vox

to whom and where did you send your later, v_wang? is there an email address? i returned and was also quite rudely treated by the server and host...and i'd also like to register a complaint.

we got there about 8:20, and all the tables were taken. we were told the wait might be 45 minutes, left our cell phone number and had a beer at c'est what. 20 minutes later, we got the call and were seated at one of the tables. the decor is really nice and tasteful...conversation gets kinda loud...but it's still comfortable. there's an open kitchen where you can see jamie and one assistant cranking out the hot food (i'm assuming there's another prep/pastry kitchen in the back). the menu consisted of 18 items, 4 of which were desserts. we tried about 7 dishes and 2 of the same dessert. prices were anywhere from $5-11 and were TOTALLY worth it. i was worried about the portions...but if you think about it as like going to gio rana's (where you make a meal out of several plates) for what you pay, and what you're getting...it's a STEAL. and we both staggered out of there after three hours completely stuffed. we had the grilled flatbread with three dips (an olive one, a baccalau one - i'm guessing - and a white bean one), served with a smoldering rosemary branch which gave off this lovely warm, musky perfume. the dips were really nice, and the olive dip was especially bracing and assertive. then we had the yukon gold frites as poutine...served with romano cheese that was really sharp, and with a grilled lamb kebab on top...soooooo tasty. the frites were perfect...and it was served with a dromana estates shiraz which my partner LOVED. (at $6.15 per 3oz serving, he better have) then we had the pate with jardinere vegetables and celery root salad. probably my favorite dish. the presenation was OUTSTANDING. the pate was shaped in this rolled quenelle, with two curved toasts on top of this vinegary celery root julienne and with a preserved bean and preserved beet (jk's own, i'm assuming)...the pate was delicious...duck and chicken...fatty, rich...slightly gamey. maritime clam and lobster chowder was nice. two soups in one. a lobster bisque and a clam bisque. we had the grilled cornish hen with mushroom strudel. outstanding. probably my second favorite dish of the night. he uses organic meats and this hen was the ESSENCE of chicken. it was done really simply with a nice jus and a small ratatouille of roasted vegetables underneath and fried garlic chips and carrot slices. but the flavour from the chicken puts all other chicken to shame. then we had the braised oxtail with leek and marrow toasts (i love bone marrow). it was served with a puycarpin bordeaux superieur (my partner liked the shiraz better...he didn't like the long, lingering finish of the bordeaux)...the oxtail was really meaty and gooey with connective tissue (the way shanks get) and the bone marrow was so sweet and fatty and tasty... then we had the artisanal cheese with wild rice roti. with a malivoire pinot noir...the cheese selection was okay...nothing too outrageous. they served an epoisses that i really liked... and we finished off with puffed pastry with preserved peaches and caramel ice cream. the service was really slow. and the plates came with really lengthy pauses in between...the servers didn't know what the cheeses were which was really annoying to me. but a friend of mine works as a server there and was super nice. the whole cost of the meal came up to under $100 (minus tip). lovely lovely. and we were told that no, they do not take reservations. yay!

food-related reading: recently finished margaret visser's "much depends on dinner" social anthropology of food...FASCINATING! working my way through david rosengarten's "it's all american food"...i love that guy.

i find that i'm able to eat EXTREMELY well by following a few guidelines: 1. i don't drink or smoke, the only thing i do drink is water (approx 3 L a day) and soya milk 2. i eat breakfast every morning (consisting of something fibre heavy...a bran muffin, or steel-cut oatmeal, or homemade granola, etc.) 3. i don't eat white flour (so all pastas, grains, etc. are whole wheat) 4. i avoid processed and fast foods 5. i eat meat twice a week, fish twice and week, and the remainder of the time, i eat vegetarian 6. i make sure i eat at least 5 servings of fruit and/or vegetables a day 7. i exercise moderately (biking/yoga) for 30 minutes, about 4 times a week. the biggest danger is eating processed/refined foods. as long as you're cooking healthy, homemade meals, i think for the most part, the challenge of eating healthy is halfway done. i don't think animal fats are satan, but that being said...i'm not polishing off lobes of foie gras or tarte tatins every single night. just be sensible about it. putting a tablespoon of butter to finish a risotto or to mount a sauce isn't the worst thing in the world...

alex farms. best selection of cheeses in the city, imo.

