GordonCooks

Good information - thanks

Has anyone been to the St Jacob's Market? I'm told by reliable sources that it has even more than Granville & the SLM.

Sounds like the smart thing to do - Lee is doing big $$ I hear (more then Susur) and probably occupying more of his time. I'll assume then he goes to the all tasting menu format (at Susur) - things will improve ← ← We ate at Canoe on friday and are happy to report that Anthony Walsh's food keeps improving with every visit. I feel that Susur is still one of the top tables in spite of some mis-steps. It seems more like growing pains with LEE taking up time and staff. Look for an overhaul in the upcoming months when they get the tasting menu only set and some fresh faces in there.

You just won't find so much quality (or quantity) for such cheap prices. The seafood is superior and plentiful, the cheese selection is tremendous (esp the raw milk which we cannot get), and the availibility of specialty ingredients. Many of the items I buy locally are from restaurant wholesalers and specialty shops - at the STL, I can buy chorizo, foie gras, specialty honey, fresh fig jam, strawberries, and beluga 00 caviar under one roof. Pusateris is similiar to our upscale Wegmans chain (esp the Pittsford store) I've stopped at the one in yorkville.

I prefer Kensington Market 20 years ago, but now St. Lawrence takes the cake. And Alex Farms will give you samples of almost anything, too. The embanadas are great, I agree, but many of the great shops are gone now. Far too many bars in the area too, for my taste. I love that you got pics of Mustachios and Kozliks. I didn't see a picture of Carousel bakery though and their peameal, maybe next time. There is also a great polish shop that makes incredible Kielbasa on the lower floor at the north-west end of the building. Mark ← I agree about Kensington - If you're looking for a hard-to-find ingredient, you may have better luck, but for everyday gourmet - it's the best around for 200 miles. Edited for our Canadian friends "It's the best around for 320 km"

We grabbed a late dinner at Canoe on fri night. I must say that the food is really improving there - meals have gone from good to very good to excellent. The Sablefish was as fantastic along with the canoe plate of apps, the raw plate, the foie gras, and the bison was like butter. I'd love to make there early enough for a full tasting menu sometime.

Sounds like the smart thing to do - Lee is doing big $$ I hear (more then Susur) and probably occupying more of his time. I'll assume then he goes to the all tasting menu format (at Susur) - things will improve

Sorry, I was running late - I had to make it back to the hotel before my girl made it over to Holt-Renfrew.

The peameal was for breakfast my dear - I also had the better part of a Mustachio's Eggplant Foccacia to give me the energy to walk back to the hotel.

That, and a peameal on a hardroll

It’s been about a year since my last visit to Susur Lee’s eponymous restaurant on King St. After a dozen or so visits with excellent results, one has to wonder how a restaurant can remain so consistent for so long. Apparently, things start changing around the twelfth visit. Upon arrival, we were promptly seated and presented with wine list and menus. Every visitor gets the 30-second dissertation regarding the restaurant’s philosophy. Our server seemed new, which may explain a few minor missteps in the meal. The amuse hit the table while I was deep into the wine list and I didn’t catch the description. It tasted good but I couldn’t tell you what it was by flavor. The server offered a couple of wine suggestions; I gave her an order similar to my last visit, which worked fairly well (a CNDP, a Zweigelt, a Gruner Veltliner, and a Huet Vouvray Molleux.) The wine order was given and repeated back to me incorrectly (twice) – I made the correction and we were off. The descriptions for the meal are incomplete due to the fact that I made a point to ask the server if I could have a list of the course descriptions with the check - a request that was forgotten about. The first meat course was the heartiest and clearly stated something to me – for the first time since I’ve been eating there, Susur was not in the house. The perfect beef was topped by a charred piece of foie gras that must has caught fire it’s own fat in the pan. The Foie’s charcoal flavor and crust over powered an otherwise perfect piece of beef. The Cornish hen was succulent as always but very familiar. Save for the roasted turnip and croquette, the dish tasted basically the same from the previous trips (not a bad thing considering the tasty spicy green curry) Next came some beef carpcaccio with thin slices of foie terrine on the top and slow cooked pork loin with two sauces. The carpaccio was quite good but seemed to need one more element to balance the dish or maybe something taken away. The pork was the biggest surprise – usually one of the high points of any Susur trip, this pork was rather tough and chewy. After an intermezzo of passion fruit gelatin, the first fish course arrived: Sablefish and Sea Bass. Both were quite good with excellent sauces. Next came a Crab croquette wrapped in potato and a seared scallop with I don’t know what. The croquette was excellent and something I didn’t remember having. The green dome was wasabi mayo and the dark sauce was squid ink. The soup was a hot & sour broth with spinach dumpling. Maybe my favorite of the night – a perfect broth spiked with rice wine vinegar, mirin, and copious amounts of white pepper – I would have taken a big bowl of broth and some noodles. Desserts were more of the same – a rhubarb sorbet that didn’t tasted like rhubarb, a saffron panne cotta that didn’t taste of saffron, a banana cake that tasted like chocolate, a passion fruit tart, a so-so crème caramel, at least the sugar dome tasted like sugar. All in all, not the best effort the restaurant has put forth. In their defense, they had a rather raucous 12 top and two sixes during our turn which can put a stain on a kitchen. Maybe some of the staff is new as well – many of the faces were new save for the manager & Kelly Kwan (did he come with the furniture?) Maybe in Kelly’s section, we would have not gotten served an amuse twice (and refused), asked how many courses we have had so far (I think we missed a course as well; or maybe the intermezzo has been promoted to full blown course status) It was also the first time we were not served a dedicated foie gras course – something I would have like to have been told when I ordered the Vourvray Molleux to pair with the foie gras. Taking the missteps into consideration – this would still be a great meal for many a restaurant; But for Susur, this meal was not up to their usual standard – not even close.

