Gilead Cafe and Bistro

Jamie Kennedy’s locavore cabin tucked away along Eastern is a GEM for brunch. Had a French toast that walloped my buds with a blend of the pistachio sauce and maple syrup. What a combo! The breakfast bangers were moist and the maple coffee cake was a delectable end to a satisfying breaky.
The ambiance is one of the most cozy in the city with its mason jar-​lined cabin walls and chalk board menu. The service was incredibly efficient and friendly given the packed house.
I would only suggest that when a customer requests for «the most popular dish», or asks the wait staff for his favourite, that he recognize a suggestion is being requested (perhaps for time or genuine interest in the waiter’s opinion).
Otherwise a great experience overall.

My husband and I are very familiar with Jamie Kennedy’s cuisine especially from his restaurant at the ROM and other catered events. We were looking forward to brunch at the Gilead. We arrived just after it opened and only 2 tables out of 25 were occupied. It was snowy so I went in ahead of my husband while he parked the car. There was no lineup. The hostess approached me to ask how many (reservations aren’t taken for lunch or brunch) and told me I couldn’t sit down at a table but had to wait in the corridor for my husband. I found this very unwelcoming and totally unnecessary. To add insult to injury, a party of five came in after we were seated and were shown to a table directly and the driver joined them after parking the car. I know this because I asked him — so it wasn’t a washroom delay.
Our waiter, one of Jamie’s sons, had a nice way about him but the food was mediocre — Eggs Benedict and it took 15 minutes for a cappucino at the conclusion of our brunch. When we left, the hostess did not even say goodbye let alone ask how we enjoyed our experience.
Will we refer to our friends — not a chance. We just feel Jamie should know when customers are being treated unfairly.
Jayne Peters
Toronto, Ontario

I came for Sunday brunch with my parents and it was delicious! We had their fresh drip coffee. My only complaint here is they don’t serve soy milk. I ordered the daily hash special, my dad the braised beef poutine and my mum poached eggs, side salad and a side of fries with their house aioli. Overall great! Definitely will go back.

Dinner
Ambience: ⁵⁄₅
Food: ⁴⁄₅ (Liked the Cdn/​Ont inspired wine pairings as well)
Service: 4.5÷5
Value: ⁴⁄₅
Repeat: Yes & looking forward to it.

The server was very unwelcoming to our group of five. The moment we arrived he was super rude to us trying to drive us away from eating here. Our group hadn’t all arrived and it’s fair that he can’t seat us all until we’ve all arrived but it was the condescending attitude of how he presented that to us that really ticked me off. While waiting we decided to just order a coffee and he seemed even upset and unwilling to make the coffee for us. Even when preparing our coffee at the milk and sugar station it felt like we were in his way, the way he said «Excuse me!» to get the menus which were next to the coffee station. And the last straw was when we had to wait in the standing area and he told us we couldn’t stand here as it blocks the area for his servers. Ok fine. Again fair enough but the rest of the doorway was packed with guests so where do we stand? I guess we’ll just stand outside in the cold like the guests you clearly don’t want eating here. Sorry for troubling your day. The coffee wasn’t the greatest anyway.

Had dinner here on a Saturday night. Atmosphere was nice and was a good spot for a ‘date night’. The bread was worth ordering but as much as I wanted to enjoy it, the rest of the meal was disappointing. We shared an eggplant garlic soup that tasted mostly of tomatoes (roasted tomatoes were a garnish in the soup). The short rib poutine was tasty although pretty salty. Normally I would have complained but was in a salty mood that night so enjoyed the additional sodium intake. We also shared halibut and that was the biggest disappointment of all. Flavours of the Swiss chard and sauce were good but the fish was very over cooked. So much so we couldn’t finish it. We could have made a bigger deal about it but had been told before we were seated that our table was needed for a 7:30 reservation so cut our losses and left. At least we enjoyed each other’s company.

