Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and other movies

So this is an inaugural attempt at doing current He Said / She Said movie reviews here, instead of on the website where they’ve been for ages. For the efficiency. (Though I may still archive copies on the web.)

I have a bit of catch-up to do.

**½ December Boys (October 2007) – Rental

Synopsis: Daniel Radcliffe, Christian Byers. Four Australian orphan boys get an opportunity to spend a month away in a seaside town, where they compete to be adopted.

She says: The religious overtones of this movie really didn’t sit well with me. And without spoiling what it is, I didn’t think the ending especially worked. I don’t think the choice was a good one.
He says: The religious stuff didn’t really bother me. But I agree with you about the ending.

*** Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe (August 2010) – Theatre

Synopsis: Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Scott Pilgrim meets the girl of his dreams but finds he must defeat her seven evil ex’s to win her heart.

She says: Well, that certainly moved along. Very witty. And Cera’s great. But it’s not a movie for everyone, and it wasn’t 100% for me.
He says: OK, I wasn’t bored. But the pink-haired girl wasn’t really my type, and the Japanese girl was cute but way too young.

***½ (500) Days of Summer (July 2009) – Rental

Synopsis: Zooey Deschanel, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. A look back at a failed relationship, and its aftermath.

She says: Funny and true and tightly edited, with good performances by both leads. Definitely a good rental.
He says: Well, her I liked. I could see why he become so obsessed with her. Fun movie.

***½ Despicable Me (July 2010) – Theatre

Synopsis: Steve Carell, Jason Segal. 3D animated movie about a villain who uses three orphan girls in his diabolical plan to steal the moon.

She says: A lot of fun, with plenty of jokes specially for the adults in the crowd. And must say this one is worth seeing in 3D; they do a nice job of playing with the extra dimension.
He says: I would have enjoyed it more without the raging headache, but given that, yeah, it was good. [She adds: He didn’t get the headache from the 3D. He had it going in.]

Starting in September

I was pleased–and, I admit, a little surprise–to read that Edwin Outwater, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s young, hunky, charismatic, and talented conductor has renewed his contract through to 2015. I thought he would be lured away.

Not sure if I ever got around to mentioning how blown away we were by the Symphony’s Carmina Burana last year (the season closer). Never mind Tommy; that was the real original rock opera. It’s only disguised as classical music. But really, it’s all sex and drugs and debauchery… It’s rock’n’roll, baby.

This year’s Pops lineup looked so appealing we’ve signed up for all 8 shows, despite the sticker shock of buying that many tickets at once (good seats, of course). This Friday begins with a reprise of one my favorites from the past: Cirque de la Symphonie. It’s the closest we get to Cirque du soleil in this town.

Tons of TV shows seem to be starting this week as well, even before all the summer favorites (Mad Men, So You Think You Can Dance Canada) are done. Not sure there’s room in the schedule for any new shows. I’m rarely very good at picking out the new shows that will last, anyway, so perhaps it’s best not to even start until it’s clearer who the survivors will be.

It’s even back to school time for me, as our ballroom dance classes commence the last week of September.

So many leisure activities to fit in. I get mildly stressed thinking about it, which seems sort of backward.

Je me souviens

Jean: What does the Je me souviens on the Quebec license plates refer to, again?

Me: I don’t know. I can’t remember.

As the last of our “we need to do something this summer” expeditions, we went to Québec City for Labour Day, taking a couple extra days off on each end, because we were driving. We’ve been to Québec City quite a few times before—hard to remember how many; at least 8—but even though we tend to do the same sorts of things each time (art galleries, walking, dining), no visit is quite the same.

Itinerary

We left Thursday after work (and dinner at home) and got as far as Trenton. Friday we made it into Québec City around 4:00 pm. Monday morning we left Québec City and ended up in Ottawa, again around 4:00 pm. Tuesday morning we drove home from there, arriving around 5:00 pm.

On the way there, we took the 401 (well, 407 through Toronto) and went through Montreal, both of which were unpleasant. (Though did lead to the discovery that the GPS can detect high traffic in TO in Montreal—I’m still not sure how.) So on the way back, we went the backroads. Took a little longer, but was worth it.

