Treadwell Farm to Table Restaurant

[mkjr]

This weekend I went to Stephen Treadwell's Treadwell Farm to Table Restaurant for lunch in Port Dalhousie while I was tasting at a few wineries in the Niagara area.

http://www.treadwellcuisine.com/

I must say, without any hesitation, that this is one of the best dining experiences that I have had in many years. This restaurant is a truly fantastic in all respects and is not to be missed.

I like how the menu shows a very simple description of an item but when it comes out its truly a high end and top tier variation/impression of the same. For example, I had the “Chicken BLT”, which was served on fred’s potato focaccia bread (you see the paper thin slices of potato that coated the crust of the bread) with confit chicken thighs pancetta and thyme roasted tomatoes. This item comes will a nice little side of the house soup which was a golden roma tomato. Both were to die for. The soup was a perfect temperature and had a tiny drizzle of some of the most flavourful cold pressed canola oil I have ever tasted. Others at the table had the “Soup and Sandwich” combo which was the same soup only with a crab salad sandwich. There was an enormously generous portion of crab with a variety of complementary and subtle flavours infused into the mixture. Another had the chardonnay steamed mussels with shallots, fresh herbs and cream. Suffice to say not a drop of the creamy broth left as we soaked up the same with the fresh bread provided.

For the table, they brought out some fresh baked baguette bread with a cold pressed canola oil and baco noir vinegar from Niagara Vinegar. There was not a drop left of either the bread or dip by the time we were through. The flavours were as unique as they were outstanding.

For desert, I had the raspberries on fennel pollen "shortbread" with vanilla bean infused cream. It turned out this was not on the menu at the time but was being photographed for the upcoming Toronto Life Magazine restaurant edition so it happened to be available (as I understand the raspberries were late harvest and are only available for 2 or 3 weeks – they had an amazing sweetness to them). Other deserts at the table were the Whitty farms blackberries with pecan "bourbon" brown butter tart vanilla bean ice cream and peach tart tatin with sheep’s milk sorbet and lime caramel. Both were equally as tasty as my own.

On the wine front we had glasses of 2003 Lailey Cab Franc, 2002 Stratos White and the 2005 Norman Hardie Riesling. All three were outstanding expressions of top Ontario wines.

Suffice to say at this lunch there was very little chatting and a lot of hoarding your dish and fending off other's forks.

This is a must for any in the area and I would be back in a second.

5 Stars in my opinion.

[doctorandchef]

I'll second that recommendation!!

We went last saturday for lunch. the room is very pleasant with a beautiful view of the river, with people actually fishing outside.

Started off with an outstanding Pinot Noir from Coyote's Run, served in a proper wide Pinot bowl-like glass.

We ordered:

1. Fish and chips: nice and light beer batter, not at all greasy, you could actually taste the fish flavor in the fish. Chips were hand cut Yukon Golds, I assume double fried, nice crispy surface and fluffy interior, dusted with coarse salt and rosemary, matched with a nice tartar sauce. A true winner.

2. Pork belly: Nice seared crust, over an apple puree/sauce and jus, served with 2 GIGANTIC butter seared scallops crusted with what tasted like lemon-flavored salt, topped with pea shoots. I'm guessing it's one of chef's signature dishes since I saw it on many of his previous menus. scallops were insanely fresh and sweet.

3. Deconstructed shepherd's pie: short ribs ( I assume from Cumbrae Farms), dijon grana padano mash, parsley salad. It tasted good, not particularly spectacular but perfectly seasoned.

Dishes had perfect portion size, and were all perfectly seasoned (FINALLY a kitchen who doesn't over/underseason!!)

We were too full for desserts but they looked tempting.

Highly recommended. We went for a nice walk on the pier to burn off the calories.

Oh ya, make sure you visit Anna Olson's shop. We bought a whole bunch of pastries. Lemon meringue tart was a definite winner.

[Ciao Ling]

My wife and I stopped at Treadwell for lunch on the way to Inn on the Twenty in Jordan for a weekend trip out of Rochester, NY. I checked egullet when we got back and I agree with all your posts. We only went for lunch but it was fabulous. I took a couple of quick pics which best do justice:

We shared the House Made Gnocchi appetizer: "Walpole's" Cabernet flour gnocchi with fall mushrooms, truffle oil, Ermite Bleu.

My wife had the Chips & Fish: Cream ale battered whitefish & hand-cut Yukon chips, bearnaise sauce.

Some people don't care for mackerel. I am not one of those and the Treadwell preparation was excellent. Pan fried mackerel filet with warm potato salad & "Koslik's" triple crunch mustard. The unctuousness from the runny yolk of the poached egg atop the filet was spot on.

The winelist is essentially of Ontario wines with which I have little experience. I have not been a great fan of most Fingerlakes wines except for the rieslings and the occasional ice wine. Because of the similar climates, I didn't expect much from the Ontario vinifera attempts. The sommelier is very knowlegeable. My wife had an niagara viognier & I a local pinot, both of which were quite well done.

The location in Old Port Dalhousie on a canal off of Lake Ontario was enchanting. The service was also attentive. They have a nice small lounge with leather chairs opposite the bar where you can also have small plates. Well worth a drive from Rochester for a future visit!