Best: décor, made me open a Unilocal account
Worst: everything else…
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Food: ¹⁄₅
Service: ¹⁄₅
Gripe: Ignored by wait staff, food was impressively bland for prices and reputation
I hate for my first Unilocal review to be a negative one as I’ve had such great experiences in many places around Toronto but this place forced me to share our disappointing experience. From the start, we were ignored by the wait staff and had to often grab someone to get anything that came close to service. Once we got our food, the Cobb salad was bland and looked like something anyone could have assembled in a back kitchen. I had such high hopes for this place as I love the neighbourhood and had chosen this for brunch for my birthday.
Thankfully Skin and Bones made up for it later that day with a spectacular dinner.

I was there for Sunday brunch with a friend, and we both ordered the eggs benedict with ham. For the premium price and JKs name on the café I expected something very authentic and flavourful… wrong! This was without a doubt the worst EB we’ve ever had. The hollandaise sauce had zero flavour along with the bland egg and ham. It was just really surprising how the entire meal had absolutely no taste. wow!
I’m assuming this location is catered towards vegetarians and maybe missing something in the ingredients used but I’m not sure. Anyhow, the prices are over inflated and the experience was disappointing. I won’t be back even though I live across the street.

Really cute spot, great wine selection and the food was delicious. Service was friendly but our waiter seemed very confused, he brought us the wrong wine and then the wrong dish, twice. We thought he may have been new.

One of the best brunch spots in the city. Unique features + the classic brunch staples. High quality food with fresh local ingredients. A great place to take friends and family if you want to impress! Highly recommended.

Gilead café is a pleasant surprise tucked in an alley around the corner from another pleasant surprise, Morning Glory. I’m envious that this neighbourhood has such a lovely café in close proximity where they can drop in for espresso and pastries in the morning and return for yummy savouries at lunch. My braised beef poutine (you know I had to try it!) was perfect. light crispy fries, sumptuous braised beef, the perfect amount of cheese curds and a serving size that was satisfying without making me feel I had made an irresponsible and possibly life-​threatening menu choice.
But the demeanour of the staff makes me wonder about labour practices. Why so glum chums? I seriously felt like I should get out of there so they could stop having to deal with people. Maybe this nighttime expansion has them working triple shifts? Maybe they save the smiles for the guys in suits and can’t be bothered with a couple of women who don’t look like money. I don’t know what’s going on, but I hope it isn’t serious and only temporary.
Because aside from that bit of distraction, it seems like it could all be quite lovely. Someone should upload a picture of the interior — it’s definitely a big part of the charm.

Great, affordable and interesting food makes for a good meal.

This is the latest Jamie Kennedy hotspot. It’s down an unassuming alley in Corktown, and is beautifully decorated– huge industrial windows, wooden beams and off-​centre hanging light fixtures. Basically, it’s decorated like that loft in Soho we all wish we could afford.
I had their poutine of the day, which was duck and green onions plus the normal poutine fare. Jamie himself was in the kitchen making mains on this day, so that was pretty cool. I love a celebrity chef. My friend had the cobb salad, which unfortunately was mainly chicken. Like, more chicken than salad. Funnily enough the woman made a remark when we were paying (you order and pay from the counter, but they bring you your food) for our food at the end that they ring the cobb salad in under chicken, which is fair, but, like whyyyy so much chicken? Why not just call it chicken with bacon and lettuce. Regardless of the over-​birding of the salad, the dressing was pretty darn tasty.
I’m looking forward to coming back for brunch, their menu looks fantastic.
PEPPER POINTS: For their namesake sparkling water. Refreshing and a classy touch.
NB: They’re not open in the evenings unless it’s for a private event.

