on every
table. Drawing Momofuku comparisons, the pillowy crescents are stuffed
with a mix of crisped pork belly, peanuts, ssäm sauce and a sliver of pickle.
While many dishes eschew strong
funky and fier