Tag: restaurants

Wine-ing around Prince Edward County

The finale of our not-very-exotic summer vacation was a visit to Prince Edward County. While we did walk some trails and visit some galleries, mostly, we were there for the wine.

Best wine tasting experience: Karlo Estates

Wines with characterWhich is interesting, because right before going there, we were warned by other visitors that the person doing their wine tasting wasn’t very knowledgeable and, for example, didn’t particularly like red wines.

But we got a very well-informed dude leading through a series of five of their wines, all accompanied by suitable matching food! (Like olives, Cheddar, almonds.) It was challenge for him, as it was busy and he had to manage various groups all at different points in the tasting, but he was up to the task.

So, maybe the advice is to visit the winery in the afternoon rather than the morning.

Another neat thing is that they offer kinds of wines not available elsewhere in Ontario. Their rose, for example, is made with the Frontenac Gris grape, that is not even recognized by the VQA. But it was very good, and as rosé’s often are, quite reasonably priced at $16. Though relatively sweet (sugar level 2), it didn’t seem cloying. “Exuding flavours such as strawberry, citrus with a spicy finish and a hint of cinnamon.” the tasting notes say. That could be about right.

They also work with the Bordeau-style grapes: Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Petit Verdot. (Did you know you could get Malbec in Ontario? I didn’t.) The blend of these is available as a wine they call Quintus ($35). When one of the individual grapes is having a good year, they will bottle and sell that on its own. Currently, the petit verdot is approaching that status. Though not quite ready for bottling, we were able to taste it as well.

And… They make port! And it’s really quite good, very smooth going down. $29 for a 500 ml bottle.

Runner-up: Rosehall Run

It was just a straighforward wine tasting, not a whole guided experience with snacks, but they were very knowledgeable and accommodating here. (Like, printing out a copy of the tasting notes for me.) Our favorite of the wines we tried here was the off-dry Riesling ($17.75), but we also enjoyed the 2008 Pinot Noir ($19.75) and the 2009 Sullyzwic Rosé ($14.75).  The Globe and Mail said “Rosehall makes some of the best-value wines in the County.”

Also worth noting for more unusual wine offerings is The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyards. We restricted our tastings here to three premiums offerings, and ended up purchasing two of them: The nice Champagne-style Brut 2008, a sparkling wine mix of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, $29, and the late harvest Sauvignon Blanc, a pleasantly sweet dessert wine that was made almost accidentally by forgetting some grapes on the vine. It’s $24.75. (I also enjoyed a glass of sparkling rosé—actually, Pinot Noir—from this winery at one of the restaurants. That one may not be available for general purchase.)

Best winery dining: Wapoos Estates

Wapoos logoWe say this despite not being huge fans of the wines, which all struck us as ultra-dry and quite different from the ones made at the other end of the county. But, they were quite food-friendly, and the food was just delicious. We stopped in here for lunch on the way in the way in, so we didn’t have anything too fancy, but everything was super-fresh (like the tomatoes in the gazpacho), made in-house (like the tortilla in the smoked pork sandwich), and with nicely balanced flavors.

Plus, it was just a beautiful day, maybe the best of our vacation, and they have lovely grounds there. So it was nice to be sitting out looking at water and views while sipping some wine and eating good food.

Despite not being too bowled by the vino, we did get one bottle of Baco Noir here.

Runner-up: Norman Hardie

Pretty easy win for Norman, as it’s the only other winery we dined at. All they offer here is wood-burning oven pizzas. I had the special of the day, which was a lemon-scented one. Which seems weird, but was quite nice. However, Jean’s Margherita, which is part of the general menu, was better, thanks to the delicious tomatoes.

It’s quite a casual dining experience on a patio, with communal tables. Fortunately, we had another nice day, so that was perfectly enjoyable.

Norman Hardie makes somewhat expensive wines, so I had thought this was a way to have some without a tasting and feeling the temptation of buying up bottles. That worked out. I had a glass of the Chardonnay, which didn’t taste at all how I expected. Not oaky at all, I guess. I finally concluded that I quite liked it. Jean had a 2009 Pinot Noir. It was also quite enjoyable, but again, that’s not the best of Pinot Noir years, so there it is.

