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There are restaurant openings, and there are events.
And a restaurant opening by Craig Flinn is an event. Since he threw open 2 Doors Down last month, Flinn’s been packing them in here, averaging 80-100 covers for lunch, with lineups not uncommon in the evening.
The name comes from the restaurant’s proximity to Flinn’s flagship, Chives, and in keeping with the theme, the restaurant’s most interesting decor touch is the tables, made from old doors reclaimed from farms throughout the Maritimes and brought back to life at Rusty Hinges in the Hydrostone Market.
A group of six struggled to describe the look of the rest of the restaurant, calling it modern, muted and contemporary, before settling on interesting. Behind the scenes, the most expensive part of converting the space from the restaurant that was here before was the purchase of a very large plate warmer to ensure food is hot when it arrives at the table.
Le Caveau chef Jason Lynch once told me he and Flinn are equally obsessed when it comes to hot plates. Another sign of Flinn’s attention to detail can be found in his spaghetti and meatballs. The spaghetti is made in a copperhead pasta machine, so the outside is not as smooth as most pastas, which means the sauce clings to all the tiny grooves and rough spots on each noodle. As a result, you’re not left with a pool of sauce at the bottom of the bowl.
During cooking, the spaghetti is blanched, then finished by being cooked in the sauce, giving each strand a pink/orange hue. The meatballs are cooked sous vide in the sauce, so they’re extremely tender and the flavour of the sauce permeates throughout. That’s how spaghetti and meatballs is worth $17, and how a chef is different than you and me.
Caesar salad is made with kale instead of romaine and the lamb shank poutine is garnished not with traditional bacon bits, but chunks of lamb bellies from Wood ‘n Hart, which are cured in house.
Those are the things I learned on my first visit, so I was pretty pumped to host a party of six for supper this Monday.
We’ve had only excellent service at Chives, and the same is true so far at 2 Doors Down. Our waiter, Craig, capably answered every question, including those about the wine list, which includes seven N.S. varieties. Probably the only thing I don’t like about 2 Doors Down is the beer selection, which is comprised of three beers on tap, one from each of three microbreweries around the province. Kudos on the commitment to local, but if it’s possible to make beer pretentious, it’s been achieved here.
We had a bottle of Cheverie from Avondale Sky with our appetizers and a bottle of Phone Box from Luckett Vineyards with our mains, and enjoyed both.
My favourite appetizer was the polenta fries, in which polenta cakes are sliced, rolled in more corn meal and flash fried, then served with romesco - which is a Spanish sauce made from finely ground tomatoes, red peppers, onion, garlic, almonds and olive oil - for dipping. Also very popular was the roasted mushroom bruschetta, which sees grilled sourdough topped with local mushrooms and smoked ricotta from the valley. Not as successful: Spanish mussels. Some of the mussels tasted undercooked, some of the shells hadn’t opened, and the strong flavour of the sauce overwhelmed the taste of the shellfish.
That was strange, because once we received our mains, the mussels that came with each of two servings of Thai green curry vermicelli were significantly better. Noodles flavoured with coconut milk and green curry paste are also topped with Digby scallops, bok choy, bell peppers and really tiny coldwater shrimp. Both of the ladies who had it said they’d gladly order it again, but would ask for more scallops instead of those shrimpy shrimp.
Interestingly, buttermilk fried chicken is made with boneless chicken, sort of gourmet chicken tenders and comes with a hash made from sweet potato, corn and black beans, plus cornbread. From the vegetarian section of the menu, asparagus penne carbonara earned raves, with its sauce of Parmesan, cream and free range egg, and beefed up, so to speak, with smoked Acadian tofu and cherry tomatoes.
But the dish I found most tasty was the smoked pork chop, a beautiful piece of meat from Oulton’s farm, smoked enough that the flavour is evident but not overwhelming, and wonderfully tender. Topped with cran-apple chutney, it comes with fried macaroni and cheese and asparagus, and is well worth your attention.
The one thing I’d promised myself for this visit was that I was going to have the same dessert as on my first visit, a strawberry rhubarb cheesecake served in a mason jar. To think this dish might be even better when fresh strawberries become available is amazing, because it’s great now.
Supper for six, including wine, tax and a tip of 20 per cent to reflect the excellent service, was $355. The next time someone says restaurants can’t succeed downtown, go to 2 Doors Down. But go early to avoid lining up.
Then again, this forum is a form of social networking. 
