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Rain/Splendido- Convince me otherwise

eSkillet.com

By eSkillet.com
in Ontario: Dining

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eSkillet.com

eSkillet.com

Posted
Posted

I am taking a group of culinary students to Toronto in February.

We have several high end meals planned.

I am researching some restaurants and trying to put together the best package.

Usually I go to Splendido for a great upscale meal and I like to take them to Bennihana for an entertaining meal. I have done Suser and North44 and Centro etc.

Any suggestions on other places we could go for outstanding food and outstanding "entertaining" food?

I also take them on various tours of city places: ie The Ontario Food Terminal, the Air Canada Center, Steam Whistle Brewery etc.

Any suggestions on food and beverage related tours would be appreciated as well.

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Endy'

Endy'

Posted
Posted

city places: St. Lawrence Market (because it seems relevant) and the PATH (because it's awesome without being touristy)

rgruby

rgruby

Posted
Posted

There's a thread in the Toronto forum on "fun" eating experiences in TO. I might have a look at that - not necessarily high-end stuff, but, well, fun.

I'll throw out a couple more ideas. How about dim-sum. Maybe one of the better sushi places. For high end, Perigee might be an option. The restaurant seating is basically arranged all around the open kitchen. So, in addition to fantastic food, it would be a good place to bring aspiring chefs. They get to eat and see their meal being prepared.

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

FlavoursGal

FlavoursGal

Posted
Posted (edited)

Definitely Chinatown (Spadina south of College) and Kensington Market (start at Spadina and Baldwin and head west).

I've been to Rain and wasn't impressed. Splendido gets more raves, and consistently so. For affordable, incredibly inventive sushi (especially the chef's specialties), try a new restaurant on Eglinton Ave. West (between Bathurst and Allen Road) called Sado Sushi. It's an "offspring" of Atami Restaurant in Montreal, and is unlike anything else available in Toronto.

You might also want to try Ethiopian food (especially if it's unavailable where you're from). It's delicious, cheap and fun to eat (with your hands). A real cultural experience. There's Ethiopia House on Irwin Ave. downtown, and Queen of Sheba on Bloor West, just east of Bloor West Village.

Where are you from? It might help us to determine what would be interesting for your students.

Edited by FlavoursGal (log)
eSkillet.com

eSkillet.com

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
Definitely Chinatown (Spadina south of College) and Kensington Market (start at Spadina and Baldwin and head west).

I've been to Rain and wasn't impressed.  Splendido gets more raves, and consistently so.  For affordable, incredibly inventive sushi (especially the chef's specialties), try a new restaurant on Eglinton Ave. West (between Bathurst and Allen Road) called Sado Sushi.  It's an "offspring" of Atami Restaurant in Montreal, and is unlike anything else available in Toronto.

You might also want to try Ethiopian food (especially if it's unavailable where you're from).  It's delicious, cheap and fun to eat (with your hands).  A real cultural experience. There's Ethiopia House on Irwin Ave. downtown, and Queen of Sheba on Bloor West, just east of Bloor West Village.

Where are you from?  It might help us to determine what would be interesting for your students.

Out of curiosity, what was the problem with Rain?

Good suggestions and I will research them all.

My students are from all across Canada with a few International students.

We are based in PEI at the Culinary Institute of Canada.

Our budget for the 5 days in TO is around $800 per student + travel expenses.

On past trips I have done Splendido, which still gets my top rating, North44, Centro, Suser, and Crush.

This year I have so far listed:

http://www.rainrestaurant.ca

http://www.libertygroup.com/rosewater/dinner_menu.html

http://www.lareserve.ca/home.html

http://www.spezzo.com/main2.html

http://www.branthouse.com/

http://www.monsoonrestaurant.ca/

as potential restaurants.

We also do a winery tour in Niagra with a lunch.

I like to take the students on at least to top end fine dining experiences and at least one "fun" food experience.

Thanks for the suggestions.

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FlavoursGal

FlavoursGal

Posted
Posted
Definitely Chinatown (Spadina south of College) and Kensington Market (start at Spadina and Baldwin and head west).