Accommodations

In Trenton we just stayed at a Comfort Inn, where we got a good CAA deal. In Ottawa, through Expedia, we got another good price on the Cartier Place Suite Hotel, which is older, but we did have a full kitchen, and living room separate from the bedroom and bathroom. And it had a pool and hot tub, which we used (once we finally found it).

In Québec City, I think for the first time, we stayed outside the old city, at a Bed and Breakfast. It was a nice place with friendly hosts, and where we got to meet other people, from Washington DC, Iles-de-la-Madeleine, and Wasaga Beach. We had our own room and bathroom, though the TV was shared (and we ended up not watching at all. And not really missing it, either.) And breakfast was great: cheese, fresh baking and a variety breads, fresh fruit, cereals, and yogurt.

So the main deal was the 20-minute walk to get to the old town, particularly that rain was predicted on the weekend. But what we learned was that Québec City has a decent bus system, at least for getting from this part of town to the old town. In the end, though, the weather turned out better than predicted—cloudy, but not that much rain—so we only partook of buses once, avoiding one of the uphill climbs by taking the electric écolobus up to outside the gates.

Otherwise, we just did a heck of a lot of walking. To and from the B&B at least twice each day (once in heeled shoes—only me), then walking to the various sites we wanted to see. And we were pretty proud that we didn’t suffer from sore muscles or other injuries from doing so. Anyway, we certainly needed the exercise, giving the…

Dining

Jean’s friend: So, what are you planning to go see in Québec City?

Jean: See? We don’t go there to see things. We go there to eat.

And we were pretty successful on that front. Obviously, the road meals were fairly mediocre—Tim’s; Saint Hubert (which has some nostalgia value, but the food is meh); absurdly bad service at the cafe attached to the Cartier Place Suite Hotel; and “Roland’s Fine Dining”, which really wasn’t, but was in fact a cut above all else in this category.

Our big dinner was supposed to be at the three-star Laurie Raphaël, a restaurant we’d been hearing about for years. But it turned out to be a little disappointing.

The restaurant was completely full, and the tables fairly close together, so it was somewhat noisy. And while the service wasn’t bad, by any means, it wasn’t quite three-star, with, for example, the wine sometimes arriving a little after the course it was supposed to accompany.

We both had the “menu surprise”, which is a three-course meal for $55, but you don’t have advance warning of what you’re getting. After a very nice amuse of gulf shrimp and seaweed, the first course was a duck paté with pistachios, onions, and fruit. And while it certainly tasted nice, it seemed a little bland, given that they were working with very flavorful duck.

The main course was beef. It was perfectly chosen and cooked, and therefore had perfect texture. The problem? Just that beef requires no creativity on the part of the chef. Anyone can make good beef. You just have to pay for the good meat, then not overcook it. Now the accompanying vegetables, covered in a delicious truffle-scented crips, were definitely wonderful and creative. But still.

They had suggested two possible wines to go with this, so we each took a different glass. My Cotes du Rhone was wonderful, all smooth fruitiness to stand up to the beef. Jean wasn’t quite as sure of his more rustic Cote du Provence wine.

They then offered to insert a cheese course here (extra charge, of course), which we decided to go for. That was really great. Six different cheeses, none of which we’d ever had before, each one with a separate accompaniment: tiny mushrooms, fruit glazes, and so on. I had a really nice 1-year-old port with that, while Jean had a late harvest.

Dessert was equally impressive, a four-part thingie not all of which I can remember, but everything was both delicious and somehow light. (And definitely chocolate was involved.)

Still, I’m not sure we’ll go back there, especially given how much we also enjoyed these other restaurants, all of which were cheaper:

  • La Crémaillère, an old favorite that has somehow never been listed in Where to Eat in Canada, but we’ve always found it really good. It’s another white linen place, but less busy, more space between the tables. Here we especially enjoyed the snow crab appetizer, the rosemary lamb shank main course (mine), the basil tuna main course (Jean’s).
  • Apsara, a Thai restaurant that was just crazy busy and noisy, but what a deal. A cocktail, soup, three appetizers, three main dishes, dessert, tea, and a full bottle of wine, for $40 each. And everything is very well prepared: fresh crispy vegetables, nothing greasy, nothing oversalted, all just tasty and nicely textured.
  • Portifino Bistro, recommended by the nice folks at La Crémaillère (who aren’t open for lunch on weekends) with creative and fresh pasta dishes, and a nice selection of wines by the glass.
  • Conti Cafe, which initially put Jean in a bad mood by giving us a not-so-great table, but we perked up considerably on tasting the food: spaghetti with duck for Jean, lemon cod for me, both very well done.