The best little café tucked away on an alleyway with innovative architecture.
I love this place– pricier than your acerage place– you won’t feel like you are ever being ripped off (although if you’re looking for more quantity without sacrificing too much quality I would go to morning glory nearby)
Gileads is on the top 10 of breakfasts in Toronto (used to be top 5 but so many nw places have opened int he last few years and well… Gileads can be a pain to get to because it is likely going to be a dedicated stop– there isnt’ much nearby cept for Toronto’s version of nature).
0they also have odd hours of when they serve brunch. I remember having a fab brunch one week, coming back two weeks later exact same time/​day of the week and they said they were not serving… odd…

I went to Gilead Café with a friend to check out their new spring menu. Walking in to Gilead, I felt welcomed and excited to try out their menu.
Their menu is meant for sharing, all items can be shared among a group of friends. I love the poutine, it was covered in pulled pork with chucks of melty cheese; absolutely delish. The burger was divine, it was served on an in-​house made bread bun. We finished the meal with JK Fries; one of the best fries I have had in the city.
Service was great!
I will definitely be back for future meals.

I will admit, I hadn’t heard of Jamie Kennedy.
Blasphemy, I know.
Anyway, once I was told he was a ‘celebrity chef’ I got quite scared and was only willing to go when someone else was paying ;-)
I kinda wish I had used that card on a more expensive restaurant because what I expected to be outrageously expensive turned out to be quite average.
Between $ 10-​$ 15 per person.
I had a fancy salad, my coworker had the cheeseburger and my other coworker had the cottage pie. We all shared fries, too.
What was nice was that the meals weren’t insanely fancy but it was really in the details. My salad had little I don’t know what but thingies that were delicious, the cottage pie had beets and another veggie I can’t remember cut up next to the plate to make it look lovely and the fries didn’t come with ketchup but rather, mayo and some spicy hoisen mayo sauce.
The ambiance was very nice, as well, and though I wouldn’t have recognized him had he not been pointed out to me, it still felt neat to be served by a ‘celebrity’!

My week of living off coupons continues… With fellow Unilocal Elite Karl R. in tow, we went downtown to the Gilead Café and Bistro on a sunny Sunday afternoon for some summer brunchin’. The voucher was good for $ 30.
Upon arriving at around 12:30PM, there was a wait list. We only waited about 20 minutes and nabbed a seat by the bar. I sometimes prefer sitting at the bar as the bar usually allows you to glimpse into the kitchen where all the hard work is done.
We were ignored for a good 10 minutes until the server said with a smile «Oh I had forgotten that you weren’t waiting for a table at the bar and that you were actually seated here.» I’m sorry, but, you do not get points for honesty in this case! She then offered us coffee or tea for which we both opted for coffee.
The coffee was meh. I’ve had much better coffee at other brunch establishments. We opted for:
Chef’s Salad — Artisan lettuce with what I’m guessing was gruyère because it wasn’t mild like mozzarella, raddishes as well as deli roast beef strips. It was drizzled with a house honey mustard vinaigrette. There was ONE random edible flower in there… Maybe for presentation? In terms of a salad, this was not up to par in terms of a restaurant-​made salad. A 4 year-​old could’ve prepared this salad and you wouldn’t have known otherwise. There wasn’t much going on neither from a flavor nor textural perspective.
I also ordered the yogurt with granola and honey which had apricots in it. The granola was not oily and provided a nice crunch to an otherwise soft yogurt. The honey provided a bit of sweetness to an otherwise bland yogurt. This is something I could’ve whipped up at home and was again nothing special but at least it was better than the amateur salad.
Karl lamented about his Eggs Benny that they charged $ 13 for an Egg McMuffin. It was a rather lonely Eggs Benny — not even home fries or a side salad. Just 2 eggs on an English muffin. From a visual perspective, the Hollandaise sauce did not have its usual glossy sheen and clung to the poached eggs like a film of goop. It had a nice brown colour to it. I cannot comment on it from a taste perspective.
Since Karl’s dish came with no sides we ordered a side of fries. After what seemed like an eternity, the fries finally came. They were thin cut fries seasoned in salt and thyme. These were probably the highlight of brunch as they were surprisingly tasty.
At the end of the day the bill came to $ 45.20 less our $ 30 coupon for a total payable of $ 15.20. Considering what we got I would say that this restaurant survives solely because of a celebrity chef’s name attached to it. Ironically, I have never heard of Jamie Kennedy… Jamie Oliver on the other hand… There are plenty of awesome brunch places in Toronto… You need not waste your time coming here. I can’t help but crack a reference to the Republic of Gilead from Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale… This Gilead might not be as repressive, but its definitely gloomy…

