Behind the Menu: The Steph

The Tilted Turret Pinball Pub

Review by Susan Pretty, Photos by Sidney Ulakovic

There’s an off-menu dish at The Tilted Turret Pinball Pub that regulars speak of with the kind of reverence usually reserved for secret levels or high-score legends. It’s called “The Steph,” named for the pub’s longest-running server, who has been holding down the floor with easy confidence for more than two and a half years. One day on shift, Steph was feeling peckish and asked owner and general manager Steve Vares for an order of chicken tenders, but didn’t want any fries. She asked for some flippers instead, and behold: “The Steph” was born!

By swapping the expected fries for a generous heap of “flippers,” the pub’s deep-fried dough creation dusted in cinnamon sugar, the palate is treated to a harmony of flavours. They arrive warm, soft-edged, and accompanied by a side of caramel sauce that leans toward dulce de leche in both texture and indulgence.

Steph takes her chicken with plum sauce, eschews utensils entirely, and alternates bites, starting with the flippers first. It’s no surprise that customers are eating it up.

The tenders bring savoury crunch, the flippers offer carnival-sweet softness, and the caramel adds a lush, toffee-like richness. It’s a dish that shouldn’t work, yet absolutely does—the kind of sweet-and-salty collision that feels like a wink from the kitchen (or from Steve, anyway). Try yours today!