I am forever chasing the perfect lunch: a great soup, sandwich, pastry, or—on the truly blessed days—all three. Restaurant, bakery, fever dream, I’m not picky. I’m also spoiled. Living in Nutana means that Christie’s Il Secondo, Gangster’s Italian Sandwiches, and Nutana Bakery are all within easy reach.
But recently, I’ve been frequenting a newer place, one that I think of as hidden in plain sight. It’s downtown, so it’s a central and easy destination spot, but it’s a few blocks away from the main commercial thoroughfares in the area. The venerable restaurant bakery I’m talking about is called Pique, as in, this is going to pique your interest, friends.
Pique is owned by Chef Tazia & Karan Thakur. They’re a wonderful, young family and I personally credit them with saving Calories, the Broadway institution. When my wife and I met, before Saskatoon’s culinary explosion in the last decade or so, we had many date nights at Calories. But over time, the quality eroded and we had eventually all but written it off. That is, until Chef Tazia and Karan bought it and brought it back to the passion and quality of its glory days.
So, when Karan told me about Pique a while back, my curiousity — no, my epicuriousity — was piqued. (Okay, I’ll retire the Dad jokes for today).
The space itself reminds me of cafés and bakeries we visited in Europe. It’s small and charming, modern but rustic. They specialize in good coffee as well. Pique is perfect for a downtown workday take out lunch, but there’s also seating if you want to linger. The real showstopper is the pastry case. It’s a cornucopia of beautiful pastries, pies, desserts, and breads. One of those displays that can force you to recalibrate your order on the spot.
I had been thinking of Pique as more of an excellent bakery, stopping in for croissants and whatnot, but I saw a Sandwich Dad post about their Beef au Poivre sandwich. And I had to have it. (Shout out to Sandwich Dad for his intrepid sandwich-based reporting! Love that guy!).
In a fit of manifestation, my wife and daughter and I hit Pique on a whim last Sunday and I made that sandwich happen. It’s a baguette, filled with thick cuts of peppercorn crusted brisket, peppercorn sauce, caramelized onions, crispy shallots, microgreens, and brie cheese (most of the ingredients at Pique are sourced locally, by the way). This sandwich was next-level, the perfect mix of ingredients. The beef was incredibly tender, the sauce and brie made it rich without being heavy, and the pepper gave it just enough kick without blowing everything up. It’s a serious sandwich.
My wife can’t have dairy, but when we were in Italy last year, we discovered the true power of porchetta, so she opted for the Porchetta Sandwich. Slow-roasted, herb-rolled pork with tomato, spinach, chutney, and garlic aioli on focaccia. She really enjoyed it. I have had limited success finding, or even making, good porchetta here at home, but I tried a bite of her sandwich and it took me back to the streets of Italy.
My daughter went with her go-to, a croissant. She refused to share, which I take as a strong endorsement, but I’ve tried them before and they are a beautiful golden hue, shatteringly flaky on the outside, soft and buttery on the inside. Once you have a real piece of pastry like that, the rubbery grocery store version becomes a deeply confusing object.
While there, we also ran into Karan and he generously sent out a few more treats for us to try; a sausage roll and a chocolate-filled pastry cone of some sort (I didn’t catch the name). I’ve also had their Greens & Egg Galette a few times. It’s pastry with egg, garden dill, and goat feta and it’s roll your eyes back into your head good. And of course, they have all manner of breads — they bake certain types on specific days.
I walked out stuffed full of sandwich and pastry, but more importantly, full of smug satisfaction at having unlocked another wicked lunch option. Pique isn’t just a place I’ll go back to, it’s already in the regular rotation, which is the highest compliment I can give a restaurant. And Pique is such a hit with my family, it’s going to be heavy rotation.