I always thought Clos Vougeot and Eschezeaux went meant for pigs in a blankets

Most of my friends are on the same page (having worked or are working in the industry) When dining with new friends, I usually requst a seperate check with the excuse of buying a bottle of wine for the table. This way I can manage my own tip.

I may stop by next Fri when I'm in T.O. - I'll report back

Sounds to me like you've turned the glorious, but simple and humble, mac & cheese into some sort of fancy-ass midwestern casserole. Indeed, a relocation to Ohio might be in order. Perhaps there is a culinary witness protection program to which you can apply. ← I agree ( I can hear General Lee rolling over in his grave) - vegetables have no place in good ole' Mac & Cheese

5 lunches and 4 dinner a week for 34 while maintaining variety ? - I am now genuflexing to the screen..All Hail Malawry

Gym coating is an extremely durable epoxy resin used on wood flooring (and gymnasiums) hence the name. Well, I got THAT part. I know it's used on floors in gymnasiums, which is why it's called "gym finish." What I don't know is how that particular finish differs (in chemicals, components, method of application, etc.) from other wood finishes. Is it actually a different substance that they use? Or just a whole lot of applications of the same thing? ← Aaaah Jaymes, why ya gotta get so technical on a friday - don't ya know it's almost happy hour. Well, it's usually multiple applications (3 or more ) of the same thing.

Tile is my preferred flooring - durable and cool in the summer

Gym coating is an extremely durable epoxy resin used on wood flooring (and gymnasiums) hence the name

I make a 15 spice lobster - just use 3 pinches of 5 spice powder

The reason I'm afraid to open it is that 4 of us went through 3 bottles in an hour

Very Nice write indeed ! The future in-laws live near Nashville - A trip to Capitol Grille is on my to-do list

2002 Etude Pinot Noir - Carneros Manageable tannins, loads of mushroom and fresh berries in specific layers. Balanced but slightly vegetal (but that may be just me) – Very good now but maybe better in a few years 1997 David Bruce – Chalone Vineyard Lots of dried porcini on the palate (not in a good way) with some cherry and chervil. Tannins were hard but I think more so a lack of fruit. Didn’t get any better after a couple hours – not so hot. 1999 Pine Ridge Cabernet – Rutherford Good juice! Balanced and supple with lots of currant, dark fruit, humidor and medium tannins. Just a good Cal Cab with a long lingering finish – I’m afraid to open any of my Stag’s Leap.

The fact that Sassafraz is still open is a mystery to me - it's my choice of watering holes while bouthique shopping but the food is average at best. Barberian's was always good (haven't been in years) and I hear good things about Harbor 60 - that's all I got I was supposed to dine at the Senator my last trip up but got side-tracked ← Thanks, I won't consider Sassafraz. I remember having great steak at Senator but that was probably 8 years ago. ← I should add The Senator "was" a steakhouse - they are now a Bistro with some great Jazz