This was the theme of our latest Jeans’n’Classics concert: The Music of Fleetwood Mac. Our original guests had to bow out, so we attended with Camie and Frasier instead. As with the previous concert, and despite some lobbying for the new Mexican place (Margaritas), we went to Uptown21 first.
Once again, they did a great job. We all went for the day’s three-course prix fixe menu, three of us with matching wine (Camie had Shiraz). The first course of duck confit and wild mushroom was fabulous. The other option, grilled shrimp, also looked very nice. Next up was either a root-vegetable soup, which got some raves, or a salad with apple, sugared pecans, and cheddar in a balsamic vinaigrette. Very good. And the main course choices included lamb with vegetables (Jean), trout with vegetables, a vegetarian option, and something I can’t remember. But my trout was well prepared.
We also enjoyed the company. We discussed Austen (the author, not me misspelling the city), university funding, travel plans, the joys of home renovation, the Olympics, and the last time we’d listened to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors. Though not necessarily in that order. They managed to get us out just before 7:00, and we commented that it would be nice to go again sometime and not have to rush through dinner. And maybe also try the Mexican place.
There was the usual insane number of people looking for parking when we arrived, but this time we did manage to get a spot at the Kitchener Library, which is pretty nearby. And as a bonus, their parking meter machine was broken! It was a near full house again.
The concert featured Rique Franks, Katherine Rose, and Neil Donnel on vocals. They explained that it was a new show, and it was a little rougher than usual, with some lyrics and vocal lines and song dates mixed up. But overall it was very enjoyable. Kind of a reminder of the many hits they’d had in the 80s there, all of which I knew at least by chorus, and a good selection from Rumors, which I pretty much know inside and out. I especially liked that some non-single but excellent songs from that classic album, such as “The Chain” and “Oh Daddy” were included.
The music in general was well-suited to the orchestral approach. Jean developed an insta-crush on Katherine Rose based on her husky speaking voice. And Camie noted that it was nice to have the speaking and singing duties distributed among three people.
The day after the concert began with breakfast at the Day’s Inn, which turned out to be rather better than these continental hotel breakfasts usually are, thanks to the available waffle batter and waffle iron. They did run out of coffee, but we were able to save that one by making a pot in our room afterward.
After checking out, and getting the word of mouth that general notices on the concert were good, we headed to the hottest spot in Ontario—the Flu Clinic! Seriously, we decided to go see if Orillia flu clinics were being run any better than Waterloo Region ones. And boy, were they ever. Very short lineup, everyone in it quickly assessed as to whether they qualified (Jean did, as a healthcare worker; I didn’t even try—I do have some morals) and given a time to expect their shot. In our case it was so soon, and the weather was so fine, we just stayed in line until it was done. The whole thing, including the 15-minute after-shot wait, took half an hour, 40 minutes, maybe.
Oh, and Jean had no after-effects from the shot, other than the expected sore shoulder muscle.
After that triumph, we headed to downtown Orillia to see what might be interesting there. We spent some time in a kitchen store (weirdly, perhaps, Jean likes kitchen gadgets as much as I do—maybe even more), and got ourselves a few things, and some Christmas stuff. We also traded casino concert stories with the owner, who had apparently seen a very awesome Santana show there. (Actually, it did sound great.)
Next was a clothing store that had some used, some consignment, some remainder items. So really great prices, and stuff for both men and women. Jean tried on this leather jacket that fit him really well. And this almost never happens—he’s just not an “off the rack” size. So at $19.99, that was pretty hard to resist, so we didn’t. He also got a leather belt, while I picked up three tops. The grand total was under $60.
It was around lunchtime at this point, and we were hungry, so we decided to go to the “restaurant in a train” place that we’d been to on our last visit to Orillia (to buy the tickets). We had the same waitress! It was an enjoyable enough meal. In particular, my scallop appetizer, in chili and cocoa, was quite nice, and Jean enjoyed his main of lake trout (or some local-ish fish like that).