After waiting about 30 minutes for a plate of french fries. Yes. Something McDonald’s can crank out in 4 min 38 sec:
Me: [disgusted] You’d think something run by Jamie Oliver would be better run.
Y: I think it’s Jamie Kennedy. Not Jamie Oliver. Though I’m not sure the difference.
Me: I guess now that I think of it Jamie Oliver would not have fries on the menu.
We still don’t know who Jamie Kennedy is and we care less after Gilead. Service was slow. Maybe it’s because we decided to be bohemian and take our brunch at the bar. The bar seems to imply you’re happy to wait for absolutely everything, from initial service to your food. Don’t do it.
I had the eggs benny. $ 13. No sides. Just a small plate of 2 poached eggs on bread and sauce. $ 13.
Y: You want something else?
Me: I was thinking of getting fries. You would think for $ 13 they could throw a few home fries on the plate for effect.
The eggs benny were okay. Had better. Hell, I would have been more satisifed with two egg mcmuffins for half the price. Other than some ephemeral quality that this food has had Jamie Kennedy wave his cudgel over, it was so not worth $ 13.
The fries were pretty darn good, mind you. $ 13 for egg benny and a side of those puppies would have been nice.
Luckily we had a groupon deal. You’re supposed to tip on the whole bill before the discount but we tipped on the final tally. Service was so not worth it.

Gilead Café is most certainly a little gem of Corktown. Came here this afternoon (Sunday) for some grub with a good friend.
Reservation-​less, we anticipated a long wait. The host was quite friendly and seated us at the bar while we waited an entire ten minutes for a table. At the bar, we were able to see all the delicious looking desserts, ranging from biscotti to cookies to cakes.
I ordered the ‘Fried Eggs and Boris’ Breakfast Sausages w/​J. K’s Fries.’ It was gooooooood. I usually never eat sausages because they’re greasy, but these sausages were delish. J. K’s fries are also really tasty. They have herbs on them.
I’ll be back! Would love to check out the dinner menu.

This place reminds me what Sunday brunch should be – relaxing, quiet, and delicious. It is refreshing to come here on a weekend and not have to worry about massive lines. The place was busy, but as long as you aren’t coming with a huge party, you should be able to get a table no problem without reservations.
It’s tucked away just off King West (turn right into the alleyway in front of Morning Glory — which also looks super-​cute, will have to try that place next, although just from looking in the window, Morning Glory has a lot less seating space). There is some free parking in the back.
The menu is short, with several specials (tarte, omelette, entrée). I had a glass of the JK juice (freshly squeeze sweet plum juice — something different and very tasty) and a latte. As mentioned in another review, the cappuccinos come is pretty small cups. But my latte came in a fairly large mug.
My DC and I got the breakfast pastries. It’s $ 5/​pp and I don’t know if they would let you share… because actually one plate would’ve probably been enough for both of us. You get a small croissant, deliciously buttery scone with raisins, 2 pieces of warm bread, and another 2 pieces of a sweeter, almost cake-​like loaf. They were all lovely and served with a tangy berry jam and crème fraîche. If you want a lighter brunch, the pastries and a latte alone would be perfect.
I also had the omelette of the day, which had potatoes, spinach, and aged cheddar. Great combo with just a hint of spiciness in the sauce around the potatoes. It came with a side salad — boston lettuce and a fresh lemon-​y dill dressing. The DC had the fried eggs and Boris breakfast sausages, which are served on top of a huge pile of JK’s signature fries. Looked amazing.
Service was polite and unhurried. The space is warm and inviting, like JK’s other restaurants. The walls are covered in jars of preserves. All in all, an enjoyable weekend brunch experience without all the «hype» of some other places.