Blink and you’ll miss it, so here’s a tip: Don’t blink.
Tent Kitchen and Bar has been quietly operating on County Road 169 in Ramara since September 2020.
It’s an unassuming building on the well-travelled road, with the food coming out of the kitchen surprising some diners, particularly those who haven’t heard of Tent before and decide to stop in for something to eat.
It immediately caught the attention of chef Dave Palarajah, who runs the business with his wife, Deepa Kandee.
After working in kitchens in Oakville and Aurora, Palarajah wanted to open his own restaurant. A real-estate agent told him about a building for sale at 6273 County Rd. 169.
“I looked and thought, ‘Oh, it’s a run-down building,’ but I liked it,” he recalled of his first impression.
He quickly created a vision — one that is increasingly coming into view. At the moment, it’s a restaurant where people can eat inside or outside. Eventually, he plans to add a pizzeria, wine bar, gelato bar, butcher shop, bakery and more. It’s a long-term vision.
For now, his focus is on a menu that is not over-complicated but still eclectic. It includes everything from salads and chicken wings to fritto misto and chicken arrabbiata.
“I don’t want to settle on Italian cuisine or Spanish cuisine or Indian. I want to be able to be versatile,” Palarajah said.
Some customers have told him, “How it looks from outside, this food does not make sense. It does not match,” he said. “Then they say, ‘Good job, guys.’”
The first customer to walk through the doors last September saw the menu and said, “Dave, you can’t come with the mindset from the city. People here are farmers. They like bacon and eggs.”
So, Palarajah put bacon and eggs on the menu, with his own spin, along with a range of other breakfast and brunch items.
While he hasn’t been overrun with business, word is getting out about the hidden gem, with people coming from across the region to see what the hype is about.
“If things are good, people will travel at least two hours just to sit here and eat,” he said.
That’s why he puts so much time into prep.
“I want to keep it simple, but my simplicity comes with a lot of prep work,” he said.
For example, for the lone burger on the menu, he used to buy the buns and use medium ground beef. Now he makes his own brioche buns and creates the burger using ground brisket, hanger steak and chuck, with a 25 per cent fat content.
“If you don’t do the small things really well, you can’t put the big things together,” he said.
The response to the food has been positive, Palarajah said, and his Mother’s Day offering is one example. He sold 110 takeout specials that day.
He and Kandee relocated to Washago when they decided to open Tent — a name that came to Palarajah serendipitously.
A friend told him there were plenty of cottages in this area. During that conversation, Palarajah glanced at the TV and the word “tent” stood out to him.
“I just got the name. I’m going to call it Tent,” he recalled saying. “I believe everything happens for a reason.”
He draws similarities between the rural area where Tent is located and the farming village in Sri Lanka where he spent the first decade of his life before moving to Canada.
“This is the same atmosphere I was born in 40 years ago,” he said.
Some might be surprised, after tasting his food, to learn Palarajah has been cooking professionally for only five years. He was an engineer before his wife urged him to pursue cooking. So, he studied at George Brown College and hasn’t looked back.
“This is where I want to be,” he said.
For more information about Tent Kitchen and Bar, call 705-326-8368, check out its website or find it on Facebook and Instagram.
Reservations are recommended.