We now figured it was a reasonable enough time to head toward Singhampton, where we had bed and breakfast and dinner reservations. The drive was just fine, and we had spotted the B&B on the way up, so no trouble finding it. It’s called the Avalon, and while not the cheapest B&B ever, it’s really nice accommodations. You get a whole downstairs (not basement) area to yourself, with huge windows onto a beautiful view. The owner also toured us around most of the rest of the 5000 square foot house, all very open and festooned with stained glass. And interestingly, it uses geothermal heat (and cooling).
The grounds are also huge, and we took a little walk around those next, and got some photos (as above). Then it was nap time, as neither of us had slept that well the night before. Then up to get ready for dinner at Haisai.
This would be Michael Stadtlander’s new, cheaper (though certainly not cheap) restaurant. And the room is very characteristic of him and his wife Noboyu, with a crazy festooning of pottery and all natural wood furniture. Noboyu recognized us from our stop in August and generally made us feel comfortable. We were a bit surprised to see that the restaurant was not sold out on this Friday; it was maybe two-thirds full. And they were having fireplace issues, so it was a little cool in there.
But, everyone wants to know about the food right? It was a 10-course tasting menu. I made a point of writing down what we had that night.
Single New Brunswick oyster—I forget how seasoned. But very nice.
Smoked hock (from their farm, smoked for six months) on whole-wheat bread made there. The meat had really lovely taste and texture not quite like any other “ham” kind of thing I’ve had before. (And I do mean that in a good way.)
Jerusalem artichoke soup with shallots and smoked pickerel. This man is really a soup genius; I couldn’t believe the creamy, wonderful taste and the contrast with the shallots. You almost didn’t need the fish.
Georgian Bay lake trout (caught that day) in wasabi butter with blue potatoes. Definitely a highlight, the fish was meltingly good, and the sauce was so amazing, it was difficult not to lick the plate after. And the potatoes tasted pretty remarkable, too.
White fish on a sauce of beet, chervil, and carrot, with spinach puree. Also a great combination of flavors.
Salmonberry (or maybe some other kind of berry?) sorbet on wild apple. He’s also quite good with the sorbet.
Roast piglet with wild mushrooms and cabbage. The meat was mouth-watering. Mmm, fat. Of course the mushrooms were good, but the cabbage also tasted just amazing. Because, I think, it was cooked in the mmm, fat.
Duck breast with roasted carrot, squash, turnip, parsnip, and a squash ravioli. The most interesting thing here is that the duck, while good, was actually the least of this plate. These vegetables tasted amazing.
Three kinds of Ontario cheese—goat, sheep, and gouda—served with pear and walnut cranberry bread. Ontario, it turns out, also makes good cheese.
Tarte tatin with rum ice cream.
The new restaurant has a wine list, all Ontario. We enjoyed our first five courses with a lively Frog Pond Riesling, then switched to a glass each of Stratus Red. That’s an expensive wine, but it did taste fantastic. We have a bottle here, and now I’m dying to open it. With dessert, we had Earl Grey and mint tea, both well above average.
We came in quite hungry, and ended feeling satisfied but not stuffed, which is perfect. And we slept really well that night.
Onto Saturday now, which began with the breakfast part of the B&B. While we’d met the wife more the day before, today it was the husband who sat and talked with us while we ate our apple starter, delicious coffee, fresh baguette, and frittata. He was quite an interesting guy. He told us about how they’d ended up moving from Toronto to this location, the whole process of designing and building the house extension, the mechanics of geothermal.
They made Creemore sound like an interesting little town, so we decided to head there after checking out. And it is pretty cute. We spent some time in a bookstore, and I wanted many things, but decided I really needed to catch up on my reading first. At an antique store, we bought new stools for our breakfast bar—not antiques, those, they were new. They do look a bit snazzier. (Can’t say we’re not doing our bit for the Ontario economy.) And at the 100-mile shop, we bought a bunch of Ontario cheese, including some we’d had the night before. Fifth Town Cheese Company from Prince Edward County—try them out.
Then we headed home, so you might think this travel diary is done, but no… We decided to keep it going.