Should also mention the Murray Street Cafe in Ottawa, which aims to offer gourmet food in a casual atmosphere. It does look like a casual bar, and the food really is wonderful. Here I tried “poutine” for the first time (Jean’s dish), but I put it in quotes because it was made with spatzle instead of fries, and was very light on the gravy and cheese. And really quite good. I had the healthier tomato starter, then the duck as my main, while Jean went with pork hocks. They also had a big list of wines by the glass, and I was pretty proud of how well my selections went with what we ordered.

Shopping

One of the first things we did in Québec was head to St. Jean street to visit our favorite stores: the medieval clothes (where I got a belt to go with the dress I’d purchased here last time), the used record store (which I don’t recall being that crowded and confusing last time), the kama sutra, and we discovered a new gourmet food shop! Everything looked wonderful here, so the fact that we only bought the following actually shows some self-control:

  • Greek olive oil (half the price we pay for it here)
  • Cranberry-flavored maple butter (their maple is lighter colour than Ontarian)
  • Vanilla sugar (specially for this particular pie crust recipe; very hard to find)
  • Whole nutmeg (biggest I’d ever seen)
  • Granité of sauternes
  • Ciel de Charlevoix (a blue cheese)
  • Epoisse (a stinky cheese)
  • Dried cranberries in cranberry oil

And we went to various galleries, as always admiring the variety of artists on display, but being particularly taken this time with Guy Corneau, of gallery Korno, one of whose paintings is above (though the photos don’t do justice to the live works). There was one in particular (not the one above) that we were both really taken with, though the price was such that it would take a little planning before purchase.

I also spent considerable time looking at necklaces (still mourning the loss of two on our Indiana trip), finally buying one at another outlet of the medieval clothing shop. Doesn’t replace what I lost, but it’s quite nice.

Free street entertainment

Québec City offers a lot of cool live outdoor entertainment in the summer. The first night we walked out onto underneath the highway overpass to see a live performance by Cirque du Soleil. Unfortunately, such events aren’t ideal for the short who arrive too late to get spots near the front. We were fine with the trapeze artists, but it was hard to really see what people on the ground were doing.

The next night, we were just waiting around the waterfront area, and some sort of performance was going on. It involved whale music, people on stilts, and exchange of fire. Still not sure what that was about.

The final night turned out to be Gay Pride. So we went to see a male Céline Dion impersonator. He only used his own voice on the very lowest parts; otherwise, it was lip synching. Anyway, it was strangely kind of fun. Though I think he was somewhat more feminine than the actual woman. 🙂

Sights

What did see beyond that? Well, not a whole lot. We did walk the Plains of Abraham. We intended to go to the Titanic Exhibit, but got deterred from the lineup. Plus the fact that it’s coming here soon, anyway. We visited the Market there (yes, more food!) for the first time. Very nice selection of produce, but we did resist any purchasing. And we visited the Market in Ottawa, in the rain.

Literature

As planned, we listened to The Wife’s Tale by Lori Lansens in the car. And we both got right into it, carried along the journey of this 300 lb. woman whose husband suddenly leaves. And in actual book form, I finished Lawrence Hill’s Some Great Thing, which was really enjoyable. A lot of great characters coming together amidst the backdrop of French/English tensions in Winnipeg. And I started Your Call Is Important to Us: The Truth about Bullshit by Laura Penny, which is a little dated, but only in the sense that we’re even deeper in the pile now.

The Wilderness Downtown

OK, this was cool.

My current favorite band (at least in subcategory: Best years are not decades behind them), Arcade Fire, has this interactive video on their website for the great song, “We Used to Wait”.

