Bar Kismet is refined, relaxed and a little bit retro — a combination that, eight years in, continues to charm loyal customers and newcomers alike. Dark wood and white beadboard, milk-glass light fixtures, mix-and-match china and potted plants — all contribute to a room of inviting comfort, falling somewhere between your grandmother’s dining room and a French farmhouse inn. Five-year Kismet veteran Lauren Campbell has taken over head-chef duties from co-owner and founding chef Annie Brace-Lavoie, but as always, the menus here draw on Mediterranean and French regional cuisine and, for the most part, change weekly. Handmade pasta is a specialty. Seafood and vegetables are charred, grilled, braised and torched. Along with oysters, clams and mussels, you’ll find blackened octopus or plump whelks in their knobby coiled shells. Expect unusual ingredients, such as tardivo, a colourful, bitter lettuce recently paired with seared duck. Summer might bring albacore tuna with blackberry and beurre noisette, or leek and ricotta ravioli doppio with chanterelles. The beverage program is exceptional, too. Wines and beers highlight producers from Eastern Canada. Cocktails routinely mirror the ever-changing menu. Native plants such as pineapple weed and spruce tips often elevate modern classics.