That night, we ate out at Art Bar. Once again, the food was quite good, holding up surprisingly well to our recent experience at Haisai. But once again, we seemed to be left fairly close to curtain time. I still don’t understand why they have such trouble getting us out in two hours. But anyway…
We had tickets to Cirque de la symphonie, which was the KW Symphony playing various pieces while, during most of them, circus performers did their thing. This was riveting! I couldn’t believe how fast the two hours (or so) went by. Particularly notable was this beautiful trapeze artist who did a really spectacular set on a rope in the second half. And then there was the gorgeous man who did this act with a big square (I find this stuff hard to explain) in the first half, then, shirtless, did this Icarus act in the second, jumping and flying around with a white sheet flapping behind him.
And the finale were these two guys, all in gold, one of whom can balance on the other and get into the most amazing poses. OK, my whole description of these performances sucks, but trust me, they were wonderful to see. (And thankfully, the Centre was very full for this show.)
Anyway. We both ended up very satisfied with this little November getaway. And Jean also had a great paddle (canoeing) on Sunday. It was a beautiful day, wasn’t it?
For the third (or so) year in a row, Jean and I attended Foodlink’s Taste Local! Taste Fresh! event. This year, as in all previous, it was a beautiful, sunny day. The venue was new, however: a park in St. Jacob’s instead of at Victoria Park in Kitchener.
I had been emailed several times about this event, so was starting to wonder if ticket sales were slow. Apparently not, because there were plenty of people on hand. I later heard it sold out. This despite the $65 tickets, which is arguably pretty expensive.
What you got for your money was access to 20 booths where local restaurants combine with local food producers to come up with a tasting dish. This year, in a nice touch, we each got a porcelain dish to put the food on, replacing the previous biodegradable styrofoam. As previous years, we left completely full from the experience, despite not having lunch first nor dinner after (though we did eat breakfast).
Best ingredient discovery: Ground emu. Which tastes very much like ground beef, as become clear in the mini emu burgers served by Benjamin’s. But it doesn’t have the health and environmental concerns that beef does. I want to get me more emu!
Most creative dish: Charbries’ tomato lollypop and tomato cotton candy. Delicious and nutritious! But seriously, reminded you that tomatoes are a fruit, but not being a terribly sweet one, the cotton candy and lollypop weren’t sicky sweet. Very nicely done.
Most popular dish: Ironically, the one we simply did not have room for, as we kept waiting for the line to diminish—and it never did. This was Art Bar’s mini hot dogs, hand made with local organic beef.
Also pretty darn popular, and we did try this: Whole Lotta Gelata’s Fire and Ice, which combined a piece of local beef (again) with savory gelato: garlic, chipotle flavor. Actually, very good.
Clearly, this was a meatatarian crowd.
Most useful information: That Uptown21 has a few special dinners coming up in October, including one on October 29, partnered with WordsWorth, featuring recipes by Lucy Waverman (Globe food writer). You also get a copy of her cookbook.
New restaurant discovery: Duke Street Muse, a vegetarian restaurant and cafe, which made a nice curried veggie dip. Because we sometimes do have to dine with vegetarians.
And actually, the vegetarian contingent acquitted itself nicely. For example, we really enjoyed the veggie and herb cheese balls from The Children Museum’s Exhibit Cafe, and also the delicious ginger pumpkin cheezecake by Divinely Raw.
Also noteworthy: Uptown21’s smoked lamb fantastico was delicious, if messy; 20 King’s beet cannoli’s were delicious; and it’s hard to go wrong with baked brie from Harmony Organics (by Vidalia’s).
Funniest moment: Talking with the representative from Lyndon fish hatcheries, whom we’d previously sat with at one of those local chef’s gala dinners we go to: “Oh, I remember you. You’re the ones who blogged about us!”
A number of people ended up being interested in Uptown 21’s Tawse wine dinner, so a wee bit of organizing was required. One factor was that one person was a vegetarian, and needed to know if that could be accommodated. She called and confirmed that it could, with forewarning, so when I called to make the reservation, I specified that one individual was vegetarian.