You enter the street address of one of your childhood homes and images from that place get integrated into the video. I was skeptical that the fairly obscure Timmins street where my parents live would be included, but about four characters in, it came up as an option.

The multi-window resulting video was really neat, especially on the big monitor I have at home.

Requires the Google Chrome browser.

Then you can try out your the address of your choice at http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/

Too much of a good thing?

Much as I like So You Think You Can Dance Canada, having episodes daily, many two hours long, has been a bit onerous. Of course, it’s just the auditions; it’s not really essential viewing. But they just have such a great ratio of actual dancing vs. blah-blah about dance that they’re a bit hard to resist.

Anyway, I’ve finally caught up. Of course, I’m behind on all other TV viewing, but this time of year, that isn’t so much anyway. Sunday they announce “our” Top 20. Let’s just hope CTV doesn’t start making these kids dance (and us vote) twice a week, in order to fit this all in before all the Fall shows come back with new episodes.

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Apart from sitting on the couch watching gorgeous young people sweat through dance numbers, I’ve acquired four new CDs in the last week (and one’s a double CD). Even for me, that’s rather a lot, but when shopping for used stuff, you got to grab it when it comes up.

The one I got totally new, though, and in digital download format only, is Arcade Fire’s Suburbia. Given that the album is number 1 in Canada, US, and Great Britain, guess I’m none too original on that front. But this is my first Arcade Fire album (or song or anything). I just grew intrigued from reading the reviews.

I love that it’s a concept album. I love that the concept is the suburbs, as representing emptiness and loss and waste. I love people barely 30 being nostalgic for the past: “I used to write letters. But by the time we met things had already changed. We used to wait.” (Very Ray Davies and Village Green Preservation Society, that way.) The songs are smart and sound gorgeous. I don’t mind pretentious when it’s backed by talent.

Oh, and a tip: Don’t buy the albums on iTunes. It’s $12 there. Get it directly from Arcade Fire’s website — $8.

My remaining purchases are all of old favorites. With the acquisition of Flash Gordon, I now, finally, own every Queen album. Course, this one is the weirdo, as it really is a movie soundtrack in the old sense of the term: Not a bunch of pop songs that play over montages in the movie, but the actual score that sets the tone and mood of the scenes. So it’s mostly instrumentals, along with bits of movie dialog (and the insanely catchy theme song).

So obviously, not the one to get if you’re only going to buy one Queen album. Or even 10. But within the movie score genre, it’s actually quite good.

And, I finally completed my Lowest of the Low collection by getting their final album, Sordid Fiction. I need to give all these more listens, but so far it appears to be just as good as their first three: same catchy pop with an alternative edge, smart lyrics with plenty of Canadian references.

And den I got The Who: Live at the Isle of Wight. I actually don’t own all of their albums yet—haven’t quite convinced myself I need their first two albums. And not sure how I convinced myself I needed this double CD, given that it already have this on DVD, not to mention that it contains yet another version of Tommy. So I think I have 8 versions of that particular opera, at this point.

And, you know, The Who really were great that night, at 4 in the morning or whatever, performing at the Isle of Wight. The only problem is that this is a very similar set to Live at Leeds. And Live at Leeds is just better, in both performance and sound quality. But at least Wight features the entire concert, in the proper order. That’s something.

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Oh, and one more set of CDs that came into my possession this week is the unabridged (9 CD) audio version of the novel The Wife’s Tale by Lori Lansens. This is courtesy of the author herself, who read my earlier blog post lamenting my difficulty in acquiring the audio version of this book. Isn’t that cool? And the timing is perfect for our upcoming driving trip to Quebec.

Busy (for me)

Earlier in July I determined that I didn’t want all of summer to get away without me doing anything (given that we don’t take the “big” vacations in the summer, something the rest of the world seems to find odd), so I made a list of things I wanted to do:

  • Swim in a lake
  • See a play at Stratford (or somewhere)
  • Visit Toronto

Somehow, in the weeks these activities all got slotted in, other things also came up, so relatively speaking (that is, not compared to the parents and the workaholics, but for me), I’ve been pretty busy.