with regards to what stalder said, being able to cook a steak well doesn't put toronto on the map. granted, i'd say in terms of indian, chinese, malaysian, thai, vietnamese, sri lankan, and most other non-western-based cuisines, toronto is world calibre if not better. however, if we're talking quality chefs that are breaking new ground and influencing the way people in toronto eat, then i think toronto as an eating public has a LONG way to go. a little off-topic...but in terms of oyster bars in the city, i really really enjoy oyster boy. i absolutely hated rodneys...the jocky atmosphere and the preponderance of bay street pigs was a complete turn-off for me...as was the fact that the service i received was definitely shabby because i look like the student/cook that i am. intensely irritating.

the only cook whom i remember training with nobu who worked at sen5es 2 years ago was a guy named kevin. (i worked at sen5es when he was there briefly). i think the problem with the lack of up and coming chefs in toronto is because toronto as a food city, is notoriously conservative. that's why mcewan has such a winning formula in bymark and at north 44. people want to pay exorbitant prices for what amounts to your basic grilled meat/fish, plus some kind of potato starch and standard veg combo. let's face it people...we're not adventurous enough to really break new ground, foodwise.

No, dear, $10 an hour and no health insurance is despresso. i make $11/hour, no health insurance, nothing. compare that to my university position, which is union, with paid vacation and all the other benefits capitalism owes it's working public...and it's pretty sad. (that's in canuck dollars too!) i've always noticed that the restaurant industry is one of the last bastions of draconian labour relations...dickens would have a field day.

p.s. what the crap does BOH stand for? there's GOT to be a fine dining restaurant somewhere that pays people a decent wage. i'm going to get micheal moore on it.

*sigh* i know. you gotta forgive a girl for hoping...

also...i was kinda sorta hoping against hope that cooks in the states and in froufrou restaurants made more money than i do doing fine dining in canada... but the $10/hour thing is pretty depresso.

i don't think anyone has fault with the reason the cook's left rocco's (ie. the style of food, the fact he wasn't in the kitchen, etc.) i think it's pretty shafty when peeps don't show up for their shifts though...because that means that you're screwing over your co-workers. personally, i would have just given my two weeks notice and quit...without all the hospital smack.

more thoughts...discussing the contrivances surrounded reality television is as relevant as talking about feminism and pornography. basically, it's a tired subject that's been done to death. OF COURSE IT'S CONTRIVED! it's heavily mediated!

p.s. i happen to love irony. but then again, i love baudrillard...so it must be the post-structuralist in me.

perhaps this has been mentioned already, but the biggest problem i have with the show is the blatantly unrepetent product placement. maybe it's because i'm canadian, but i fail to understand how we are supposed to buy the fact that a perfectly reasonable eating public actually chooses to drink COORS LIGHT at a restaurant? it's painfully awkward watch rocco, caught like a deer in the headlights, stilltedly delivering lines about american express' business plan. and whoever believes that that pap theme song is actually good, is clearly tone deaf and therefore your opinion is null and void.

i was also the pastry assistant at sen5es for a while and the new kitchen staff at the new sen5es in the soho met is the same.

for pastries: rahier uptown tournayre on queen east clafoutis on queen west the best croissants in town. sen5es for sure.

i seared that tuna! and when i worked in pastry...i used to make that ice cream. it IS good, isn't it?

there's a new place that opened up on queen west called korea grill house. they have the table top grilling and an all you can eat menu. i don't know how AUTHENTIC you'll find it per se...but the value can't be beat and it's boisterous and fun.

i have a recipe i can dig up. basically, you cook the custard on the stove until it splits...then you whiz the hell out of it with an immersion blender.

the ice bowl method is a perfectly acceptable method for tempering chocolate. the temper you attain isn't the BEST per se, but for at home use it's fine. i also work in a fine-dining restaurant, and we use that when we make petit fours.

i dunno about that. i heat the chocolate, then cool it down in an ice bath, and then rewarm it. i've never had a problem making chocolates this way.

soba noodle salad with rice wine vinegar and sugar snap peas, radishes, brocolli grilled mackerel

if i don't eat breakfast, i end up with massive hunger headaches, feel nauseous, and get extremely cranky until i get some food in me. i used to eat one large meal a day (dinner). i noticed that after eating dinner, i'd be lethargic and usually end up taking an hour long nap presumeably while my body processed the sudden influx of food. for the past month, i've taken to eating breakfast and bringing fruit or small snacks with me during the day, and i've found that i've lost weight, been much more productive, and all around healthier.

i had matzoh ball soup last night with avocado tortilla melts. you melt grated cheddar cheese in the pan first, then press the tortilla onto it, so once all the oil absorbs, the cheese is slightly crispy and burnt tasting.