Award-winning chef Justin Miller serves up creatively delicious local fare at Collingwood’s Cabin Bistro
by Cecily Ross, photography by Jessica Crandlemire
From the outside there’s not much to set Cabin Bistro apart from its Simcoe Street neighbours. The downtown Collingwood side street boasts a busy pub, a bustling pool hall, an auto body shop and a thrift store. Parking meters line the street. Like the surrounding businesses, Cabin has a brick façade, with only a discreet sign above the Colonial style door and a sandwich board on the sidewalk announcing its presence.
Step inside, however, and you’ll soon find you’re someplace special. The décor is as casual as any pub – a little more stylish and elegant perhaps, but nothing pretentious. Black leather chairs flank simple white birch tables; cow-skin rugs decorate the exposed brick walls. The hardwood floors are scuffed; exposed ductwork on the ceiling gives the space a loft-like feel. The tone is laid-back and relaxed. At the back of the room, in the open kitchen, diners at the bar can watch as black-clad staff prep and cook, taking direction from the maestro.
That would be Cabin Bistro’s chef and owner, Justin Miller, whose vision and skill are legendary among local foodies. Miller, a 30-something husband and father of two, is a graduate of George Brown College’s culinary program. After graduating, he honed his cooking skills as sous-chef at Tundra, the Toronto Hilton Hotel’s lobby restaurant noted for its commitment to Canadian cuisine featuring local, seasonal ingredients.
A glance at the menu confirms that Miller has brought that same commitment to Cabin Bistro, which first opened in 2010 at the other end of town in Cranberry Mews before moving to its current site in 2013. The new location has resulted in “a lot more walk-in traffic,” says Miller. However, hungry clients who wander in looking for a beer and a grilled cheese sandwich may be in for a surprise. They’ll have to settle instead for an apple and sage croque monsieur made with Ontario double-cream brie and honey-maple ham on grilled sourdough. They won’t find any burgers on the menu, either; the Grey County beef short rib on a baguette with aged white cheddar and crispy onions will have to do.
Chef Miller is big news these days in Collingwood. For the second year in a row, he beat two other local chefs to win the Road to the Royal Chef Challenge held in September at the GNE, going on to pit his skills against five other regional winners in the semi-finals at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. At the GNE Miller whipped up a three-course menu using the “secret ingredients” lavender, wasabi paste and local eggs. His winning plates, created under the watchful eyes of emcee Ted Reader, were a beet and goat-cheese salad served with a bisque; wasabi marinated beef tenderloin with sweet potato mash and crème demi glaze; and for dessert lavender fritters and honey sorbet.
The same innovative use of flavours and presentation goes into his menu at Cabin Bistro, where my husband and I were excited to be celebrating our wedding anniversary. On a Saturday night in late fall, the cosy room was nearly full, mostly with couples like ourselves. Our server said she was new to the job and immediately put us at ease by asking for our patience. The specials included a wild mushroom soup and bison tartare topped with a fried egg. The latter sounded particularly tempting, but in the interest of pacing myself I opted for the harvest kale salad that turned out to be poetry on a platter: slivers of crisp apple, macerated cranberries, toasted walnuts and sautéed cubes of butternut squash, all tossed on a bed of tender baby kale and bathed in an apple-cider emulsion.
My husband, Basil, had the mushroom soup: an earthy bowl of sautéed then pureed shiitake and oyster mushrooms along with dried porcini, garnished with slivered green onions and kernels of local corn – as woodsy and sweet as a stroll in the autumn forest.
The wine list at Cabin Bistro is very small: three reds and three whites to choose from. I ordered a California chardonnay with my salad and French merlot/Bordeaux with the main course; both perfectly respectable, but given Miller’s emphasis on all things local I was surprised there were no Ontario wines on offer.
For the main course I chose the beef short ribs, which according to Miller are cooked for a full 24 hours in a 180-degree oven until they are meltingly tender. He serves them surrounded by feather-light gnocchi seasoned with truffle oil and cheese. A ragu of wild mushrooms accompanies the dish, and a house-made relish of smoked tomatoes adds spice and character to the plate. The same smoky condiment can be found in the woodland bruschetta appetizer. If it came in a jar I would have bought some to take home with me.
My husband’s house-made organic pumpkin ravioli were filled with whipped ricotta, spiced walnuts and sage, and smothered in a brown butter sauce. The pasta was tender and fresh; the filling a tribute to the wonders of the season. And if these offerings seem a little on the light side, larger appetites than ours have the option of adding lobster or truffle oil to their order for $8 and $4 respectively. Basil and I opted instead for a side of asparagus to round out our meal.
Desserts were vanilla rice pudding with apple crisp, an artisan cheese plate, and chocolate served three ways. The cheese plate featuring cheddar, brie and goat cheese – all from Quebec – comes with house-made bagel chips, apple slices and pickled beets. But it was the chocolate three ways that took the big prize: a chocolate-dipped profiterole, three velvety house-made truffles, and my favourite: a demi-tasse of rich hot chocolate topped with melting miniature marshmallows. It was a perfect anniversary treat.
Chef Miller came by our table at the end of the evening. He talked about his decision to leave the big city and open a restaurant in Collingwood, and of his access to great local produce and artisan foods. I told him Collingwood is lucky to have him and he returned the compliment: “I love it here,” he said. “Life is good.” ❧