The dinner was a sell-out, so the week before, they called to confirm everyone’s attendance. This was their phone message to me:
“I see you have a reservation here for seven people… and one vegetarian.”
And that was our joke for the evening. Because if you’re not going to eat the lower life forms, are you really a person?
Unlike Uptown 21’s daily specials, at this five-course wine dinner, full glasses of wine were on offer for each of the five courses. With refills, if you wanted (I declined those). But it was over a fairly extended amount of time—starting at 6:30 pm and continuing to past 10:30—so that kept the level of drunkenness at bay.
The first wine was a 2008 Echoes Riesling, which is one of those Ontario Riesling that is actually dry but tastes rather off-dry. Quite pleasing to me; I think Riesling is one the grapes that Ontario does best. That was served with a peach, arugula, and burnt goat cheese amuse-bouche, indeed a nice balance of flavours.
Next was another 2008 Rieseling, this one the Foxcroft Block, which actually has the same level of sugar as the first, but tasted much more dry. That made it less appealing to me to drink on its own, but some at the table liked it better. All agreed that comparing the two was interesting. That was served with a fresh tomato-mascarpone and wild leek tart with Riesling braised pork belly and micro greens salad. Excellent tomatoes, nice crisp pork, and the acidity of the wine was a good balance for the fat.
Next up (after some talk with the vintner, who was doing the rounds of the tables): 2006 Quarry Road Chardonnay, a very oaky, very rich-tasting wine. With flavour this strong, it was a bit polarizing, with some not liking it on its own at all, and others very much. But all agreed that it changed some with the food, which was seared sea scallop in sweet corn consommé, corn marmalade, shallot popcorn foam, brown butter, and sea salt.
(Yes, I kept the menu; I couldn’t remember that all that.) These plates came with the single seared scallop and corn, then the butter sauce was poured over, then the foam. It was very peppery, and the foam didn’t have much taste on its own, but the scallop was nicely done, and the corn certainly in season.
Now we hit some reds, starting with the 2007 Laundry Vineyard Cabernet Franc. Four glasses in, my wine recollection is getting a bit fuzzy, but I think that was a fairly fruity Cabernet Franc. It was served with slow roasted beef striploin over chive whipped potatoes, caramelized summer vegetables, and a plum glace de veau. I found my beef perhaps a little too done (is that the second time this has happened to me at a wine dinner?), but the potatoes were quite delicious.
Pinot Noir was the next featured wine, this one the 2007 Grower’s Blend. Quite liked that one, a mix of pinot grapes. It was served with a delicious duck confit atop a stack of French pancakes (really, crèpes) smothered in a maple-roast summer garlic sauce, foie gras torchon (so cold foie gras), wild mushrooms, and fresh blueberries. Although I couldn’t quite finish this plate, due to getting full-ness, it was probably my favorite course.
And the finale: Dessert. Yes, we had wine for this too, and it was a 2007 Chardonnay ice wine. This ice wine was lighter than many, with a distinct apple flavour, Very appealing. It was served with vanilla custard, fresh doughnut, chardonnay caramel, and Sean’s famous “Duff-mellow” brulée. The doughnut, not too sweet on its own, was really great with the wine. The brulee is justly famous; nice texture and flavour of burnt marshmallow.
And a little decaf coffee, and some more water, and we were on our way.
I was quite happy to not have a headache the next day.
Run by the former chef of the now defunct Hannah’s, I’d been wanting to try Nick and Nat’s Uptown 21 since its positive review in the Record. But our first attempts butted up against their popularity; each time we tried to go, it seemed to be full.
Yesterday, we finally got in. (Actually, it wasn’t even all that busy.) And while I’d love to give you a menu overview, having gone in with the preconceived notion that I wanted to try their $45 four-course chef’s special, I didn’t really give the regular menu much mind. Similarly, once spotting that they did $22 wine matchings with that menu, I didn’t peruse the wine list too much either. Though did notice they seemed to have quite a few by the glass, which is always nice.