I've been to Rain and wasn't impressed.  Splendido gets more raves, and consistently so.  For affordable, incredibly inventive sushi (especially the chef's specialties), try a new restaurant on Eglinton Ave. West (between Bathurst and Allen Road) called Sado Sushi.  It's an "offspring" of Atami Restaurant in Montreal, and is unlike anything else available in Toronto.

You might also want to try Ethiopian food (especially if it's unavailable where you're from).  It's delicious, cheap and fun to eat (with your hands).  A real cultural experience. There's Ethiopia House on Irwin Ave. downtown, and Queen of Sheba on Bloor West, just east of Bloor West Village.

Where are you from?  It might help us to determine what would be interesting for your students.

Out of curiosity, what was the problem with Rain?

Good suggestions and I will research them all.

My students are from all across Canada with a few International students.

We are based in PEI at the Culinary Institute of Canada.

Our budget for the 5 days in TO is around $800 per student + travel expenses.

On past trips I have done Splendido, which still gets my top rating, North44, Centro, Suser, and Crush.

This year I have so far listed:

http://www.rainrestaurant.ca

http://www.libertygroup.com/rosewater/dinner_menu.html

http://www.lareserve.ca/home.html

http://www.spezzo.com/main2.html

http://www.branthouse.com/

http://www.monsoonrestaurant.ca/

as potential restaurants.

We also do a winery tour in Niagra with a lunch.

I like to take the students on at least to top end fine dining experiences and at least one "fun" food experience.

Thanks for the suggestions.

The problem with Rain was that, for my husband and me, anyway, the food did not taste as good as it looked. The presentation was gorgeous, the dishes inventive and playful; we found, however, that there was often a lack of harmony on the plate. So much going on, that it didn't always come together flavourwise or texturewise. That being said, there were a few really good dishes.

There's also Habitat (the chef just got a glowing review by James Chatto in the November issue of Toronto Life - www.torontolife.com), and Perigee in the Distillery District, which has a number of different tasting menus available, but gets mixed reviews.

jayt90

jayt90

Posted
Posted

I have to say thanks, and congrats to eSkillet for bringing student groups here, at some expense, rather than Quebec City, Montreal, Boston or even New York. Our local and national media have been negative,recently, but this is a shot in the arm.

It is good to catch the spirit of the city, especially where ethnic interest is appreciated. This will influence our cuisine in the future.

FlavoursGal

FlavoursGal

Posted
Posted (edited)
On the Ethiopian theme, I am also considering doing a 5 restaurant ethnic tour at about $20 per person per restaurant. This would be an all day tour.

Any recommendations for authentic ethnic cuisine restaurants in the city?

You could try Moroccan - Boujadi on Eglinton West, between Bathurst and Allen Road is quite good. They have great appetizers - matboucha (stewed tomatoes and red peppers), eggplant, cigars and pastilles (meat or potato filled). Their mains consist of various couscous dishes, tagines, lots of vegetarian options, and great combos for the undecided.

Middle Eastern - Jerusalem Restaurant, on the same stretch of Eglinton, is great for meze dishes such as baba ganoush, hummous, fried eggplant (out of this world!), kubbeh (meat and pine nuts inside a deep-fried, football-shaped "wrapper" of bulgur wheat), fried tomatoes, falafel, etc. Their mains consist mostly of kebabs. They have a combo platter of all-of-the-above, and are open for lunch. The restaurant is actually more Lebanese in nature than Israeli and is run, I believe, by a Palestinian family.

For Middle Eastern, there's also a stretch or Lawrence Ave. East in Scarborough that is filled with strip mall after strip mall of mid-east restaurants, take out shops, and bakeries.

Take a trek to India-town (Gerrard Ave. East). Walk around, enjoying the smells, flavours and sights of this 2-3 block drag. Try some corn roasted with Indian spices on street carts, masala dosa (Indian crepes stuffed with potatoes or other fillings) at dosa stands, and a buffet or meal at one of the numerous Indian restaurants.

For Jewish deli, you might want to try Coleman's on Bathurst just north of Lawrence, or Pancer's on Bathurst just north of Wilson. Chicken soup with matzoh balls are a must, pastrami sandwiches, stuffed cabbage, cabbage soup, kishka (stuffed derma), etc.

