Teen phenom will take you on a dining adventure

KINGSTON, Ontario — Anyone who's been to Kingston is probably familiar with many of the city's fine dining restaurants.

There's Le Chien Noir, Casa Domenico, AquaTerra, Chez Piggy, Ristorante Luigina — the list goes on and on.

But here's one I'll bet you've never been to: Luke's! Gastronomy and Charcuterie on Princess Street. It's a little hole-in-the-wall place with maybe 10 tables, tops.

But don't let the size fool you. There's some big-time cooking going on at Luke's!

And here's the most amazing thing about Luke's: Chef Luke is 17 years old.

While most teenagers would be holed up in their bedrooms playing video games or listening to their iPods, Luke is in his kitchen creating entrées like rainbow trout with sweet corn croquettes, tomato confiture, rue-glazed baby onions and scallop gnocchi with pancetta paste.

Or appetizers like rabbit rillette with pistachio purée, dark cherries, lemon-polenta shortbread and chèvre.

And not only does Luke handcraft and plate everything on the menu himself, he makes his own pastas, churns his own butter, smokes his own meats and makes his own cheese from his own goats.

A very pleasant lady was single-handedly taking care of the hostessing duties as well as performing the waitressing and bartending chores. Carrie Hayes is her name. She's also the sous chef and mother of Luke Hayes-Alexander.

As you can imagine, we had more than a few questions about the menu. More like a million questions. Carrie answered every one of them with patience and passion, humble explanations from more than just a sous chef — a proud mother.

So let's get started. A very nice wine list offers a dozen whites and a dozen reds. We would have gotten Luke's Family Vineyards Dry Riesling (yep, they make their own wine, too) but we were in the mood for red, so went with Masi Campofiorin 2004 from Italy ($34), semi-dry with hints of raisin and black cherry.

House chèvre Napoléon ($12) was a bit adventurous — Luke's own chèvre (goat cheese) served over an oat tuile (thin, crisp cookie) with shaved black olives on top, buckwheat honey underneath and dots of balsamic glaze jazzing up the plate.

Spring Caesar ($8) was astoundingly adventurous — a ball of romaine ice cream (yes, it really was ice cream made from romaine lettuce) was served alongside bacon jam (bacon crisps), asiago (cheese) rice crispies and Caesar dressing served in an egg cup.

Rabbit rillette ($10). A rillette is generally a smooth pâté, although Luke's was on the coarse side, containing pistachio purée and dark cherries. It was served over a most amazing preserved lemon shortbread with quenelles (small ovals) of chèvre dotting the plate. The different flavors absolutely complemented each other.

Although we didn't have it, Luke offers an appetizer featuring his handcrafted charcuterie delicacies (cured meats) with appropriate accompaniments for $20.

Liquid and solid herb salad ($7) — we had to try this, out of curiosity if nothing else. The "solid" part was bite-sized pieces of romaine, mint and arugula (and some other stuff we couldn't identify) held together by a stainless steel ring. The "liquid" was the dressing, an herb tonic with mild lemon balm served in an egg cup.

The superlatives were the same for each dish: "Amazing." "Unbelievable." "I'm blown away." "How does he do it?"

The young chef has taken food to another level.

"Rack" of lamb shank ($25). "Rack" is in quotes because it wasn't rack of lamb. It was braised lamb shank formed into little cylinders, placed on an oblong plate. The accompaniments turned the plate into a painter's palette with cauliflower velouté (white sauce), rhubarb pudding and homemade peanut brittle. Basil subric, disks resembling little pancakes, were served on the side.

One of the questions we asked was, "What is cochon?" You'd think the person at the table who took four years of French would have known it was French for pork.

"La Tête du Cochon" ($22) was crisp pork belly, seemingly fried on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. The pork was enhanced with a civet of mushrooms (mushrooms sautéed in wine) in dark demi-glace, croutons, caper berries, tomato confiture (a sweet concoction), sauce gribiche (like a nonemulsified tartare sauce) and guanciale (cured pork similar to pancetta).

"The Canvas" ($20) is Luke's vegetarian offering. The main component is black beluga lentils that glisten when they're cooked, making them look like beluga caviar. The "canvas" is completed with pistachio paste, vanilla gastrique (reduction), chèvre pebbles (small rounds), cauliflower velouté and rosemary-rose petal cookies.

"Duck, Thrice" ($30). This was an entrée in three parts.

First, a taste of Luke's charcuturie: anise-cured breast of duck, wild fennel salami, chèvre and tarragon over a bed of sweet peas. The peas were puréed and held together with gelatin to form a small rectangular mat.

Next, confit of leg: moist, fall-off-the-bone duck leg with rhubarb pudding, black beluga lentil purée and basil subric.

Finally, "bread and butter": a small puddle of duck stock-infused butter with a little pile of blueberries served with a chocolate mint (that we can safely assume was made by Luke), served with a thick piece of dark bread we also assumed was Luke's handiwork.

Desserts were equally over-the-top with presentation and unlikely flavor combinations.

Wild mint ice cream ($8) — three miniature scoops of mint-infused ice cream surrounded by black dots of Lapsang Souchong tea gel, honeyed millet and preserved lemon.

Bittersweet chocolate ($8) — two small chocolate balls over Chianti crema, black pepper gastrique, delicious toasted hazelnuts, topped with a cocoa crêpe.

The cost of this wild culinary adventure? $149 including Canadian taxes, excluding wine and before adding tip.

Luke's cuisine is for the adventurous diner, for sure, but don't be intimidated by some of his terms (like basil subric, cauliflower velouté, tomato confiture). It's all stuff you're used to eating (well, mostly...) but presented in a nontraditional way.

According to Luke's mom, they believe that eating should be an experience. Luke passionately creates the dishes that take you on a culinary journey you won't soon forget.

The restaurant advocates the Slow Food Movement and the 100-Mile Diet. Learn more at www.slowfoodusa.org and www.100milediet.org

TIDBITS

Many of us remember Ham's Inn on Route 56, south of Colton and north of Route 3. The country bar, known for its folksy atmosphere where tourists and locals engage side by side in conversation, is now called Backwoods Inn.

Owners Tim and Michelle Schmidt will be honoring the memory of founders Ham and Helen Ferry next Sunday afternoon from 2:30 to 5. Stroll down memory lane as they play videos and cassettes of Ham reciting poetry and telling stories that he was so famous for.

You can contact Walter E. Siebel via e-mail: wsiebel@wdt.net.

Luke's! Gastronomy and Charcuterie 264 Princess St. Kingston, Ontario 1 (613) 531 7745 www.lukesgastronomy.com

Food you're familiar with, but presented in a nontraditional way.

Everything on the menu is handcrafted and passionately prepared in-house by 17-year-old Chef Luke Hayes-Alexander.

HOURS: Dinner — 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday

6 to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday

Lunch — noon to 2:45 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday

APPETIZER PICKS: Rabbit rillette, spring Caesar with romaine ice cream

ENTRÉE PICK: La Tête du Cochon, "Duck, Thrice,"

DESSERT PICK: Bittersweet chocolate with Chianti crema

RATING: 5 forks

See LITTLE G

Little restaurant in Kingston, Ontario, takes its customers on a huge culinary adventure