18Niagara Street Cafe

The talent of a chef can be measured by two simple things - first the degree to which they bring out the taste of each ingredient and second the way they add interest to the main event. Chef Nick Liu, who was clearly paying attention during his tenure as sous-chef at Splendido, makes passionate and expert love to every ingredient . Even a commonplace like mushrooms on toast attains seductive taste status in his kitchen, thanks to intense buttery mushroom stew mixed with melted cheddar on fine bread. His soups are deep strong flavours rendered as liquid velvet. Mains receive equal attention: Chef gentles Korean spicing and applies French technique to short ribs, braising them to sweet juicy perfection. His duck confit has crazy crispy skin and erotically sweet gnocchi made with brown butter and fabulous frisee dressed in smoky bacon vinaigrette. Too bad the room is so small there's not room for many happy diners.