Also worth noting is the East and Main Bistro in Wellington. That’s a restaurant, not a winery, but it’s a very good one, and the wine list is mostly Prince Edward County wines, many available by the glass. We complicated our lives by ordering items that were impossible to find a matching wine for (pickerel for me and osso bucco for Jean), but managing by me starting with a glass of that afore-mentioned sparkling rosé, then switching to join in on the bottle of 2010 Sandbanks Baco Noir, because it was just delicious, whether it really matched fish or not.

Favorite overall winery: Sandbanks

At least if you go by the number of bottles purchased! They are also quite reasonably priced, which doesn’t hurt. The wine tasting experience there is nothing very special, but you get good service. We especially enjoyed the Riesling and the Baco Noir, of which we bought the 2009 Reserve as well as that 2010. (That will be an awesome year in Ontario reds, by the way.) But we also liked the Cabernet-Merlot and the Shoreline, which is a blend of Chardonnay, Rieseling, and Gewurtz.

Yes, we are very well stocked in wine right now. We might have to have a dinner party or something.

You ate out again?

Yes, it’s true; a mere 5 days after our big Chef’s Table dinner at Verses, we found ourselves at Nick and Nat’s Uptown 21 for five-course wine dinner. This one had actually been booked before, and though I noted that it made the proposed timing of the Verses dinner less than ideal, I was overruled. I suppose there are worse fates than having two multi-course gourmet meals close together.

Of course, we weren’t the special guests this time; just three among many at the sold-out dinner featuring wines from Rosewood Estates. As always, the restaurant was too loud, but we were seated nearer to the back, with no table beside us, making that fact less annoying.

The first wine on tap was the 2009 Sémillon, which would prove the favorite for Jean and me. Though I expected a fresh dry style, it actually had a sugar level of 1, and was very pleasant. Our first course was described as:

Raw scallop with sea-buckthorn berries and a green onion tempura and honeycomb vinaigrette

We were presented with a single large spoon of what looked like mixed veggies. Not sure where the scallop was in all that, we concluded it must be mixed in there.

But we were being dumb. That was just the amuse. The first course actually looked like this:

Raw scallop with sea-buckthorn berries

The raw scallops, though it seems as though that should be gross, are quite delicious. The sea-buckthorn berries, a first for all of us, were quite tart, with an interesting texture. The green onion tempura was just delicious; possibly the highlight of the dish. And it included a piece of Rosewood winery honeycomb (they also have bees and honey at that winery), that was soft and blended nicely with the tart berries.

The next wine was the 2009 Natalie’s Sussreserve Riesling. The winemaker was there, and explained the process of making it, which is an unusual one. To quote the website:

Some juice is kept separate and stays unfermented. The rest of the Riesling juice is fermented and made into a finished wine. Just before bottling the unfermented Riesling juice called “süssreserve” is added back to the wine to add complexity, character, structure, natural acidity and of course sweetness.

We’ve really enjoyed other vintages of this one, but we found the 2009 vintage to be merely good, not outstanding. It was served with a composed salad with two warm Quebec cheese, house mustard vinaigrette, and bread crumbs.

Composed salad with cheese

The veggies included radishes, which aren’t normally my favorite, but are improved by proper cooking. It also included asparagus and beans, both which I love. The two cheeses (I don’t think we found out what they were) were very good.

Then on with the duck course, which of course means Pinot Noir—this time, the 2009 vintage. Rosewood’s 2007 Pinot was amazing, and their 2010 should have potential. But 2009 was a cooler summer, which means the much lighter style of Pinot. I like that too, but it doesn’t have the same wow factor.

The food was duck bacon (Ontario duck, who apparently eat sea-buckthorn berries) with pinot and honey-stewed rhubar, braised navy beans, and a barley grass jus.

Duck with rhubarb and navy beans

This wasn’t what I was expecting when I read “duck bacon”; it seemed more like smoked duck. Not that there’s anything wrong that. The navy beans proved a nice accompaniment, and dipping the duck into the sweetened rhubarb worked well.

They had really been building up the next wine, the 2009 Johnny Bower Merlot. Only a small batch is available, very little in restaurants, so it was special that we were all getting some. And there was a whole story behind its making, related to hockey player Johnny Bower (which didn’t mean anything to me, but may to you). The taste? Quite nice, really. Our second favorite. Nice and rich, but not overly so. Pretty smooth.

