Winterlicious 2006

[mkjr]

I was at Far Niente on Saturday with my wife. Service as A+ and food was very good. The new room is amazing.

For 1st course we had the:

White Corn Chicken soup with Tomato Coriander Salsa and Salt & Pepper Calamari

Cornmeal Dusted, Togorashi & Hoisin Sauce.

Both were great. The soup was amazing and the Calimari was very interesting with the hoisin. Two very different dishes insipred by two different countries.

For mains we had the: Atlantic Salmon Arborio Rice “cake”, Chili, Smoked Paprika, Fine French Beans & Lemon Parmesan Parsley Sauce and the Roasted Leg of Lamb Yukon Potato Mash, Sautéed Spinach, Fig Sherry Sauce

I really liked both. The leg of lamb was actually finely sliced into small 3 inch by 0.5 inch strips. Good presentation. The mash potatos were very good and clearly put through a ricer as they were very very fine. The salmon was perfectly done and had nice crisp outside with very interesting textrure.

And for deserts had one of each of:

Sticky Pecan Toffee Pudding & Solferino Vanilla Ice Cream or Chilled Milk Chocolate Mint Parfait & Amarula Sauce

Both were stunning.

I have not been to FN for some time for dinner but go often for lunch, although this is my first time back since the reno.

We ordered a bottle of Brewer Clifton Pinot, which was very impressive to see given so little of this wine is made - around 200 cases or 2300 bottles. Sadly the first bottle we wanted was sold and the list had not been updated. The wine list was very well put together overall. Mark ups were not too bad which is nice to see. They had the 1998 Penfolds Grange on the menu for a steal. Very close to ordering.

Food was fast but not too fast the the waitress slowed things down for us so we could enjoy our wine. The place was not too busy but had a good number of people. We did not see any tables being hurried along which is good. I would go back again for dinner in a second. I noticed they had a lobster pot pie on the menu that looked good.....mmmmmm....salivating.

[Team_Eater]

I went to Corner House yesterday with my family for dinner. We've been there for every "licious" event, and the food is consistently great. Yesterday was no exception!

APPETIZER

Crisp pan fried Crab Cake, organic greens, Avocado, smoked chipotle aioli

This was a decent starter, but nothing to write home about. (Perhaps I set too-high standards for my seafood) There could have been more chunks of crab meat, but the avocado and aioli accompanied the dish nicely.

MAIN

Seared Sea scallops with ginger-lemon spiced Couscous, citrus fruit, roasted cauliflower, Balsamic beurre blanc

With my seafood standards in mind, these scallops were the most delightful that I've ever experienced. They had a natural buttery sweetness to them, and they were oh-so-tender. My mouth waters just thinking about them. Unfortunately there were only two of these delectable treats. I was not a huge fan of the couscous-covered citrus fruits, but that's a personal preference. I would have enjoyed some variety of potato instead. (Big potato fan here!)

EXTRA MAIN

Hot smoked and grilled Atlantic salmon with roasted Potato and vegetable ragout, Maple spiced grainy Mustard sauce

My father had this dish, and while most restaurants' preparation of salmon is ho-hum at best, CH blew away the competition. The flavour was that of smoked salmon, combined with a tender medium-well cooked steak. The result was phenomenal...easily the best salmon any of us have had.

DESSERT

Banana-passion fruit parfait with tropical fruit salad with mint crème fraiche

This dish did not arrive the way I had imagined it. (layers of fruit and cream in a tall glass) Rather, there was a mound of tropical fruit atop a disc of banana frozen yogurt/ice cream. It didn't blow my mind, but it was a pleasant, palate-cleansing way to end the meal.

Overall Rating: 3.75/5

Next Stop: Mildred Pierce on Feb 3rd.

[mkjr]

Had an amazing WL dinner at Nectar on the weekend. FYI, the menu on the WL web site is not exactly the one they are serving so call and ask ahead as I suspect they may have done that to mix it up. Service was AAA+ and they even allowed BYOW (which I took advantage of - of course calling ahead to make sure the wine was not on the list - and brought a 1998 Meo Camuzet Vosne Romanee ($35 corkage) which was drinking very nicely indeed). I also ordered a glass of Moet and a glass of vintage port as I usually do when I BYOW and shared some with the wait staff. Funny that the people next to us seemed very put off on the whole meal but I have eaten at many places in the city that are nowhere near as good as the meal I had. This was a steal at $35. Egually as impressive was North 44 the next night (I am still thinking about the Tuna appatizer), which evidently also allows BYOW at $50 corkage. Both Nectar and North 44 had damn good wine lists with very reasonable mark ups on the mid range which is very nice to see, although it looked like North 44 only had two or three wines by the glass. Seemed odd and thought it must have been a WL thing and since I was pretty wined out from the night before, I went with beer (which is pretty rare for me). Neither place made us feel rushed. 4 Stars for each. Off to Bymark tonight.

[sadistick]

Its really interesting to read this thread, as it seems it has somewhat gone off topic, but a good read regardless.

First off, Kev...the first time I saw your avatar, I was literaly 'LOL'...that has to be one of the funniest comedy characters ever!