There's also the Portuguese area on College west of Bathurst, and great Vietnamese on Spadina. Try Anh Dao on Spadina for grilled meats, which you wrap yourself with other fillings in softened rice papers. A small hole-in-the-wall, with great food. For pho (Vietnamese noodle soup, pronounced "fuh"), try Pho Hung on Spadina, near Baldwin, I believe.

For interesting Greek, go to Greektown (Danforth Ave., which is a continuation of Bloor St. East). My favourite is Avli, which has great Greek dips and terrific main dishes of pies (top crust over a crock of either rabbit, rosemary chicken, seafood, etc.), which I've not seen elsewhere.

For good Turkish, there's a great place called Anatolia in a strip mall on Dundas (way west).

People swear by the "peameal" (actually cornmeal) bacon sandwiches, a Toronto specialty, at Carousel Bakery in St. Lawrence Market (main level). Downstairs is the best place I know of to sample "Veal Sandwiches," also a Toronto thing - fried, breaded veal served in a roll with tomato sauce, onions and pepper optional. They also have great fried eggplant sandwiches, or combinations. They're huge!

I'm sure I'll think of a few more places. We've lived in Toronto for about 10 years (born and raised in Montreal), so I'm constantly discovering and re-discovering the city.

Edited by FlavoursGal (log)
mkjr

mkjr

Posted
Posted

...We also do a winery tour in Niagra with a lunch...

Treadwell or Restaurant Tony de Luca in the Niagara region are the top choices IMHO. I have posted on both and you will not be disappointed.

I am going to Splendido again tonight and have been there many times and I think it is the top in TO, although, that said I had an outstanding lunch at Canoe on Wednesday of last week.

officially left egullet....

Bueno

Bueno

Posted
Posted

I've gotta ask why you have Monsoon on your list? The rest I understand, but Monsoon? What sparked that addition.

Personally, I'd replace Monsoon with Susur, or even Lee. Bymark, Perigee, Habitat are all performing quite well at the moment.

eSkillet.com

eSkillet.com

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted
I've gotta ask why you have Monsoon on your list?  The rest I understand, but Monsoon?  What sparked that addition.

Personally, I'd replace Monsoon with Susur, or even Lee.  Bymark, Perigee, Habitat are all performing quite well at the moment.

I've done Susur and Bymark before. Great places.

I've never been to Monsoon but I like the look of the place and I like the menu.

Let me put the question back at you. Is there a reason not to go to Monsoon?

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Bueno

Bueno

Posted
Posted
I've done Susur and Bymark before. Great places.

I've never been to Monsoon but I like the look of the place and I like the menu.

Let me put the question back at you. Is there a reason not to go to Monsoon?

I've had 3 disastrous (and I mean really bad) meals in Toronto, and two of them were at Monsoon. Then I was forced to give them another shot, and they performed very well. Short after that, I tried again, and was met with another mediocre meal. So 3 bad meals in total, two of which were my worst two ever in this city. So clearly my suggestion to not include them is based on my personal experiences there, but I imagine that's what writes every single post on eGullet (personal experience).

It very much reminds me of chain-food. Lots of fried crap, misguided pairings, amateur service, and a general "cheap" feel to the experience. I honestly find it quite horrid, I'm sorry to say.

Canoe has a second wind at the moment, and is doing great things. I agree that Chiado is tops for seafood, and also agree that Treadwell is a lovely experience (think Blue Hill @ Stone Barns in NY). Red's truffle menu is said to be superb.

I personally love Rain. You won't find a more unique fine dining experience, and while sometimes the flavours may not be ideal for my palate, it's always enlightening, and when the flavours do sing for me, it's fuckin' heavingly. Chef Rubino is phenomenally talented, and I truly think you don't want to short yourself of the experience Rain provides. It's pretty Zen-like.

eSkillet.com

eSkillet.com

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

Thanks Bueno.

That is helpful.

I definately do not want to travel a thousand kilometers with these students and not have them experience the best of the best.

This is one of the reasons I always go back to Splendido.

Rain is very high on my list. It was last year as well but I didn't make it there.

I will have to give chef Rubino a call and see what he can arrange.