It was served with a beef ragu with cavatelli dumplings, sweet peas, fried shallots, and pickled green onions.

Beef ragu

I’m not sure what texture cavatelli dumplings are supposed to have, but I really liked the texture of these, with some firmness to them. The Ontario peas were amazing. The meat was extremely tender and in a very nice, slightly sweetened, possibly tomato-based sauce. But, we were still of some opinion that beef is not really the best choice of meats for a foodie dinner. (Neither is chicken, just for the record.)

And on to dessert! The wine was the honey-based mead royale, which is a cool choice. The dish included strawberries (fresh and stewed), honey-goat milk ice cream, and a rosemary sugar-dusted doughnut.

Kristi with dessert

Nick generally makes good doughnuts, and this one was no exception. There’s also no complaining to be done about Ontario strawberries and homemade ice cream.

So all in all, it was a good night out. The meal (including wine) was $85 plus tax and tip.

Dining at the Chef’s Table

For the many times and occasions we’ve been to Verses Restaurant over the years, we’d never tried the Chef’s Table experience. This is where you get a multi-course menu surprise. We were deterred by the cost, and the fact that it requires an eight-person group. We got around the barriers by a) budgeting for it and b) Verses being kind enough to make an exception for us, so we were able to proceed with a group of six.

At a Verses Chef’s table, you actually do sit downstairs, in a little room just outside the kitchen, rather than in the main dining room. It’s very quiet and intimate and you feel very special. Especially given that you also get your own chef and sommelier for the evening, who have a created a menu just for you, with matching wines.

The table looked a bit intimidating at first, with each place set with six forks, six knives, and six glasses of wine, but with the rule of working your cutlery from the outside in, we were ready to go.

When the first item was brought out, the chef joked that while they used to start with the smallest item and proceed to the larger courses, now they were starting with the largest and it would all get smaller from here. Because this was the amuse, which was a single scallop on a sorrel leaf with lime and olive oil garnish (and I’m officially not going to remember all the details of all the garnishings). It was really delicious, and we definitely could have eaten more of those.

Scallop amuse

The wine poured next was a French Sauternes, a sweet wine, which gave us a clue what our appetizer might be: le fois gras. This particular item was inspired by someone at our table (not Jean) who had once ordered foie gras for dessert. So this was kind of foie gras as dessert: the seared meat accompanied by a cone of foie gras ice cream (which you can’t really see in the photo) and local strawberries with pea tendrils. Very exciting for me to have my own foie gras at Verses instead of just tasting Jean’s, I must say!

Foie gras as dessert

Appetizer numéro deux was the Verses version of a Clubhouse sandwich: crisp homemade bread spread with tarragon mayonnaise,  then topped with pancetta bacon, local tomato and lettuce, and rabbit. All quite delicious, with the tomato actually being the highlight! There is simply nothing like tomatoes in season. That was served with a very nice, lighter-style California Pinot Noir.

Verses clubhouse

I should mention here that they would bring the food and pour the wine first, and then explain what it was. So in this time we would amuse ourselves trying to guess what things were. The previous dishes weren’t a huge challenge, but the next meat was a puzzle: Was that duck? Quail? Also a mystery was the white foamy stuff. We could only identify the crisp polenta.

Turned out the mystery meat was “squab”, otherwise known as “pigeon”. Something I’ve never seen on a Verses menu before, though I have eaten it previously. It was delicious. The white foam was fennel-based. And the polenta was so good, I’m thinking I should try making my own. The accompanying wine for this was a Shiraz that was not too over-the-top (meaning, not so big and fruity that it dominated the food).

Squab with fennel foam and polenta

The next wine was a real stumper. It was a bubbly, but definitely not Champagne or prosecco. It was very good and refreshing, but not quite like anything I’d tasted before. Except maybe sake, but that isn’t bubbly, and I’ve never liked sake.

But that was it. It was sparkling sake (served cold). Something I’d definitely try again. And it accompanied our seafood course, which was tuna two ways: Seared and tartar. The dish included some fresh wasabi, which is much tamer than its in paste form (like you get in sushi restaurants). It was served with a sesame seed-crisped rice side that was very interesting (in a good way).