Second...My cousin works at Tutti Matti...and apparently the food for winterlicious is great there, some new dishes that the chef has not made for the regular menu before...as well, the customers are apparently tipping VERY well! (Fri & Sat double shift netted $500!!!) Even though he is VERY happy winterlicious is almost over.

Anyways...off to Zucca on Fri for our 6 month anniversary dinner...hope its as good as it was a year back when I was there last.

[child of the storm]

I went to Lalot on Friday night for the Winterlicious menu. I was curious to try the place as a friend had raved about it's "nouvelle Viet" dishes, but I was worried that the hipster factor might have won her over. And based on their Winterlicious menu, my fears were well-founded.

Starter: Fried calamari & shrimp in salt and "peppa"

This was actually the tastiest dish of the night, although you could find this basic recipe executed well all over Chinatown. The shrimp were the tiniest I've ever eaten, but that just gave them a nice popcorn-y quality.

Main: Grilled tilapia with Vietnamese herbs

An extremely tiny portion of tilapia, and while I prefer many types of fish grilled to slightly rare, tilapia is not one of them. It was a bit slimy. The sauce and herbs were very bland, and in general the dish was under-salted. Served with plain white rice, zzzzzz...

Dessert: Poached pear with some kind of syrup

I think this was done in rice wine, but really, nothing special. I am so tired of poached pears everywhere. And considering how few calories I had just consumed, I needed something more substantial. One of my companies had the rice pudding (?), which was some weird electric shade of green. Tasted ok, but the colour freaked me out a bit.

Look, this meal was only $25, but I was still disappointed. My girlfriend had the stir-fried beef tenderloin with vegetables and it was beyond dull, with low-quality beef. I would have been disappointed had I paid $8 for a takeout container of it on Spadina. She enjoyed the cracker it came with - after it was forgotten at first - and politely asked for another one, only to be brusquely denied by our awful server. Plus the bathrooms were a nightmare of flickering fluorescent lighting, peeling paint, and zero effort whatsoever on decor. A bottle of hand soap from the dollar store, no towels or dryer. Just wipe your hands on your pants I guess.

I think Winterlicious is a chance for new restaurants to make a good impression, and Lalot blew it. I won't be going back. And I looked longingly at Rosebud as I hailed a taxi. Would that I had spent more money and gone there instead...

[KevV]

...First off, Kev...the first time I saw your avatar, I was literaly 'LOL'...that has to be one of the funniest comedy characters ever!

Yes! I like!

Second...My cousin works at Tutti Matti...the customers are apparently tipping VERY well! (Fri & Sat double shift netted $500!!!)

So, you're saying the customers' savings on the bill therefore go directly into the waiters' pockets, huh? $500 is nice. But then there's $80 for the grill and $60 for the dishwasher, most likely, and after a busy night. No wonder the chefs have skipped off down to Cancun or wherever it is.

Oh well... (sorry - context on 'tipping' debates found above)

Edited February 9, 2006 by KevV (log)

[Ex-S]

I was a North 44° a couple of weeks ago, and I'd have to say I was a little disappointed. I've been to summerlicious/winterlicious previously, and N44 ranked about average.

-Starter: Seared Yellow Fin tuna with fine vegetable slaw, Thai dressing and crisp ginger.

This was the best dish of the night. I love tuna and this was very tasty. All things considered though, it was a pretty simple dish.

My girlfriend had the Woodland mushroom risotto with roasted parsnip and herb foam. The risotto was done to perfection; very nice. So after getting 2 pretty good starters.......

-Main = S: Slow braised rabbit with maple, cream, cider vinegar and root vegetables.

A.K.A. overcooked chicken breast. OK, I know that rabbit tastes similar to chicken, so that wasn't the problem. The problem was I couldn't taste ANY maple, cream, or cider vinegar. It was like eating the carcass of a chicken after you make stock >= S......

My girlfriend got organic Irish salmon with scallops, chanterelles, clams, natural reduction and crisp pancetta. She had much much better luck than I did. It was cooked just right and you could really taste what was advertised = P

There was an option to get the steak or roasted venison for an extra $12, but I really didn't think it was worth it. In retrospect I may have regretted it, but who knows = P.

Dessert: Apple and fig crumble with cinnamon ice cream and Tahitian vanilla sauce. Quite average..... but not too bad. I don't have too much to say about it.

Despite the food, my experience was still not too bad. The waiter was very nice (unlike at Epic, where my girlfriend had a girl's night out. They were SUPER shhnobby) and of course the service is great. I'd describe the atmosphere upstairs as private, so it was a good setting to take a date. Overall I wouldn't go back again though. I'd rate my experience at about 6.5/10. Even though it's "cheaper" than regular, the food just doesn't cut it.

[Team_Eater]

I was a North 44° a couple of weeks ago, and I'd have to say I was a little disappointed.  I've been to summerlicious/winterlicious previously, and N44 ranked about average.

Did you have any problems with seating? My friend had reservations for 9:30 on a Friday night. They were SO overbooked that she wasn't seated until 10:30!!