The weekend after my mother-in-law and sister-in-law visited was the long weekend, which began with a nice long lunch with the girls at Verses. Then on the Sunday and Monday (we couldn’t get reservations on Saturday), we went up to Tobermory. Sunday was mostly about getting there, but we did also visit the little town which was, of course, packed. They have a nice art gallery, but most of the stores are a little on the cheesey side.

We stayed and dined at the Grandview Inn, the only place there listed in Where to Eat in Canada. It was nothing fancy, but it was good food, well prepared, and with a very reasonably priced wine list. The only thing is that the food prices didn’t seem quite as reasonable, with entrees from $27 to $32. On the other hand, I can’t say I wouldn’t eat there again. When in Tobermory, where else you gonna go?

The next day we had a very enjoyable hike in Bruce Peninsula Park.

It seemed a bit chilly for swimming, though, so we moved on to Sauble Beach for that. Though not the hottest day of the summer, it both air and water were warm enough to make that fun.

On the way home, we tried a new restaurant in Goderich: Thyme on 21. This one we were really impressed with—creative seasonings and all. Would definitely eat there again.

The following weekend, I went to see The Tempest at Stratford, with a couple friends. We dined first at The Waterlot in New Hamburg, which was quite enjoyable, then took in the sold-out Shakespeare performance. It was very good! I hadn’t realized that it wasn’t a tragedy, so all the comedy of the first half was something of a surprise!  The cast, led by Christopher Plummer, were very good, with the woman playing Ariel particularly impressing (apart from Plummer, but I expected to be impressed by him).

The next day we had a 120th birthday party to attend: a couple who were each turning 60. Although we didn’t know tons of people there, it turned out to be a nice gathering. And Jean finally got to hear the violin he had helped build be playe. It sounded very good.

This past Tuesday I had the ladies over to discuss The Best Laid Plans, our book club book and also Waterloo Region’s One Community, One Book selection this year. I would recommend it, though it doesn’t have too much competition in the Canadian comic political novel category.

Then Friday and yesterday, we went to Toronto, by train (which happily didn’t go on strike on us). Weather was quite cooperative in being sunny and warm, but not insanely warm. We visited the Distillery district for the first time, admiring the many art galleries (one of which actually had an original AY Jackson. Just beautiful, and only $551,000!). We had an OK dim sum lunch at Pearl Harbourfront (I think Cameron in Kitchener is better) and a more enjoyable, though not spectactular, dinner at Vertical Restaurant on King West. And we stayed at the uber-cool Pantages Hotel.

Saturday we met up with Joanne and Jon, finally seeing where they live. Quite a nice condo. And after we spent a bit of time at Harbourfront.

Next weekend, the calendar looks clear at the moment. And that’s just fine!

This maketh no census

I tell you, this federal government of ours certainly has a talent for making me enraged over issues I previously didn’t give two figs about.

I did this personality test thingie recently that said, on how I relate to other people, is that most of all, I just want them to make sense. Probably why I’m employed in the geeky world of computers, driven by the implacable software logic of 1s and 0s. And certainly why politics in general, and the Conservative party in particular, make me crazy.

According to Jeffrey Simpson in The Globe and Mail, making the long-form census optional was all Stephen Harper’s idea, and both Tony Clement and Jim Flaherty opposed it. But any points Clement might have gained (from me) for that initial stance has been squandered by his soldering on, defending the thing.

Of course, the particularities of the defense need to keep changing in light of those pesky facts. First I heard him on CBC Radio arguing that the optional census would be just as good, and if you can’t trust the government on that, at least trust Stats Canada! Because they were totally behind this!

That complete lie was exposed with the dramatic (at least in the world of stats) resignation of the head of Stats Canada over those allegations.

Round two. OK, so the data won’t be as good, but it’s worth it, because it’s just too much intrusion on people’s lives. Oh, and like the tax form isn’t? Way more personal, really, and not anonymized! Also, there was the irritating fact that there was no evidence of mass complaints about the census, and exactly zero people had ever been jailed for not filling it in.

Meanwhile, the list of those opposed to scraping the mandatory census continued to grow.

Round three. All these critics are just moochers on the federal government. They just don’t want to do the heavy lifting themselves, and get their own data.