Tuna two ways

We thought we had reached the dessert course, so when this next item came out, it seemed a bit smaller than expected. But it turned out to just be the palette cleanser, a lovely sorbet, more refreshing and citrusy than sweet.

Sorbet

Because then we had our final main course: Wild boar (lamb for one person) with a variety of vegetables, including sweet potato mash and zucchini. Everything was perfectly prepared—and this may have been my first experience eating wild boar—but I have to admit this is the one course I couldn’t quite finish. It was served with a California Zinfandel, a suitably big wine for this food.

Wild board with vegetables

But it’s true what they say: There’s always room for dessert. Especially if you’re me, and the dessert is chocolate. Specifically, a deconstructed black forest cake, with the cake, the whipped cream, the macerated cherries, and a chocolate sauce all served side by side. That, I polished off. It was served with an extremely smooth and delicious port.

Deconstructed black forest cake

And these were the wines. The Zipang is that sparkling sake, and only one of the Shiraz’s were part of the pairings.

Wine pairings

Restaurant review: King Street Trio

King Street Trio has recently moved back to King Street. It’s now right in uptown Waterloo at 40 King Street South, basically across the street from Rude Native. Recently, we had dinner there.

The new space is quite a bit smaller than their old location on University—it’s a very narrow restaurant. They’ve dressed it up nicely, though, with hardwood flooring, wood tabletops, black chairs, making for a modern look overall. And even as it filled up, we didn’t find it got too loud—though still perhaps not your ideal location for a romantic dinner.

Our waitress was professional and friendly. She seemed quite disappointed that we weren’t celebrating any special occasion (making me wonder what they would have done if we were). And she made a point of asking if we had any time limit, which we did. That resulted in the food arriving a little faster than expected, and in one case before the wine, and was the one “bump” in the otherwise great service. But we did get out on time, after having a full meal, and that was definitely the main goal.

The menu didn’t include any daily specials, which apparently will be added later, but we didn’t have much trouble selecting from the main menu. The appetizers included a fair number of seafood offerings, but I couldn’t resist the oysters. Here, unlike at sister restaurant King Crab and Oyster Bar, you get only one type of oyster, but they were delicious. They came with three dipping sauces. I wasn’t crazy about the mango one, but both the ginger and the cucumber were great.

The two gentlemen had the Angus beef flatbread with shitake, goat cheese, and roasted tomatoes. That was also very good (though both my gentlemen and I preferred the oysters). The fourth diner took a chance on the Suppli di Riso, which was a fried risotto balls stuffed with mozarella. The outside was quite crisp—a bit of challenge to cut through—and the inside, naturally, kind of starchy. Though not bad, she said she likely wouldn’t order it again.

As mains, I stuck with the seafood and had the jumbo sea scallops with green beans and risotto. The scallops were delicious, perfectly undercooked, and the beans also had a great snap and taste. The risotte was fine, but nothing special. The gentlemen continued with their paired ordering, each having the rack of lamb with mashed potatoes and vegetables. Both were impressed with the meat and spuds. Apparently the vegetables were a little less successful. And, now I can’t remember the fourth order–maybe the veal? [I was subsequently informed it was indeed the veal! And quite delicious.]

The wine list included quite a few offerings by the glass and half litter as well as by bottle, most at quite reasonable prices. Those having red meat mains shared a bottle of Chilean Merlot that was a hit all around. I started with a glass of delicious Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, then an Italian Pinot Grigio (fine but not exciting).

Though my items seemed fairly light and the portions were not huge, I was still too full for dessert. I just had a decaf mochaccino. But, a couple of us were able to fit in the vanilla creme brulee, and seemed pleased with that.

All told, it was a very pleasant evening out. I would certainly go there again.

Niagara-on-the-Lake in March

With joint March birthdays as an excuse, we got away for a long weekend, visiting Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake. In Toronto, one of us got to the Tim Burton Exhibit at the TIFF Bell Lighthouse, while another visited MEC. There was definitely a strong Johnny Depp’s presence at the Burton exhibit (like Depp’s outfit from Edward Scissorhands), but most impressive was really Burton’s own paintings and sketches.

Mostly, though, we were there to visit with the sisters and their families, which was nice. We were well fed and had some interesting discussions on topics such as technology, politics, pet ownership, and Canadian wines.

