Avling Kitchen & Brewery finally opens its doors in Leslieville
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Photo: Avling Brewery
The wait is finally over as Avling Kitchen & Brewery is officialy open on Queen St. East In Leslieville.
The east end’s newest brewery, which has been under construction for a year and a half, unlocked the doors to its 5,700 square-foot-space, located in a former food distribution centre near Queen St. East and Pape Ave.
Avling houses a brewery in the basement and restaurant on the main floor, led by head brewer Brandon Judd (Godspeed Brewery) and executive chef Suzanne Barr (former chef/owner of the beloved Saturday Dinette).
Launched by Max Meighen, a brewer and former chef who worked at several breweries in London, England before moving to Toronto, Avling aims to “create exceptional and experimental beer and food rooted in Canadian flavours and locally farmed ingredients.”
The concept for Avling came by way of Scandinavia and is the Norwegian word meaning crop or harvest.
“The way chefs from the Nordic region have turned a cuisine that was previously mocked for being bland, even unpalatable, into something dynamic and delicious while being almost dogmatically local in their sourcing,” Meighen says.
The launch lineup will feature two of Avling’s core range beers - IPA (6%) and Saison (4.4%). There will also be two seasonal beers, Esperta, a hoppy Belgian Ale (6.1%) and Galette, a buckwheat and lemon-thyme saison (4.7%). A pilsner, available in a few weeks and baltic porter, coming this fall will round things out.
The common thread that the food and beverage program share at Avling are local and seasonal ingredients. That’s why there’s a rooftop garden with some 28 beds and a variety of veggies such as carrots, buckwheat, red clover, potatoes and hot peppers to name a few. There are a few heirloom varieties also from Dan Barber’s Row 7 Seed Company. The restaurant will also have an in-house butcher program headed up by Sam Campbell (Oliffe’s), which means delicious charcuterie and housemade cheese to nibble on.
Signature dishes include the Butcher’s Burger, with beef ground in-house and buns from Brodflour, a new organic mill and bakery in Liberty Village. There’s also the Puffed Grain Salad, which showcases Ontario grains and wild rice. The dish celebrates the type of crossover that Avling seeks to celebrate, namely local grains, plated as part of an overall crop rotation used in both beer and food.
Avling plans to expand its roster of beers, and add a retail store along with other community projects related to the brewery and the rooftop garden.
Avling is located at 1042 Queen St. E. Check out avling.ca for more information.
