Restaurant Review: Partake
PARTAKE 12431 102nd Avenue ~ ouipartake.com Instagram: @ouipartake Co-Diner: Tim Golem
Partake has been on my radar for a while now, ever since they were a Canada's Best New Restaurants 2019 nominee in enRoute magazine. Opening only a few years ago in Westmount, this little French bistro serves hearty and rustic fare reminiscent of a casual brasserie terrace in Paris. Edmonton has different kinds of French food now?? Yes. We got there, people. Also named as Best of Oliver and 124th Street in CBC Edmonton's Best Restaurants 2019, Best New Restaurant 2020 in Avenue Magazine, as well as being featured on season two of Big Food Bucket List, Partake is easily becoming one of the hottest places in town and everyone wants a piece of it. You'll find Partake in the High Street area, you know, that little area with all of the adorable shops and good restaurants. It's quite an ideal location. Helmed by Chef and owner Cyrilles Koppert, his restaurant is everything that you want a tiny French spot to be, complete with forest green-wrapped leather booths, a gorgeous tin ceiling, and wooden chairs much like the ones that you'll see in cafes in France. There's a sophisticated simplicity about the atmosphere that takes you away just a little bit. To top things off, they have a stunning patio behind the restaurant so that you can truly channel your Parisian al fresco dreams. Think stark white trellises and on-point murals on the building's outer wall. It'll be even more gorgeous in the summer once all of the foliage has come in. A reservation is recommended and our friendly server brought us to the sunny back patio where we happily settled in along with our complimentary serving of delightfully seasoned popcorn.
This did not last long. In fact, it was inhaled. A little somethin'-somethin' to kick off the meal is such a nice touch. Next it was drinks and the menu is full of lovely French-inspired cocktails. I was very into the NO. 14 ($13.00), described as spicy and tropical. It sounded like the perfect beverage to accompany a patio meal during golden hour.
Served in a vintage class, I loved the way that this cocktail managed to be complex and simple all at the same time. Just the right amount of boozy, I enjoyed the sweet fruitiness coupled with a bit of heat. Spicy-sweet is such a dynamite combination. I liked this beverage a lot and I felt very cool drinking it. Very excited to get into the food (and we ordered just about one of everything), I knew exactly where to start. Drake said it best: "I want my chips with the dip, that's all I know." Chips & Dip ($5.00).
Ultra-crispy, golden, housemade chips with just the right amount of salt. I mean, what more do you need to know? I liked the creamy, mayonnaise-based dip a lot. A very delightful snack! Next, I had to try the Potato ($8.00).
Prepared in the pommes duchesse style, these swirly little pillows had a nice crisp bite on the outside and a fluffy-soft inside. It occurred to me that this dish is actually kind of similar to the chips & dip - just potatoes offered in a different way. They were served with the exact same aïoli as well. I guess it would depend on if you're feeling like crunchy or soft potatoes. Either way, both were wonderful. A must-try for me had to be the French Onion Soup ($14.00), a dish that I literally ate on a terrace in Paris once, and I was truly hoping to be transported back to that moment.
This soup was everything that I dreamed for it to be and more. A deep broth full of sweet caramelized onions and an incredible depth of flavour, a deliciously toasty jumbo-sized crouton, and most importantly, obscene amounts of ultra gooey cheese. There is no fear (or restraint) of cheese at this restaurant, which makes me feel confident in their authentic French sensibilities. Eating this soup is a bit like eating molten lava - but it hurts so good and you keep coming back for more. You must try this wonderfully good version of this classic dish. I ordered the Tarte ($14.00) at the last second because the ingredients were way up my alley and I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by.
The pastry was incredibly light and perfectly flaky with an ideal golden-brown colour. I loved the flavour combination of olive, anchovy and caper - three of my very favourite things. The juicy crushed tomato on top was a great way to bring in some springtime freshness. There really wasn't much for me not to love about this dish and I can picture myself snacking on it again in the future. Time for the main event, the pièce de résistance, if you will. Everyone visits Partake to eat the Croque Mon'soubise' ($20.00) and I am no different.
This sandwich is Partake's interpretation of a croque monsieur, a hot sandwich made with ham and cheese. The difference is that this one is served with a soubise sauce, an old-school French béchamel made with onions. The idea is to smother your already impossibly cheesy sandwich with a rich, velvety sauce. I loved the crusty yet soft bread encasing a tangle of tender ham. And again, Partake fully embraces the cheese life and loads more melty gruyère into this thing than one would think possible. I spooned the creamy soubise directly onto the sandwich for each bite. Heavenly! I also found the side salad to be quite nice, bright and fresh, and lightly dressed. Lastly, our server described the day's dessert ($12.00) which I quickly obliged to.
Served on the same type of pastry as our earlier tart, this one was a perfect example of savoury and sweet - in dessert form. The light and flaky dough was covered in what I believed to be an apple spread, covered in (practically) liquified brie cheese, and showered in walnuts. There are probably even more ingredients used in this dish that I didn't even catch. Very delicious and not too sweet, I enjoyed how unique this dessert was and how well it complimented everything else that we had already eaten. My experience at Partake was absolutely lovely and I appreciate the diversity that Edmonton is seeing a lot more of in it's upper scale cuisines. However, I did notice some redundancy at Partake. The same aïoli was used in two of the dishes and the same pastry was used twice as well. Not to say that it wasn't all delicious in it's various uses. In the past I've noticed duck confit as well as a stunning deviled egg on their menu (which were not available on my particular visit) and I would absolutely love to try both at a later time. A brasserie-style restaurant is such a wonderful addition to Edmonton's culinary scene and I can't wait to experience more of their rustic plates. Partake gets a big "oui!" from me.
Comments