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, we stayed at Harbour House Inn for the first time. We were really impressed with that. We had selected one of their more modest offerings, but it was still quite a large room with fireplace. This was the bathroom:

Bathroom at Harbour house

The rooms also had an iPod dock, big-screen TV, DVD players, and fresh-made cookies. They also offered a very good European-style breakfast; DVD rentals (current movies; DVD player and big-screen TV in the room); a daily wine tasting; and shuttle service to and from restaurants for dinner—all included in the price of the room. Which, because it was low season and we had booked on Expedia, really wasn’t that extravagant. (Apparently, quite a different story in the summer.)

And of course, while there, we visited a number of wineries. Our big discovery, I would say, was Caroline Cellars, which our Harbour House shuttle driver recommended. We had certainly found some nice wines at other wineries, but they were quite often over $20 a bottle. At Caroline’s, we honestly liked everything we tasted, and all were under $20. Some well under. We were particularly impressed with the 2007 Cabernet Franc ($15.50) and the Bradley White (Sauvignon Blanc), at just $11, but we also got the Enchantment (Riesling / Gerwurtz) and 2007 Cab Sauv. None available at LCBO.

In terms of location, Megalomanic (nearer to Beamsville) was the most fun, as it’s up on a hill, and you get a great view. (Maybe I’ll add photographic proof later). We tried three wines there, including a Riesling so cold you couldn’t tell how it tasted (not so useful, that), and bought the Bigmouth Merlot ($25), a fairly bold red.

Other visits (over two days):

  • Tawse Winery, known for good but not cheap wines. We got a Riesling and a 2008 Pinot noir there—at $54, the most we spent on one bottle.
  • Creekside Estates, a source for a 2009 Sauvignon Blanc and 2007 Shiraz.
  • Coyote’s Run, which offers the interesting experience of tasting the same wine grown in two different soils. They’re noticeably different. We bought a Red Paw Chardonnay here ($22) that we’ve been enjoying this week. Full but not overly oaky.

We also tried mostly new (to us) restaurants this time. Stone Road Grille may have impressed us most. Jean had foie gras poutine (!) followed by duck confit. I had the Chef’s salad (which included duck confit, Niagara Gold cheese, and quail’s egg) and a pasta stuffed with sweet potato entree that was just amazing. Each item on the menu had a recommended wine (from all- Canadian list), and each entree was offered in a smaller portion, which was great. Then there was the dessert of chocolate mousse with salted caramel ice cream, chocolate chile sauce, and spiced almonds. Yum. (And not too big a portion, either.)

Our fanciest meal was probably at Hillebrand Winery, where we had a three-course lunch. Can’t complain about the food quality there, either, and they did a very good job of matching the food to the wine. That was a big midday meal, though, so supper that night was at the Old Winery restaurant, which offers more pizza and pasta. All well-prepared, though, with good-quality ingredients.

So the only disappointing meal was at Inn on the Twenty, where we had lunch on the way in. It was mostly good—I was quite happy with my bison and mushroom main—but Jean’s mussels just weren’t fresh enough. Several weren’t open and those that were tasted kind of fishy. A restaurant of a certain caliber shouldn’t serve sub-par mussels.

And between all that eating and drinking, we did a little shopping, some walking, a lot of relaxing. Weather was quite cooperative for March, either sunny but cool or cloudy but warmer. After this week, there’s no complaining about that!

Dining at Bhima’s

The place we were asked to comment on for Where to Eat in Canada was Bhima’s Warung. (Coincidentally, the week we went there, the Record also reviewed them!)

Where to Eat doesn’t publish personal reviews, per se; instead, it compiles and considers all reports received to produce an overall assessment of the establishment. Therefore, when writing about Bhima’s Warung, I didn’t worry too much about massaging the language or whatever. Just said how it was:

Dish from Bhima'sAs requested, we went to Bhima’s Warung this week, and have a bit of mixed response.

