Homage is a restaurant that offers locally sourced, sustainable, and feel-good food. A chat with Paul reveals some of the restaurant’s philosophies. And now, Homage is offering a $10 student organic “Well-Fed” burger deal with a drink.
Right across the school, there’s a special little restaurant, filled with rustic wooden tables and dark leather chairs. The exposed brick interior has huge windows cut out of it, framing the dining tables and chairs placed within them. A driftwood ‘H’ hangs on the brick wall. I’ve been visiting this little building consistently due to its great food and atmosphere. Finally, after having a great meal with some friends, I had a chance to sit down and have a conversation with Paul, who runs the front-of-house of the restaurant, to find out a little more about this restaurant.
Exposed, pure, and unaltered, Homage’s whole philosophy is inspired by food itself. Described by Paul, Homage is a food-driven restaurant that pays tribute and respect to the ingredients that go into the dishes. The restaurant seeks to use ingredients that are raised and treated with care, which is important not only for its customers, but the for farmers that source them.
Chef John Baltazar opened the restaurant up in January of 2014, bringing with him his experience from Italy at a vegetarian restaurant, and from the Cambridge Mill, where John and Paul met. The dishes are prepared from scratch, using sustainable ingredients. Paul stresses that honesty and respect are principles applied to everything that is done in the restaurant. For example a sirloin makes up only 10% of an animal, therefore Homage seeks to use and explore the parts that are not appreciated as much, which would otherwise be wasteful to throw away. Sometimes, they even forage the ingredients themselves, researching and looking into what is available around the Cambridge area.
The kitchen experiments with ingredients as the season changes and as a result Homage’s menu constantly changes, bringing new and unconventional dishes to it’s diners. Some of the dishes are inspired by their philosophy like the beet pudding which is made from the will to use up all of the vegetable that is complimentary to their beet salad. Additionally, there are farm features that change as the availability of ingredients changes. These can be found on their Guinea Pig Board. Sometimes, there are also culinary experiments on this board.
Homage seeks to contribute to the community as well and offers a great deal to students. $10 for their organic “Well-fed Burger”, and a drink. The burger is succulent and juicy, the caramelized onions and mushrooms perfectly complement the tender beef.
We had a coffee for the drink, which Homage sources from Monigram. Paul says that this way, they know they are supporting the restaurant community in Cambridge. He offered to take calls from students, saying that he can pack up the burger and a drink just for a quick lunch. The deal is offered to help add to the choices that students have to make.
It is priced with the restaurants around the area the area in mind. Paul tells me that Homage makes only 10% off of the burger. It’s more of a community oriented offer than anything, and a way to welcome students into the restaurant.
We also had some fresh pasta, hand made in house, with tomato sauce. The pork was seasoned just the right amount, as to not cover up the flavour of any of the delicate ingredients. The fettuccini had the right amount of bite and tastes drastically different than dried pasta.
The tomato sauce was so light and refreshing. Paul informed me that they didn’t do much to it. That nothing extra is added to their dishes. He says that each ingredient they use is there for a reason and that they don’t do the ‘fancy parsley sprinkled on top’.
Drop by and try something. Homage is a great place to come with your friends, your date, or your family! Maybe they’ll have whipped up something special, but whatever it is, you’ll know it was made with care.