Jean spent a bit more time with the menu, noting that it included both foie gras as an optional add-on, and cheese for dessert. He finally decided to start with a foie gras appetizer, then have the three-course version of the chef’s special—exactly the same as the four-course, except you leave out the first appetizer, and save $10.
Figuring that four glasses of wine was too much on a school night, we were going to share the wine matchings. But they explained that each was actually 3 oz. glasses of wine, for two glasses total, so we each proceeded with that. (Smart idea; more places should do that.) For Jean’s foie gras, they offered up a Tawse chardonnay that normally isn’t sold by the glass. It was quite nice; reminiscent of that rich Prince Edward County chardonnay we’d really liked.
With my first course, I got a typically floral Viognier—forget from which winery. It went down pretty easily also.
My item was very lightly seared, thinly cut tuna served with radishes, a nice coleslaw (no mayo), and sides of pesto and spicy chili sauce. Beautifully presented, and all very enjoyable (though I skipped the radishes—not a fan). Jean was also impressed with his foie gras, to the point of concerning our server, who couldn’t quite tell if his expression meant that he liked it or not. (If you’ve ever seen Jean eat foie gras, you know what I mean.) That was served with greens and salty peanuts, which worked well.
Now the chef’s special includes two choices for each course, but for the next two, we went with the exact same items.
The shitake soup with asparagus seemed almost too subtle at first, but once I mixed in the light cream sauce, it came to life. Nice to have flavouring from other than salt. That was served with a Trius Cabernet Franc, and the earthiness of that wine worked quite well with the mushrooms.
The next course was Ontario trout, served on a lentil risotto. I was thinking that either a white or a light red ought to work with that, when the server came by and asked whether we’d prefer red or white with that one! We went with one of each. The white was a New Zealand Astrolab Sauvignon Blanc, nice and crisp—intense but not too sharp. I really love a good Sauvignon. The red was the Ontario Rosewood Pinot Noir, which recently won an award as Ontario’s best Pinot. We had this wine at the Verses wine matching dinner in the spring, and were really wowed by it. (And, it’s only $18 at LCBO.) It was quite enjoyable again—to me, a bit fruitier than Ontario Pinot’s often are.
The fish was beautifully done, nicely crisp and seared on the outside, still tender and moist inside. And the lentil side dish was very tasty, with added bits of chorizo and beets! One more, the plates were cleaned. (Each course was a perfectly reasonable size, so in the end we were just satisfied, not stuffed.)
For dessert, we diverged. I tried the mocha caramel mouse with doughnut, while Jean had a trio of gelato: cinnamon, lemon, and berry. Those all tasted amazing. He asked where it was made, and it was from Whole Lotta Gelato, down the road. My mousse was pleasingly less sickly sweet than I was expecting—that’s a good thing. And the doughnut was small, plain, and certainly had that homemade and not Tim’s feel to it.
With that, I had Graham’s 10-year port while Jean went with Lailey’s Vineyard’s late harvest vidal, a lightly sweet wine with apple accents.
Though we never felt rushed, the whole meal experience was fairly efficient, as we were there about two hours. Servers were attentive and knowledgeable. As per the subject line, I’d recommend it!
(And in other restaurant news: I noticed that the wonderful Verses Restaurant is once again offering their Summerlicious menu, $25 for a three-course lunch, or $35 for a three-course dinner.)
Been a fairly active few days; I’ll try to catch up with a variety of things here…
The new Ignatieff ads
If these work, I’ll be terribly disappointed in my fellow Canadians.
Verses continues to excel
The new summer menu is out! The new herbed gnochi with wild mushroom appetizer is wonderful, and Jean declared the foie gras possibly the best ever. Anywhere. Also pretty cool: “The cocoa nib braised Belgium endive” on the duck breast main course.
Hannah’s doesn’t survive the loss of its chef
Website is still up, but Hannah’s Bistro restaurant is history. There’s a sign on the door saying they’ve vacated the premises with rent due.
West Side Story‘s a winner
We saw a preview performance with my parents at Stratford; it was excellent, with a really strong cast of young dancers and singers. And even though I knew perfectly well what would happen to Tony, it still made me cry.
