Black Cat Bistro
428 Preston St., 613-569-9998, blackcatbistro.ca
Open: Tuesday to Thursday, 5 to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, 5 to 10:30 p.m.
Price: Starters, $9 to $18; main dishes, $22 to $45
Access: Fully accessible
It seems hard to be believe now, but almost 30 years ago, Ottawa thought it had seen the last of the Black Cat Café. “The Black Cat may have lived the last of its lives,” said the 1986 Citizen story.
There were business woes then, and finally a bankruptcy. But like its namesake, the Black Cat refused to die, not just surviving but even thriving through a series of relocations, rebrandings and menu makeovers.
An abbreviated history begins in 1980, with owner Richard Urquhart opening the first Black Cat, then called a café rather than a bistro, and serving “Nouveau American” cuisine at its Echo Drive location. It was a trailblazer of fine dining in Ottawa at a time when hotels served the fanciest fare.
The Black Cat’s food and even its logo won fans galore, but business faltered by the mid-1980s. Urquhart moved to Toronto and spent a dozen or so years there before returning to Ottawa. By the late 1990s, he opened his Black Cat restaurant on Murray Street, where he served tapas and then Asian noodles and wine before switching back to being a café. With bright young chefs such as René Rodriguez and Trish Donaldson, he won over foodies.
About seven years ago, the Black Cat moved to larger digs on Preston Street, swapped out the “café” for “bistro,” and stressed dishes with roots in French fare. For most of the Preston Street run to date, including when the Black Cat was last reviewed in this space in late 2011, Patricia Larkin was the bistro’s chef. She left in March 2015; since last April, in charge of the Black Cat’s kitchen has been Michael Farber, who owned and cooked at Farbs Kitchen & Wine Bar in New Edinburgh for six years until he closed his business in the fall of 2014.
Having sampled about half of Farber’s compact menu earlier this month, I can say that the Black Cat’s latest chef again demonstrates that for all of its changes, the restaurant can be relied upon for distinguished bistro dining.
You can set aside all of the history and relax in the Black Cat’s sleek but comfy surroundings, perhaps sit at the four-seat bar that looks onto the kitchen, and look forward to well-crafted, easy-to-like spins on traditional dishes.
We appreciated three appetizers that had thought and complexity going for them as well as deliciousness, packing lots of stimulation and variety in just a few bites.
Farber’s pork belly starter ($14) was a playful one, nicknamed “snails and curly tails” because the luscious but not overly fatty cube of meat came topped with four plump escargots, plus some similarly textured stewed Eryngii mushrooms in a rich, unifying sauce.
Pork belly and snails at Black Cat Bistro
Beef tartare ($18) was very well accessorized too, benefiting from the small feat of a tempura-crusted soft-boiled egg, the crunch of homemade chips, tart pickles and a spicy mayo.
Beef tartare at the Black Cat Bistro.
Risotto ($14) was a light but luxurious way to start, with cubes of butternut squash and celeriac that were as flawlessly cooked as the rice.
Late fall risotto at the Black Cat Bistro
Farber has replaced the Black Cat’s standard burger of the last few years with a no-less appealing patty of chopped venison ($22) that keeps good company with goat cheese, grilled scallions and more Eryngii mushrooms (pickled this time). Fries on the side were top-notch, the crisp-yet-tender-inside kind that you wish for at too many other restaurants.
Venison burger at the Black Cat Bistro
Farber’s rendition of duck confit ($28) also stood out from its peers in Ottawa — kudos go to its succulent meat and crisped skin, and to the offsetting beet chutney.
Duck confit at the Black Cat Bistro
Seafood lovers ($34) should savour what Farber called a chowder, but was more elegant than that — a more modestly portioned composition of flawlessly seared scallops and tiny pink shrimp, joined by brussels sprouts and colourful slices of watermelon radish in a refined broth. Too bad about the detracting bits of shrimp shell that should have stayed in the kitchen.
Scallop and shrimp chowder at the Black Cat Bistro
There were no such niggles about the sumptuous black cod ($32). Once more, the plate’s star was perfectly cooked, while the sunchoke purée provided smooth counterpoint.
Black cod at the Black Cat Bistro
The only main course that fell short was a deluxe surf-and-turf effort ($45). The rib eye steak was massive, supremely beefy and bettered by its Marsala sauce, but a few bites were more gristly than we liked. More seriously, the plate’s crab component, tucked into a baked potato, was practically missing in action.
surf and turf ribeye steak and crab at the Black Cat Bistro
Desserts ($10) closed the meal on an appropriately sophisticated note. Bailey’s bread pudding was simple and classy — another textural success and not overly sweet. Gingerbread cake was moist and packed with flavour, with a big oatmeal crisp and sploosh of pumpkin curd adding extra dimensions. Its garnish of lardons, to me, wasn’t a must, but it wasn’t a stumble either.
Gingerbread cake at the Black Cat Bistro
Bailey’s bread pudding at the Black Cat Bistro
Chocolate cake and peppermint marshmallow at the Black Cat Bistro
In a phone interview this week, Urquhart, 66, told me that by his count, Farber is the Black Cat’s chef No. 9 — as in a cat’s lives. “Maybe it’s good luck,” Urquhart said. “Nine is my favourite number.”
Given Farber’s food, there’s no reason for Urquhart, now one of the restaurant’s owners and its manager, to push his luck into double digits. What could be considered Ottawa’s most senior fine-dining restaurant is in good hands, both old and new.
phum@ottawacitizen.com
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Peter Hum’s previous restaurant reviews
