We went on thursday night the crowd was a little mixed. Some guys in suits. A guy came in sneakers and jeans with a couple of chicks. A guy brought his chick; she was looking hot in a business casual outfit (pointy toed high heels etc). I didn't really spot a big contingent of old people, not sure if its beyond their price point. I have seen some really hot chicks going into this place, so i think a lot of guys with trophy wives and girlfriends go there.
I started with a campari and soda. They filled a tumbler with a generous amount of campari and brought the soda water on the side. I like that approach. I would have been appalled if they had free poured the soda water, like they do in so many other restaurants that do not understand the nature of campari and how it is drunk and what its role is prior to eating. The staff at this restaurant obviously know the score.
We were there for the three course dinner. Its like a fixed price, you have some options in each course.
They gave us some canapes after we order. These were tasty. I can't remember everything. But there was a foamy thing, something with leeks and a third thing. I would've eaten all the ones that were left over if anyone wasn't on their toes.
These were my selections for dinner:
first course: Confit of Nova Scotia Lobster, Niagara Pancetta
Cauliflower Couscous, Truffle Vinaigrette
second course: Duck Confit Stuffed Savoy Cabbage
Poached Bone Marrow, Beef Consommé
main course: Hard Shell Nova Scotia Lobster, Brier Island Sea Scallops
Butter Poached Gnocchi, Lobster Vanilla Bean Foam
They have a selection of three breads: 7-grain, french baguette and rosemary and potato. I had the rosemary and potato, it was a bun. I really like it.
The food was first rate. The lobster was out of its shell so i was easy to eat, no issues with getting to food. There are really unexpected twists with the food, in the sense that they mix stuff that you might not necessarily think of hand, but it all works. But i guess you can do that with lobster, i think people generally dip it in butter and stuff when they eat it (at least that's what it looks like what they do in the red lobster commercials). But i guess when you use duck fat to make a confit of lobster, its a more extreme, richer and much tastier take on that approach. I really like duck, so i was into the second course. The broth it was served in was really tasty. I tipped my plate to get all of it. The main course was delicious. For me there three textures of the food, firm, somewhat firm and soft. So you could mix and match on that. All three courses were beautifully plated. Of course, the portions were somewhat on the small size, but that means that its easier to get desert to fit. I had the grand marnier souffle, with chocolate sauce. I can just say yummy here. Again, the chocolate sauce came on the side so you have the option as a dinner to use as much as you want.
We had two wines that night. We started with a Canadian chardonnay. It was quite good. I have found that Canadian chardonnay rarely disappoint, and they are at a very affordable price point, given the quality we get. We kind of conflicted on the second choice. We initially picked a primitivo from puglia (italy), but after every one was going for fish we decided to switch to a white. But the sommelier suggested that we could stay with a red because even though we were eating fish, there were enough flavors infused in the food that a red wine wouldn't be out of the question. He made a number of suggestions, a barbera d'asti, a california cab (i forget the vineyard) and california pinot noir (i forget the vineyard). With hindsight we should have gone with the barbera d'asti, but i pushed for the pinot noir. I love the taste of the pinot noir, but then i've drank some good burgundies that are responsible for me developing that taste. This pinot noir was ok, but nothing spectacular. It did match the food well. But the sommelier gave us the heads up on that, he pretty much said its pedestrian but it would work with the food.
The service was unbelievable. They tuck in the chair each time you get up, not only when you get there. I got up to go the washroom after the main course, when i came back to the table my napkin was folded and one of the staff tucked in my chair when i sat down. Now that's class. The waiter we had was very knowledgeable. He answered all the questions that were put to him on the food. When there was a question about the wine, he suggested an up-market bottle. When we pushed back and revealed our budget he went for the sommelier immediately. The sommelier was professional, knowledge and efficient. Once he knew what the budget was he didn't fuck around. He went right for the things that were in the price range. I was really impressed. I haven't really dealt with many sommelier's (besides the one at Kultura, who's picked a really good collection of wines), but this guy was impressive. He knew the wine list and the food so he knew what would work. Once you reveal the budget, he's really discrete and makes the appropriate suggestions in a way that if you were there with a chick or something, no one would catch on that there was a budget. When one of us was looking at the wine list he even came and shined a flashlight on the list (which was very impressive), because we were in a corner the light wasn't great. I remember stuff like that because you don't see service like that in this city.
This is upscale and fine dining in Toronto. The bill came out to almost $900 for 5 people, and we did go cheap on the wine (we had two bottles in the $55 to $60 range). The price is really at the upper end. I think this is most expensive dinner I have ever been too. I would have been disappointed if it was for the first-class service. If you charge prices like that, you have to treat the diner very well, which they did. The only negative thing i would say about the place is that some of the chairs looked like they could be replaced. But other than that, nothing disappointed me that night. I would have given this place a higher rating, but after I went to Jamie Kennedy restaurant my expectations for the price point changed.
Rating: 2 Bunnies
Notes on the Bunny Rating System:
- 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
- 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
- 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
- 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool
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