Imagine. Thinking that a Federal government should centralize a service useful to all Canadians! Crazy talk! Of course, every level of government and every agency should raise their taxes and deficits and prices so they can all do their own mandatory census (let’s ignore they don’t power of law behind for that), then spend even more money trying put all these separate surveys together into a coherent package! That is so much more inefficient and time-consuming and expensive, it’s got to be the better way, right?

(Maybe this is a weird stimulus package?)

And the thing, this whole mess isn’t even giving the Conservatives a political advantage. It’s not like the other illogical things they like to get behind, like fighting imaginary crime, that will at least instinctively appeal to some. Nobody cares about the census.

Or they didn’t. But they now do, but they don’t agree with Conservatives, who are now at their lowest poll numbers in ages. Which would be the one thing to be happy about, except that no one other single party is really gaining tons of support either, so Conservatives would probably still win the damn election with another minority.

The Bauer Kitchen and Angel’s Gate Winery restaurant

This weekend we had visitors, so we ate out a couple of times.

The Bauer Kitchen is a relatively new restaurant, the latest in a series by The Charcoal Group. I’ve always found Charcoal restaurants to be solid but unexciting, but was curious to try Bauer mainly because every item on the menu is paired with a particular wine by the glass.

Being lodged in a renovated factory, the place itself has a fair amount of character, which is nice. The high ceilings and Saturday night popularity made it somewhat loud, though. The service was perfectly respectable. Pretty informal (“Hi guys!”), but attentive, and no big waits for orders, food delivery, or bill pick-up.

As a starter, I had the mixed mushrooms tart with St. André and Romano cheese. I had some fear would be too cheesy, but that was not the case; the mushroom taste predominated, and was very good. That was paired with a Chilean pinot. Others at our table had cold melon soup with prociutto, part of the Summerlicious menu, and declared merely OK, and baked brie with sugared pecans and fruit. It’s hard to go wrong with baked brie.

For the main course, I went for the Cioppino. This version was a pile of tomato-y onions and sweet peppers, topped with several kinds of fish and seafood. I was pleasantly surprised how well the fish was done, with nothing overcooked. The vegetables had a definite sweet tinge, which was not unappealing. Also tried was the duck, found to be good but not great (nice sauce, but possibly overcooked); baked trout that was apparently also prepared very well; and prosciutto wrapped pork tenderloin with mashed potatoes, both a hit. My dish came with an Australian white of a type of grape I’d never heard of before, and now can’t remember. But it was fine, maybe a bit Chardonnay-like, and did suit the food.

Dessert for me was a mix of sorbet and fruit in an ice wine sauce. I couldn’t really detect the ice wine, but the sorbet was very nice. I had that with one of their specialty coffees (instead of the recommended ice wine), made with steamed milk rather than whipped cream. The other two desserts were declared perfectly appealing as well.

Overall, of course, it was not Verses or Langdon Hall quality, but then again, it’s cheaper as well. I would declare the Bauer Kitchen good value for the money.

Sunday we headed out to Beamsville to visit a few wineries. After a stop at Rosewood, where I got a Gewurtz and a Riesling, we went for lunch at Angel’s Gate Winery. The menu is quite different: It offers four platters, all intended to serve two people, on these themes: Regional, Quebec, East Coast, and cheese. We went for Regional and cheese. Then, most of us also opted for flights of wine, which is 2 0z. of four of their wines.

The Regional platter was really nice, with lamb loin, absolutely delicious tomatoes, green beans done up nicely in a truffle sauce, pickerel fillet, and crepes with berries and goats cheese. The cheese assortment included Cheddar, a Hermitage blue, a brie, and another, with a good selection of fruit and crackers.

The setting there is gorgeous: an open terrace looking out over the vineyard. And Sunday was beautiful; a perfect day for that type of lunch. Having four types of wine and so many types of food was great fun, and really, the perfect way to taste wine. Though in the end, I only bought their Tavel-style rosé (just $11.95!).

Après lunch, we headed to Crown Bench Estates, known for their flavored ice wines. Jean’s sister picked up a few of those, but we stuck to the 2007 reds, bringing home the Meritage, which is a blend.