But no issues with the starters, which were both oysters, but done different ways. I had the item on the regular menu, which is freshly shucked oyster in a warm lemongrass, ginger, chili, and garlic sauce. The sauce was really nice (spicy!), and really covered up the taste of oyster (such as it is). On the second I deliberately took less sauce to assess the oyster itself better, and they were really nice, seemed very fresh. My husband had a special that day, which was oysters baked with coconut (medium spicy). Haven’t had good baked oyster experiences in the past, but we enjoyed these. The texture does get a little bit can tuna-like, but the coconut flavoring was very nice, and it had nice crispyness to it. In both cases, the price was $4 per oyster, and you could choose how many you wanted.

The restaurant had a good number of wines available by the glass, which we appreciated. I had a NZ Sauvigon Blanc with that, which worked well, and my husband had an ON Gerwurtz.

For the main course, I chose another regular menu item, tandoori-baked Cornish hen stuffed with sticky rice, with a side of pickled vegetables, naan bread, a yogurt and vegetable sauce, and a chutney ($28). My favorite part was actually the vegetables–beets, bok choy, and carrots, pickled. Surprising and nice. The naan bread was also excellent. The Cornish hen was perfectly cooked, but quite moderately seasoned. Perhaps the idea was to dip it in the flavorful chutney or white sauce; certainly it took well to doing that. The sticky rice had exactly the texture you’d expect, but was also not too flavorful.

My husband had a special entree that day, which was duck confit and a side of seared foie gras. The duck confit was really quite delicious. The foie gras was also good, but was seared to the point of having a bit of charcoal taste. It did not ruin the texture, but the charcoal flavor was a bit odd. This dish was a bit lacking in accompaniments; it came with some grilled potatoes.

So while my main was more than I could eat, my husband cleaned off his plate and helped me a bit with mine.

With those, my husband had a glass of a nice CA cabernet sauvignon and I had a German off-dry Riesling.

And, we both tried dessert. I had the baked banana with vanilla ice cream. The ice cream was very nice, freshly made (by someone, if not Bhima’s themselves). The bananas tasted fine but weren’t as crispy as other desserts of this type I’ve had, and which I would have preferred. My husband had the chocolate bread pudding with ice cream, and declared himself satisfied with that. Both desserts came with a really excellent peanut brittle.

We tried a couple teas with that. Mine was Indian spiced, and it was actually hot spicy! Not quite what I was expecting, and couldn’t finish. My husband had ginger and honey tea that was more mellow.

The service was adequate. There was quite a wait for food to arrive, and there wasn’t any refilling of water glasses. My tea arrived after my dessert (and after my husband had received his). It was friendly and reasonably attentive, but not superlative.

So it’s a bit tough to assess overall. I appreciate the creativity of the menu, and most things do turn out well. But it is pretty pricey, and I’m not sure the value proposition is quite there. (Total for the meal was $170 with tax but before tip.)

My first paid restaurant reviewing gig

The email was a bit strange, with a plea for help interspersed with complaints about having to use an “infernal machine” (the computer??) and a request for my phone number.

But the email address looked totally legit, one that I had indeed previously sent unsolicited restaurant reviews to.

It was Jean who had the bright idea of calling the publishing house to see if the email was for real.

“Oh yeah,” we learned. “Anne hates using the computer. But she does need help with restaurant reviews in KW.”

And so I ended up in conversation with the long-time writer of Where to Eat in Canada. I was able to give recent verbal reports on Verses and 20 King (now Bistro 41), but the other two she needed information on, I hadn’t been to in quite a while.

“Would you be willing to go to one of them in the next two weeks? I’ll pay you.”

So just like that, my first paid restaurant review. Not I’ll be credited, mind you. And as for the payment… Well, I won’t be making enough to cover the meal (for two), let alone make a profit.

Still, I’m excited. And in the way of restaurant reviewers, I’m staying mum about my target establishment until the dining is done and reported on.

All this for $36

In yet another week where we seem to have something on every night, tonight’s event was a wine-paired dinner at Bloom, the newly named student-run restaurant at Conestoga College. But I just couldn’t resist the offer when it showed up in my mailbox.

It was a four-course dinner, with wine, for $36. The featured winery was Fielding Estates. The menu was as follows.

Amuse: Apple turnover, red pepper mousse, and spicy sausage of some type. Seems a weird mix, but every thing was quite nice.

