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A R T S & CU LT U RE
Jurisfoodence: Food Adventure #7
LUKE JOHNSTON &
DAN MOWAT-ROSE
Staff Writers
This cold weather seems to be never-ending.
So, comfort food was back on the menu in a big
way this week. Hold onto your butts and give
thanks, Osgoode. Meaty buns are front of mind in
Midtown at Holy Chuck.
Venue: Holy Chuck - 1450 Yonge Street (just
south of St. Clair station)
Cuisine: Burgers
Food: Luke went for “The Big Chuck” ($10.99),
which is HC’s take on a big mac, and rounded
things out with some onion rings ($4.79). Pun
acknowledged. Dan, avec gusto, dug into “Le
Croissant du Paysan” ($12.99). Effectively a breakfast sandwich burger, the standard brisket patty
also has French fries inside the sandwich along
with bacon, cheese, and a fried egg! This tasty
morsel is nestled between two toasted croissants
dripping with maple syrup. Yikes. Just for fun he
also got “Raging Bull” fries ($7.99), a basket of
fries smothered in bacon, processed cheese, sauteed banana peppers and spicy gravy.
LLBO Licensed? No, unfortunately. However, a
Coca-Cola “Freestyle” machine is a recent addition. This futuristic thirst quencher allows patrons
to choose from among ~50 different varieties of
fountain pop. We tried Hi-C Grape, Fanta Raspberry, Tibb (sort of like Dr. Pepper), as well as
some standard offerings like Barq’s Rootbeer and
Diet Coke. Do you even free refill, bro?
dan chuc k ing himsel f.
The Pick:
Dan: So after last week’s column I figured it was
reasonable to bring us back toward my comfort
zone, namely Toronto hipster-elite locales. In
honor of finishing my OPIR requirement, this
week I wanted somewhere that offered meat-centric experiential education opportunities. Holy
Chuck was an easy pick.
Luke: We have ventured to various cuisine corners
this year but it is indeed good to be back to the
familiar land of meat, cheese, and 1500+ calorie
meals!
Dan: Well said.
THUMBS UP to. . .
reading week.
The Obiter Dicta
At the restaurant:
The Food:
Luke: My God, the menu is impressive. There
are so many interesting options -- like a double
cheeseburger between BLTs or bleu ball beef patties topped with Agur blu e cheese -- that I struggled to choose.
Dan: I love this place. Even without drinking
swamp water I always feel a bit sick when I leave,
but that is completely expected (just look at what
I ordered). My sandwich was unbelievable. The
syrup soaked croissants were a bit much but honestly it was pretty well the ideal brunch sandwich.
The egg/beef patty/fries/bacon collabo combined
to make this a well-balanced holy matrimony of
lunch and breakfast. The overall texture was glorious, and the yolk from the fried egg really tied
the entire thing together.
Dan: Check out the Coca-Cola “Freestyle”
machine! I’ve heard about these from some
intrepid traveller 3Ls! I don’t even like pop, but I
will make an exception for our readers and just get
weird with this machine. The touch screen menu
is blowing my mind. Nine varieties of Fanta?
Luke: I was also enthused about the pop machine,
especially the all-you-can-drink part. I made
swamp water (Orange Fanta+Root beer+Dr
Pepper is a good formula) like I was at Ponderosa
buffet restaurant circa 1998.
Luke: Yes. I certainly wouldn’t recommend coming
here unless your tolerance for grease is as wellestablished as Dan’s tolerance for whiskey. Fortunately, we’ve both had plenty of burger joint
experience. I think Holy Chuck finds the perfect
sweet spot on the spectrum: it makes inventive use