Drowning in Riesling
Well, not really, but do have a good stock visiting four Beamsville-area wineries with the folks. At Angel’s Gate, besides the Riesling, I took a chance on a blend not available for tasting. At East Dell we didn’t do any sampling, but I do recommend the restaurant. Malivoire‘s Gamay and the Gerwurtz won me over, and at Cave Spring I liked everything I tried, and took home the Estate Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir.
And we all gained appreciation for Jean’s GPS on the drive home.
Television finales
In the evenings, we caught up on some of these:
Grey’s Anatomy: Now there are rumours that Izzy isn’t really dead. That would just be cruel. (Still liking Owen and Christina, Bailey, and little Gray + McSteamy. Whom Mom agreed really does look like my cat.)
Bones: I enjoyed it, but it was an odd season finale. And amnesia? Seriously?
Desperate Housewives: Bad news: Looks like Jackson (Gale Harold) won’t be on the show anymore. Good news? That means I no longer have to watch Desperate Housewives!
American Idol: OK, I only read about (didn’t watch) the finale, just as I’ve only read about (never watched any of) the entire season, but I’m still surprised Adam didn’t win.
30 Rock. Funny.
How I Met Your Mother. The goat! The jumping! Barney and Robin! Yay! And also very funny.
Still a bit over-ambitious
Oh, not in my career. I mean in my cooking. Hosted sister, brother-in-law, and kids over with the parents, and saying I said just make a simpler dinner. One main course, not three. Dessert made ahead. Simple appetizer. Yet somehow I still ended up peeling lima beans for the guacamole (don’t ask) and spending three hours on lasagna.
Everything was good, though.
By the time we got to Woodstock
It had been over for 40 years. So we had to make do with a symphonic makeover. Which frankly, was really enjoyable, and much more comfortable than sitting on a blanket in the mud while tripping on acid. (Oh dear. I’m old.) Highlights:
Rik Emmett doing Hendrix (All Along the Watchtower) and Santana (Black Magic Woman) justice on the guitar.
The rock chicks—Rique Franks letting loose on Joplin’s “Piece of my Heart”, Katalin Kiss on “White Rabbit”.
Neil Donnell channelling Joe Cocker in the liveliest performance I’ve ever seen him give, totally capturing the gravely voice while still hitting every note perfectly (as he does). Fantastic orchestration on this one (“With a Little Help From My Friends”), too.
My one quibble, being me? Just talking about how great The Who were at Woodstock, but not performing any Who—”because we already did The Who this season.” Yes, like everyone in the audience would be so upset to hear symphonic “Pinball Wizard” again only nine months later! That’s way too soon!
Geek excitement—Tasks in Google calendar!
The one feature I like in Lotus Notes—the To Do lists—now finally available in the email program I otherwise prefer! A geeky thrill!
I didn’t mention here (though many know) that this was actually our second multi-course gourmet dinner featuring local foods, in a week. We already had the Earth Day tickets when Verses announced a wine-matching dinner on a local food and wine and theme. Verses hadn’t done one of those in quite a while—we had to go that too. And fine that was. The featured vineyard was a relatively new one called Rosewood, and the food was, as always, impeccably prepared, and very well matched with each course.
(Generous servings, too. The 16% alcohol honey wine at the end really did me in. No, we didn’t drive home. Yes, I did go to work the next day. Yay, aspirin.)
And now…
We’re going to another one.
But it’s Michael Stadtländer! Our first and possibly best gourmet chef person! It’s been so hard getting into his Eigensenn Farm in recent years, we were kind of thinking we’d never eat his food again. But lo if he isn’t coming to the area, courtesy of the local chamber of commerce, and preparing a 7-course meal, local foods, some wine matching.
So yeah. We had to go to that, too.
We may end up poor, fat, and with mild liver damage, but hey. Isn’t it worth it to be surrounded by a healthy local food economy?
(Oh, and as to the rumours that Stadtländer is closing Eigensenn: True—but only to open a new, somewhat larger establishment…)