Starter: Lobster Bisque scented with Vanilla and Basil
Wine: 2008 Fielding Chardonnay

I was very impressed with this wine, which turned out to be a small batch of 200 cases, so I may not get to have it again. The lobster bisque was also nicely done. I wasn’t so sure about vanilla scenting it, but it was a moderate flavoring, just giving the soup a touch of sweetness. The little spoon we were given to eat it with was kind of awkward, but it did look cute with the little bowl.

Second course: Salt Cured Foie Gras accompanied by Mango and Pineapple Salsa served on Toasted Brioche
Wine: 2008 Fielding Gerwurztraminer

They do a nice cold foie gras here. It’s not strongly foie gras flavored, but has a lovely texture. Mango isn’t totally in season and so the texture wasn’t ideal, but that’s a quibble. The taste was still fine. The Gerwurtz, which is available at LCBO, was less impressive than the Chardonnay but still a very nice wine.

Main: Navarin of Lamb, Mint and Celeriac Sauce, Sweet Potato Rosti and Harvard Beets.
Wine: 2008 Fielding Carbernet-Syrah

A “navarin” turns out to be a stew kind of thing, combined with peas and potatoes along with the celeriac. The whole thing had a slight sweetness that was quite appealing, and excellent texture. The rosti and beets were a little tougher than they should be, but tasted quite. The wine was quite delicious. Not big, but fruity enough and with the acidity necessary to make it food friendly. It’s a mix of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. Available from the winery.

Dessert: Chocolate and Caramel Baked Alaska
Wine: 2007 Select Later Harvest Gewurtztraminer

The wine was very nice, with an apple sweetness to it. It didn’t quite stand up to the dessert, but that’s OK. The dessert on its own was quite fine. The caramel was pretty subtle, with the slightly chocolatey meringue and ice cream predominating.

All in all, definitely a deal for $36.

The service had the slight awkwardness one might expect of students learning their craft, and generally lacking in downright funny moments of the now mythical “wine cupboard” night. But it was slightly amusing to be told that they had only one type of tea, “and I’m not sure what it is. It starts with O.”

 

 

Ontario: Yours to discover

We didn’t have high expectations of our trip through Northern Ontario, but thanks to perfect weather all week, plus the fact that Ontario does happen to look gorgeous in the fall, it was actually a really nice getaway. I’ll have a full report later, but in the meantime, here are some highlights.

BYOB in Tobermory. We’d decided to dine at Molinari’s in Tobermory. They make Italian food, and I’d noted a bit wistfully on the way there that it was too bad they weren’t licensed, as a little red wine is very good with Italian. On arrival, we were the only patrons. We informed the owner that we’d like to have dinner there. Great, he said. But, he added, did we know that the LCBO was still open? It took a minute, but we figured out what he was alluding to. OK, we said. We’ll just pop over there, then come back. Just wait, he said. I have to pick up some stuff there anyway. Just lock up the door there, and I’ll drive you. And he did.

Aren’t small towns great?

No corkage fee, either. And very good food, at a very good price.

The colours of Manitoulin. We experienced great fall colours everywhere we went, really, but we were particularly struck by them on Manitoulin Island—maybe because we went there first, maybe because we weren’t quite expecting them, maybe because that’s where we did the most hiking. At any rate, it was just beautiful.

Blue lake, blue skies, trees starting to change from green to yellow, orange, and red.

Petting a porcupine. Science North in Sudbury was fun in general, but especially cute was when the porcupine in the nature area made a run for it. (He was out of his cage while it was being cleaned, or something.) The trainer eventually corralled it, and while out, we were able to make his acquaintance. He was very cute, and felt kind of like straw to pet.

Trainer looking on as woman pets a porcupine.

Fine dining in Northern Ontario. After a series of delicious dinners featuring items such as Moroccan lamb, mushroom risotto, elk carpaccio, green seafood curry, chocolate valrona cake, we realized that not only had we not had a bad dinner on this trip, but the overall food quality probably beat our last trip to France. This would not have been possible in Northern Ontario in years past.

Finally walking the AY Jackson lookout trail. I’m not sure how many times we’ve driven by it, but this year we finally hiked the AY Jackson Lookout trail near Sudbury. It’s really gorgeous. I can see how it might have inspired some paintings.

Bridge over river gushing over rocks; blue sky; tree starting to change to yellow.

Full report on website

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, either. For example, the wine sometimes arrived 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. There was one in particular 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.

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.