Bar Lupulus may look casual and unassuming, but the food that chef Cam McGihon turns out is among the most thoughtful and ambitious in the city. That should come as no surprise, given that McGihon spent three months in early 2024 cooking at Frantzén, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in Stockholm that has ranked as high as sixth in the world on the taste-making World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. At Lupulus, McGihon shows off multiple masteries, from charcuterie to house-made pasta to elaborate mains. This summer, when I paid a discretionary visit and sat on the eatery’s disarmingly casual patio, I was wowed by a McGihon dish that combined kombu-cured guinea fowl with a smoked anchovy and horseradish emulsion, fondant potatoes cooked in boar fat, comte cheese foam that was to die for, amaretto-poached apples, haskap gel, caramelized parsnip and chicory. I don’t know what he will surprise us with at the Citizen’s event, but I expect it to be a delicacy.
