Frenchway on Lilac

Cuisine: brunch, local, bakery & cafe

Area: Corydon, Riverheights

Address: 238 Lilac Street

Phone: (204) 421-9002

Tue-Sat 7 am - 6 pm 

Sun 9 am - 5 pm

Price range: $$ out of $$$$$

Overall rating: 3 out of 5

The Frenchway on Academy has been a well known staple now for a number of years. As of late, they've added a new location on Lilac which took over for the Bread and Circus.

When you first walk in, the smell of freshly baked goods and organic coffee hits you dead on and you can't help but wander over to the counter to see what goodies they had available that day. But you soon come to realize that you have to seat yourself before the menu is given to you and considering the huge rush that often occurs for Sunday brunches, you gladly do. 

For my first experience here, I wandered off the menu and ordered the featured "croque mademoiselle" which is a version of the "croque monsieur" with a delicately prepared sunny-side up egg on top (A croque monsieur is a fancy grilled ham and cheese sandwich. It's fancy because the french say so.) The potatoes were deliciously spiced and baked instead of fried, and cubed instead of shredded. I personally prefer shredded hash but, hey, these cubed potatoes were one of the more better tasting, "healthy", ones I've had. I topped off my meal with a warm, not too strong or potent, organic coffee. 

Ben had an omelet, which means that there's not much to say about that. I really feel like an omelet is an omelet, which is an omelet. Meh? It was okay. Ben said the saving grace was the extra bacon he ordered which he felt was really delicious. It was not greasy, but it was crispy.

A thing to note when you do go to the Frenchway: you'll always leave with some form of baked goods. I usually grab some of their french baguettes (I love baguettes... it might be a Vietnamese thing.) Today, I opted for the not-too-available french macaroons and some buttery dinner rolls instead. I'll try those later but by the looks of it... it's going to be delicious.

The only pitfall: an overly-dynamic, take-myself-too-seriously, waiter. The brunch rush hadn't even hit yet and he was freaking out... I mean there were about four tables occupied and he had other waitresses there to help him (who were all friendlier than he was). I'm sure he means well but I guess I just don't like it when people get yelled at because someone is too over-the-top emotional. He yelled at his waitresses because she was trying to help him with his tables. He exasperatedly repeated himself two times because I kept telling him I wanted my cream on the side. Ok, well granted I did mishear him... I thought he was saying "cream or sugar?" so I kept saying "yes please, on the side" but he had said "cream or milk". My bad. I could've popped his artery.. I should be more careful.

Alright, so yes. I do recommend the Frenchway... but for brunch and lunch only. I'm not too sure if dinner would be adequately served in such a small place. Just be prepared to bring some baked goods home. Be good to yourself and give in. It's worth the calories if you count them.

Pizzeria Gusto

Cuisine: Neo-Italian
Area: Academy
Address: 404 Academy Road
Number: (204) 944-8786

M-F 11:30am - 2pm and 5:30pm - 11:30pm

Sat. 5:30pm - 11:30pm

Price range: ($ $ $1/2) out of ($$$$$)
Overall rating: 4 out of 5

There were a few instances in the past that made me shy away from wanting to invite my friends and family to spend some time (and money) there: one of which was that they had forgotten my order. Looking back now through the lens of a great experience, I can’t say that I gave the restaurant enough justice. When they forgot our table’s order, the owner and chef, came to apologize personally right after he found out what had happened. On top of that, he gave us our meal on the house, added a few special feature appetizers, and threw in a bottle of champagne. I honestly do feel that he did all he could to address the issue and I had boycotted the restaurant so unjustly for the past few years.

Anyhow, we opted to sit by the bar to start our dinner until a spot opened up. 

By far this is one of the best things that could have happened to us. In fact, I suggest that if you do go to Pizzeria Gusto, try to snag a seat with your company bar-side – near the wood-fired, stone oven. Sitting there allowed us to see the work and passion that it took to make each pizza perfect and artistically stimulating at the same time. Bar-side seats also allowed us to have a good conversation with the chef as well; whom I had already mentioned on my other social media postings, has now insisted that I call him for any help that I may need for my upcoming wedding. This is granted of course, that you want to talk to him. For me, I really enjoy talking or meeting with the chef of the restaurants I like – I oddly feel like I have a connection with chefs just for the sole reason that I love food so much. I want them to know how much I appreciate their work and commitment. Anyways, I’m rambling.

Suggestion: if you don’t have a preference, try a pizza that does not have traditional toppings (though they are delicious, you can get those pizzas in other places as well). Try going for one with an olive-oil and garlic base instead of a tomato sauce base. I tried the feature that night, which had duck-confit, shredded-marinated brussel sprouts, and olive and chili oil base. Yum.

For appetizers, try the calamari, which is tender, cooked perfectly, with a loosely coated herbed-bread crust. For our other appetizer, we just ordered a Caesar salad. This is something that I don’t really recommend. The dressing ran thin and didn’t have too much flavor. The romaine lettuce was not shredded and the quarter-bunch was grilled for char-marks. The salad was served like a wedge-iceberg lettuce salad. I honestly think the salad was just too over-thought.

We hadn’t considered this but our wonderful waitress, who was friendly, efficient, and very helpful, recommended we try some Italian grappa. I didn’t even know Winnipeg carried grappa… and it was delicious! Ben had a strawberry infused grappa, while I chose to try the cantaloupe grappa. Mine was delicious—his… a bit too sweet for my liking. If you’re not familiar, grappa is a concentrated wine-like aperatif that most Italians have as an after dinner ‘snack’. It’s very aromatic. 

We were also given a free tasting of one that the chef wanted us to try too: the hazelnut grappa. This one is very strong but delicious in it’s own right. I can imagine it tasting very delicious next to some chocolate ice cream. It tastes like Ferrero Roche. On it's own though... I'm not too sure I would do that again.

For dessert, we shared a chocolate torte with olive oil and sea salt. One word: whoa.

So overall, I completely recommend Pizzeria Gusto if you are looking for a nice evening with a small group for company. It’s a great place to wine and dine. It does have plasma tvs but I really don’t recommend going here to watch sports. It’s a place where you want to spend some time to relax and enjoy eating… when you’re not in a rush to leave but have the option to continue a good night out afterwards.