Saronn Pov has been building her culinary career on identity. With a love of local food and seasonal ingredients, and an appreciation of the Cambodian flavours her mother raised her on, at Saronn’s Kitchen, Pov was inspired by the connectivity of food and culture.
Six months ago, Pov opened Studio East Food + Drink with partner Ray Bear, who serves as executive chef. Bear made his name over a decade ago when he was at Gio, but has never really managed to forge a tangible identity in subsequent kitchens: he was talented, but inconsistent, his identity as a chef shifting perhaps a little too easily, seemingly driven more by trends than intention. Pov’s confident point of view just might be the thing that finally brings Bear’s talent back into focus.
Studio East’s decor has a comfortable, well-worn arts-and-crafts vibe, with bright, kitschy paintings and cutesy word art and drawings of ramen and oysters on chalkboard walls. Old church pews dotted with scrappy cushions make up a wall of seats with industrial stacking metal chairs on the other sides of the small tables. A communal bar table runs through the middle of the room, tall wooden stools lining either side. A bar and open kitchen are in the restaurant’s other half.
The restaurant is half-empty when I meet two friends for Saturday brunch, and it only gets emptier in the hour or so we’re there. I’m surprised: It’s a nice space with a focused, interesting menu. I figured it wouldn’t just be crowded, but that there would be a wait.
We order coffees ($3.5) and a cappuccino ($4.5). Studio East uses Nova Coffee for its drip and Illy for its espresso drinks. I hate the cappuccino, which has a low-fat froth that sits unmovable atop the liquid—I prefer low-key, velvety foam that sinks into a plush cappuccino. I understand the appeal of Illy pod coffee for consistency, but I personally find them consistently bad. The server kindly takes the drink back and removes it from the bill. I change tack and get the Studio mimosa ($8) instead, a sparkling wine with a touch of cranberry and flowery lychee.
Only two hours into the day’s service, the restaurant is already out of steamed buns. We get two orders of bao buns ($14). If you are familiar with dabao—the huge, fluffy steamed buns common in Chinese bakeries, almost overstuffed with a hard-boiled egg and minced pork—these are a sort of semi-deconstructed version of those perfect spheres. Studio East’s bao has a Chinese BBQ minced pork tucked inside, with the egg instead draped across the top, runny yolks drizzled with sweet house-made hoisin. One of the two plates is missing cilantro when it arrives.
The Cambodian chicken congee bowl ($12) is also missing an ingredient when it arrives: the chicken. A savoury rice porridge, loose and slightly soupy, the mild creaminess is a blank slate on which the toppings mark their flavour. Pov boils whole chickens and uses the broth for the base of the congee. There is supposed to be shredded chicken on top, and I admit I didn’t even think about that until I was half-done. Airy cruller-style donuts, a nest of crunchy bean sprouts, some finely chopped green onion, some garlic chili sauce and a sunny egg plopped in the middle of the bowl were enough of a distraction.
The num pang ($13) baguette, a Cambodian equivalent of the banh mi, is packed with meat: fermented sausage wrapped with bacon, pork belly melting with a slight smokiness, chicken pate. It’s huge, clumsy to eat and worth the dribbling down your shirt.
I do see a good foundation here: a combination of personality and talent that could be outstanding. With a little more attention to detail to really nail the consistency of those great flavours, I figure one of these Saturdays there will definitely be a wait.
Studio East Food + Drink
6021 Cunard Street
902-449-9800
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This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2016.
I think you missed the window of opportunity
Had brunch there November and it was busy.
But the issues you mention about a Ray Bear run operation regarding consistency likely have already become a reality and the wise diners have begun to abandon ship.
A tiger never changes his stripes, so on he goes.
I was there once for dinner before Christmas, and once last month. Busy and very tasty both times. Service was fine, too.
Just prior to his last ‘exit stage West’ a few years ago, I believe he was interviewed by a local paper, and placed all blame for the failure of ‘his’ second enterprise on his partner, whom he also claimed threatened his life. Prior to the business failure (‘Mix’, or ‘Bear’, can’t remember), he was exclaiming to anyone who would listen how he was sole owner of not only the eateries, but beef ranches and vineyards as well. He was growing all his own food.
Does no one else remember this guy?
During said interview, Mr. Bear bemoaned the people of Halifax, stating that we simply did not bring enough sophistication to the plate to support (or perhaps understand) his delicate genius.
Well, after adding to his list of failures out West, he returns, and can’t say enough about how happy he is to be ‘home’.
His ‘chef’ partner, would be lucky to get a job as a line cook elsewhere. My belief is that the ‘chef’ partner was required to obtain financing for this latest foible, as Bear couldn’t rent a movie with his credit, much less finance a second rate cafeteria like Studio East!!
Fast forward a year or so, and Bear will be blaming anyone other than himself for the failure of this, his latest venture as well.
Go West (again) young man.
History repeats itself………..again.
The Coast has always been hungry for Ray…http://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/ArticleArch… Yeah, that thing about how we can’t handle sophisticated food was a bit much. I’ve been curious about this place, having biked by it a few times, but now that I know the story behind it I can move on and not worry about checking it out.
The fact that both Bill Spur AND The Coast are gushing over this place is pretty much a red flag.