It's amazing how accomodating even TO restaurants will be when they know a group of soon to be culinary graduates want to sit down and let the chef impress them with a budget of roughly $175 per person.

I know a $3000 table might not be big for some TO restaurants but there are those who certainly appreciate it.

I am starting to really like the idea of doing one full day of "fun" ethnic or tasting menus.

I'm thinking of a 5 stop tour.

I love the idea of the Ethiopian House for one of the stops and I'm looking at an oyster tasting at Starfish for a second stop.

Other than that I'm thinking something like lunch at an Indian buffet and perhaps a korean table grill.

So many options.

We have so little time to pack in as much as possible for the students.

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rgruby

rgruby

Posted
Posted

There's also a couple of chefs edging into the molecular gastronomy area.

The chef from Senses (Aprile I think?) is opening up a place on Colborne. Don't know when it is scheduled to open though. And the guy who was at Lobby for a stint has moved to a place on Brant St. Don't know if that kind of stuff would appeal or not.

I'm gonna stick to my recommendation of Perigee for the high-end meal. One of the top restos in the city, so, just on food alone I'd recommend it, and the open kitchen, to offer the students a look at how their meals are being prepared and assembled (as well as the opportunity to ask the cooks and chef questions during the meal) make it a no-brainer in my view.

As for ethnic, Chinatown, Little India, Koreatown, maybe College St/Little Italy - but it's very trendoid. The middle eastern places along Lawrence might be interesting, as mentioned. There's a bunch of Iranian places up around Yonge & Finch - I've never gone though. As for Ethiopean, I'm partial to Addis Ababa (I'm actually heading there this evening). Lots of good Vietnamese. For a quick snack, pupusas in Kensington market and/or empanadas would be a must. Even before a peameal in St. Lawrence.

Seeing as you're from PEI, you can probably skip the oyster joints!

There's a few tapas places now too for Spanish. There's one in Kensington, and a new one just opened up this week on queen West.

Good luck with it!

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

Amy Rosen

Amy Rosen

Posted
Posted

Well then, you've got to got to Starfish or Oyster Boy for an oyster tasting: What a unique experience that would be for your students.

My other Toronto picks (for non too high end) would be Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar (or lunch at the Gardiner), Lee, Terroni (on Queen West) and Bar Italia. And Kultura is the hottest new spot, so that might be fun for an all out hipster T.O. experience.

Oyster Guy

Oyster Guy

Posted
Posted (edited)
Well then, you've got to got to Starfish or Oyster Boy for an oyster tasting: What a unique experience that would be for your students.

My other Toronto picks (for non too high end) would be Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar (or lunch at the Gardiner), Lee, Terroni (on Queen West) and Bar Italia. And Kultura is the hottest new spot, so that might be fun for an all out hipster T.O. experience.

If you are taking students, I would suggest Oyster Boy as they offer a course called "Shuck U or take a stab at higher learning."

They will teach your students how to shuck oysters as well as the history of the oyster.

It is a fun, interactive course and the students will learn oyster shucking under the tuteledge of some of the best professional oyster shuckers in the country.

I am sure that Pat at Starfish offers a similar course but you would have to check it out.

If you are interested, please contact Adam, Jason or Paul at 416-534-3432 if you would like to book a course.

I hope you and your students enjoy their trip to my hometown.

Keep on shucking

Oyster Guy

Sorry almost for got Pat's number 416-823-6911

Edited by Oyster Guy (log)

"Why then, the world is mine oyster, which I with sword, shall open."

William Shakespeare-The Merry Wives of Windsor

"An oyster is a French Kiss that goes all the way." Rodney Clark

"Oyster shuckers are the rock stars of the shellfish industry." Jason Woodside

"Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster."

Eleanor Clark

rgruby

rgruby

Posted
Posted

Seeing as you're from PEI, you can probably skip the oyster joints!

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

Quite the opposite.

Because we are in PEI we have very little choice or variety.

We have Malpeque oysters.

A real oyster tasting is just not an option here.

Interesting!

I have to say the Malpeques are consistently my favourites. I'd be curious regarding your opinion as to how well they travel. they seem mighty fine to me though.

Cheers,

Geoff Ruby

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