I went into the Mandy’s location in Yorkville purely for this magazine. I was under the impression this was a place for Instagram, or PR girlies taking a break from making the Internet, not a place for guys like me. I’m embarrassed by my assumption, and like most 47yo men who step outside of their comfort zone and try something new, had a really good time. It’s actually more cringe than that – I love it and I’m now their biggest fan. This place is operating on an entirely other level. I’m not joking, it’s perfect.
I arrived at 1:30pm after the lunch rush. There is still a lot of energy in here—and as a first timer I didn’t understand how it works. I wasn’t sure if I ordered at the counter and sat down at a table, or if I ordered from the table. My thoughts are interrupted by a friendly kid who greets me and asks if ‘I want to dine in or take away’. They have a TINY dot-of-a-table available so I take it. I’m told that I’m number 41 and to “tell that to the cashier when you order”. I read the menu in line and decide I’m going to leave. Mock chicken what?! Oh no, I think, Mandy’s is vegetarian. It’s too late now, a healthy teenager is waiting for my words. I place my order and go to my dot.
A summer-camper-type teenager delivers my peanut, mixed green, mock chicken satay salad. It’s a wonderful mountain, all shades of green stacked politely in a bowl with a strange fork. The fork is very flat and surprisingly wide and kinda light and cheap—and brass in colour only. It’s 50% snow shovel, 50% baby-pitchfork, maybe it’s perfect for salads, I think.
Mandy and Rebecca Wolfe are sisters. In 2004 they started making salads in the back of a Montreal clothing store on Rue Sherbrooke pop-up style. Just a fridge and some cutting boards. The homemade dressings and aesthetic was an instant hit. Word of mouth spread and suddenly they were in business.
Let me tell you – it would be very easy for Mandy’s to be pretentious. If they were from Toronto they would be. But they’re not. Their people are wonderful – fresh and happy and accommodating. Welcoming. It’s classic hospitality. If you are in the salad-bowl business in the city, and they open near you: You. Are. Done.
Second visit. What kind of review would this be without a second visit.
Ok oops, Mandy’s is not a vegetarian restaurant, I got ahead of myself on the first visit. They have a full selection of proteins that can be added to your salad. But, I still order the mock chicken because it’s that good. I actually order the exact same salad – the Peanut Satay.
This one is as good as the first. Two things have changed though. One, the fork has changed. It’s still brassy, but the shape is more trad fork. Two, this salad has more mint in it. The mint leafs are not dressed – or maybe mint leaves are naturally dressing resistant – but it’s nice, nicer than before. The young, dry leafs are a subtle surprise—and if it’s intentional, it’s a genius addition to the texture.
Round 3
I went back today determined to try something different. The clerk recommended the Endless Summer. “It’s a more summery salad”, they say. The mock chicken in this one has been marinaded in a tamarind mixture – sounds lovely, and it is.
What arrives is 10 million different green things stacked with sprinkles of quinoa. Perfect. A lovely and beefy mound, well above the rim of the bowl, flat and curly leafs, apple. This one is salad is much greener and feels like real medicine. It’s huge and it’s work and when I’m done I’m happy and not full, full.
There was a wonderful vibe during my first two visits. Mostly young women speaking softly and exactly about their day/lives. This time it was different. During the first half of my salad there was an influencer-type having an extremely loud conversation on speaker phone. The small space was filled with their sound. They weren’t talking, they were listening to the person on the other end—the person speaking so loudly that the speaker on the iPhone was crackling. As she left, I could see she had a phone gimble, and she was holding her phone to her face like a mirror – the way some people do – maybe it was a FaceTime call. Very yikes.
My only note is that the salad doesn’t need any carrot, all green is all good I think. And, partway through I noticed the salad had black sesame seeds in it—so when I finished I had to take a trip to the lavatory with my floss placker. I’m not sure the world needs black sesame seeds.
I had my lunch sitting in a window seat overlooking the big rock in the centre of Yorkville. The people watching added to my experience and I recommend it.
Across the park I could see the Fiorio Salon people working away upstairs in their white outfits. I used to have my eyebrows waxed there when I was 20 and clubbing a lot. Wow. Who was that guy. Me.
THE END.
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