Somewhat rounding out the culinary weekend (which, Saturday, also featured a stop at the Olive Grove in Elora, for olive oil and vinegar tasting), we made a foie gras and duck breast supper, all based on LCBO recipes. The duck was accompanied by beets, oyster mushrooms, and mint, in olive oil and balsamic, and it turned out really well. (Yes, better than at Bauer Kitchen.) The side of Jamie Oliver roasted potatoes, with very fresh rosemary and sage, were also a hit.

Now, to exercise.

Langdon Hall

So for the anniversary on Sunday, we finally went to Langdon Hall.

Jean would be quick to point out that it wasn’t his first time there (his work has its privileges), but it was mine. Though we are foodies, and this was recently named one of the top 100 restaurants in the world, the price has always given us pause. But we finally decided to go for it. Key to enjoyment is to not obsess too much about the cost. Though it is impossible to ignore completely.

The setting of the place is beautiful. The dining room is not all that big, really, and is very bright—lots of windows. Of course, it’s all fine linens and nice antique furnishings.

Although the menu was hardly huge—about five appetizers, five entrees, plus an option to have a five-course dinner with matching wines—we spent quite a while with it, debating and trying to decide what to opt for. It didn’t help that the wine list was a virtual catalog. Mind you, an excellent way to narrow the options was to stick to bottles under $75. “OK, so no white burgundies. And most especially no red burgundies! Champagne is out….” And so on.

In the end, we decided on the three-course approach. After giving our order, they brought bread and butter—both made in-house. In-house bread I’d experienced before; in-house butter was a first. And delicious with large salt crystals.

My appetizer was… actually kind of disgusting. I had to not think about it too much. It was foie gras (that’s not the disgusting part) and pig’s head. They didn’t even have a fancy name for it. Just pig’s head. And it didn’t help that the texture was… Odd. Fortunately, the taste was delightful. Some of the best cold foie gras I’ve had, with that other thing. And the sides of gooseberry and salt were beautiful flavor bursts. With that, I had a very nice glass of 1994 Daniel Lenko late harvest riesling (just $10!).

Jean’s starter was cold poached sable fish with an assortment of other items (always harder for me to remember stuff I didn’t personally eat). I tasted the fish, and it was really nice. He had that with a 2007 Tawse Pinot Noir, which we got a half bottle of.

As my main course, I went with potato-encrusted halibut with a side of morels and asparagus. (And had the Pinot with that; very nice, easy drinking light red.) I took one bit of one asparagus, swooned, and dropped another piece in Jean’s plate for him to try. The fish on its own, though, was one slight misfire of the whole dinner: it was slightly overdone, slightly dry. But when eaten with the encrusted potato, it was delicious.

And the morels. What amazing little food items those are. And, these ones were grown right at Langdon Hall. So that’s some fresh.

Jean’s beef strip loin was also accompanied by those morels. He also got some wonderful peas. And the meat? Really good; I tasted that also. The pinot seemed too light to go with that, so he had a glass of a Spanish tempranillo. It was full and fruity, and though he didn’t find it very complex, it did suit the food very well. (The sommelier—who is a woman, which seems slightly unusual—had recommended it.)

And then, dessert. We both picked a proper dessert, then Jean asked about the cheese, and got seduced in that direction instead. He chose four: a bleu de Charlevoix (we have visited that producer), la Sauvagine (his favorite cheese), a Belgian red (new to us; it was nice), and a chèvre noir. And, he asked for something non-alcoholic to go with that, as he had to drive home soon. That unusual request took the bartender four attempts, we were told, but they did come up with a nice cocktail of rosewater, mint, cranberry, and soda water.

I had the best-tasting dark chocolate in the world over chocolate mousse with delicious in-season Ontario strawberries. Oh, my God. And there was also a nice swirl of hazelnut mouse. I drank decaf cafe latte with that.

Jean did slightly over-order on cheese, and couldn’t quite finish, but otherwise, they did a great job of providing enough but not too much food over the three courses. We concluded that they weren’t necessarily better than Verses in cooking quality, but Langdon has their own brand of originality, a more frequently changing menu, and a real local focus, down to growing their own food. It’s not going to be a regular haunt, but we’re really glad we braved the sticker shock and experienced dinner there.