Tapas Tuesday

$5 T a p a s T u e s d a y s
Served From 4:00 p.m. until 9:00
No take away
Not applicable for parties of 8 or more

Duo of Dips, roasted garlic hummus, marinated grilled vegetable dip, baguette and Naan bread.

House Bruschetta, sweet peppers, zucchini, tomato, roasted garlic, Pecorino Romano.

Crispy Spring Rolls. Julienne vegetables, rice noodles, with a sweet chili dipping sauce.

Sweet Potato Frites tossed with cinnamon and served with chili lime aioli.

Potato Frites, garlic, truffle oil and Pecorino Romano with aioli.

Vegetable Potato Tian sweet pea drizzle.

Mediterranean Bean Salad, goat cheese, celery, sweet bell peppers, Bermuda onion, cumin vinaigrette.

Grilled Calamari, tomato, white bean, Kalamata olive and Hamilton Market spicy chorizo sausage.

Mussels braised in a tequila and chipotle broth.

Rousseau Nachos. Our version of nachos topped with tomato jalapeno salsa, mango, goat cheese and provolone.
add chicken or chorizo sausage. $4

The Building

In 1981 under the Ontario Heritage Act, Rousseau House was designated as a property of historic and architectural value. A plaque showing this, is placed to the left of the door fronting on Wilson Street. Downstairs the pine floors have been sanded and sealed. A new entrance for the restaurant on the north side of bldg2

the building is a replica of the original street entrance with its stained glass panels. The staircase, which originally went straight up from the street front door, has been rotated 180 degrees to ease the movement of restaurant customers to the dining areas on the first floor. All the original red pine doors have been restored and used throughout the restaurant.

The tables downstairs and the top of the bar have been made from joists taken from the rear extension of the building which had to be demolished and then rebuilt to house the kitchen. The stone from the demolished rear section has been incorporated in the stone wall along the front of the building with some dressed from the old Smith House which was recently demolished. Interestingly, you will see a few white stones in the wall. These were removed from the basement wall of the house. During the 1800's there were several outbreaks of cholera in the area and all households were required to whitewash the cellars, hence the white stones.

The Owners and the Restaurant

The house was built by George Brock Rousseau (1817-1873)in 1838 for his bride Jane Morris whom he married ken in 1839. George B. Rousseau was a prominent citizen of Ancaster, and was Postmaster for 10 years, a Councillor and a member of the Ancaster agricultural Society. Other owners of the property were Bolton W. Donnelly, a druggist, who owned it from 1878-1919 Elizabeth Farmer, 1919-1928: Florence Farmer, 1928-1970: Frank S. Panabaker, artist 1970-1997, and it is presently owned by Kenneth Kershaw.

In 1949 as a student at Manchester University, in England, Ken Kershaw still vividly remembers his excitement and pleasure at eating in a Chinese restaurant, the first he had ever seen. Having been raised on good plain English food, this was a whole new sphere of knowledge and influence for him. Ken has remained delighted with the enormous range of foods available around the world, and has spent many happy hours in the kitchen. Ken had never seriously thought of opening a restaurant until his sons were grown, and 2 of them indeed had chosen careers in the hospitality industry. It then seemed inevitable, and when a suitable property in Ancaster became available it was finally purchased in 1997. This property would become known as Rousseau House Restaurant.

Tapas Tuesday

The Building

The Owners and the Restaurant

Rousseau House News Letter