Carrying on after Raymonds: Top Chef Canada winner putting new spin on family-style dining at new downtown St. John’s restaurant

ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — One factor Celeste Mah and Ross Larkin have been requested so much currently is, “When can we make a reservation?”

Taking a break from hanging photos within the former Luxus Lounge and Café, Larkin, a Prime Chef Canada winner, mentioned persons are excited and curious concerning the meals they’ll be serving in that house underneath the identify Portage, a restaurant they’ll run with the assistance of “the 2 Jeremys,” their buddies Jeremy Charles and Jeremy Bonia of Raymonds Restaurant and The Service provider Tavern.

For seven years, Mah and Larkin had been well-known within the N.L. meals trade because the pastry chef — Mah was voted Canada’s Greatest Pastry Chef in 2019 —and chef, respectively, of Raymonds Restaurant, an award-winning, nice eating institution which helped deliver the native meals scene to a nationwide and worldwide viewers.

Raymonds closed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, however its status for top of the range, locally-sourced meals went nowhere.

“We all know a variety of the those that got here to Raymonds and we received to know them on extra of a private degree,” Larkin mentioned in a phone interview.

“I liked Raymonds, I miss it. However this can be a good change from that fashion of eating. It’s much more approachable to everyone.”

“I liked Raymonds, I miss it. However this can be a good change from that fashion of eating. It’s much more approachable to everyone.”
— Ross Larkin

The menu

Gone is the standard menu structure of appetizers, mains and deserts.

“We’ll have a snack part, a seafood part — which might be something from scallop crudo to halibut,” she mentioned.

“After which we’ll have a protein part, which might be half-roasted guinea fowl, steak, or beef tartar or carpaccio. After which a vegetable part.”

Clients choose and select what they’d like and the kitchen and servers resolve easy methods to group issues collectively earlier than sending it out to the desk household fashion.

“It’s getting again to that precise eating the place you’re sitting down with a bunch of mates at a desk, and also you’re all speaking and also you’re sharing meals and also you’re having a good time,” Larkin added.

It’s the identical caliber and high quality of substances Raymonds was identified for, however with out the tablecloths, Larkin mentioned.

Intimate and relaxed

After Raymonds closed, Mah and Larkin helped out on the Service provider Tavern, however wanted extra of an outlet for his or her creativity.

The way in which the menu and kitchen are setup at Portage, it’ll permit the duo to alter up the substances and dishes usually.

“We now have a really small kitchen, so relying on what we get in, that’s what’s going to dictate the menu,” Mah mentioned.

Portage can have a relaxed ambiance, Mah mentioned, with an open kitchen going through the eating room.

It is going to be a giant change from the fashion of most eating places within the metropolis.

“It’s fairly intimate,” Larkin mentioned.

From concept to funds to design, Portage has been within the works for a few yr.

And although they’re nonetheless unable to say for sure when a reservation might be made, they’re hoping to open the doorways someday within the coming weeks.