Mom's and Dad's birthday dinner

Both of my parents celebrate their birthdays in July, my dad on the 14th and my mom on the 23rd. This year Jay and I decided to take them out to a very upscale restaurant for dinner. We chose Thuet for the fabulous ambiance as well as French food.

While we were pondering over the menu and wine list we enjoyed some sparkling water as well as Thuet Bakery bread...
My mom and I shared a bottle of white - Pinot Gris Leon Beyer
My dad and Jay shared a bottle of red - Mas La Chevaliere Laroche
Appetizers ....

Mom had Ontario garden pea froth with lobster, ravioli of foie gras + bone marrow, cherry emulsion. It was so delicate, velvety and delicious, an excellent choice.
She decided on soup because she got braces two days ago and is still getting used to them... chewing is a whole new experience for her :), she likes her food to be soft or liquid, and so she tore some bread up and put it in her soup.
I decided on Warm salad of oxtail studded diver sea scallops, B.C. spotted shrimp,caviar emulsion, Live Forever Leaf garnish. I suppose the kitchen was out of shrimp that day, because that's a lobster claw on top of my scallop. This dish was so tasty, especially the sauce.
Jason and dad decided to share the Chef's house cured selection of charcuterie (serves two persons) which was served with mustard, mini pickled onions, and beet marinated eggs. All you see on the board is made by the kitchen, and it is quite a study in meat, it included products from pork, beef, venison, and rabbit. They had no problem polishing it off, obviously an enjoyable tasting.
Our appetizer was followed by a complimentary dish from the Chef : Hand cut organic pappardelle, ragoût of Perth County rabbit, whelk, tarragon shoot emulsion. I actually took this picture after I started to cut my pappardelle up, so just try to imagine one long, wide piece of pasta neatly rolled and placed in the center of my plate. All of us polished off our plates, even my dad who said he does not like rabbit :)
Next came our mains

Mom had Birch syrup glazed wild Cooper River sockeye salmon with a duxelle soubise, méli-mélo of Ontario asparagus, white berry and mint emulsion. Oh my, the salmon was unreal in color and flavor... fabulous
I had the West coast slow roasted halibut wrapped with chef's Berkshire pork loin, heirloom tomato purée, sea urchin emulsion, cacao + saffron butter foam. The pork added a nice salty dimension to my fish... I loved the sauces as well..
Jay decided on Trio of whey fed Perth County porcelet, ragoût of baby leek and artichokes, chanterelles mushrooms, Cidre des Neige emulsion. I tasted his dish, the meat was very tender...
My dad decided to have the night's special, which was a 12oz veal chop with squash stuffed with ratatouille, tomato and watercress salad, and an accompanying jus
I didn't taste it but it looked really good, and he loved it...
We all shared a bowl of frites with our mains, but mostly ordered it for my dad who as a Polish man feels incomplete without a potato for dinner.. they were hot, crispy, and salty
Dessert time...
dad had coffee, Jay a cappuccino and Mom and I decided on some green tea...
Mom and Jay had White chocolate mousse with Ontario rhubarb coulis, passion fruit foam. The mousse was so smooth and thick, the passion fruit foam wasn't foamy at all but it was very delicious, it had the consistency of kisiel..
I had Praline croustillant, organic lemon cream, cherry coulis... yummy, nuttty, perfect finish to my meal
Dad had the best presentation of all. For dessert he enjoyed Profiteroles, vanilla ice cream,warm Soma chocolate sauce..
It was a great night, and one fabulous dinner.

Thursday at the farmer's market

red gooseberries...blueberries...
sweet cantaloupe melon...
delicious Apache corn...
mini baby potatoes...

Sunset July 21, 2008

oddness

what?! "Due to the sociality, please!"... is the explanation mark really necessary... the use of sociality is odd enough but the punctuation makes it even funnier...
once again... what?! is this even a real business... I've been watching Weeds...

Summerlicious II

For our second summerlicious dinner this season we went to Flow with Tammie and Nick. I give this place thumbs down for service, but thumbs up for food. Our reservations were at 8pm. We were on time, however upon arriving we were informed that our table won't be ready for another 20min. So we headed downstairs to the bar.We sat down, Jay and I ordered our drinks.... Amaretto Sour for me and some type of beer for Jay... Tammie and Nick were still making up their minds when the hostess came down to inform us that our table is ready... we weren't at the bar even 5min... Surprised that our 20min wait is a lot shorter we settled our bill and headed upstairs. Once we got to the front desk... the hostess informed us that our table will be ready in a few minutes... Seriously what a bumpkin...(why would you tells us it's ready when it's not?!)
eventually we were shown to our table... taking a look at the menu explained why the restaurant was in a bit of an upheaval... you may limit people's dinner time to 1.5h, but that doesn't mean you can actually enforce it. I certainly do not appreciate time limits especially when it comes to food. I don't know, it just puts me off.. (we won't be going to Flow for any other other licious... I'm sensitive like that)
Nick and Tammie ordered their drinks... white wine for Nick and something very blue for Tammie...
Our bread basket, served with lime-chili butter. I really didn't like the butter... it tasted off...
a glass of red for Jay...
I think they were running low on water, that's all we got in our glasses, and it smelled like a pool. Very chlorinated.... I didn't drink it, so I didn't mind too much that it was half-full.
and now for Flow's Summerlicious Menu:

Appetizer Choices:
Bittersweet Greens
tender mini red leaf lettuce, tart + spicy sprouts, savoury Carica and passionfruit mint vinaigrette
or
Fried Chili Calamari
chili garlic crusted calamari, tart cucumber salad and tamarind lime drizzle
or
Thai Prawn Salad
cold water prawns with red paw paw, buttery avocado, toasted cashews and lightly dressed with spiced palm vinaigrette

Main Choices:
Whole Roasted Black Angus Beef
garlic crusted Angus striploin, summer tomato + bread salad, grilled asparagus and reduced jus
or
Red Snapper
seared red snapper, forbidden black rice, tomato tapioca sauté with Chinese broccoli and beurre blanc
or
Mu Shu Chicken
sautéed chicken, fragrant Chinese long bean, Asian onion salad and steamed jasmine rice

Dessert Choices:
Sweet Plantain Rolls
crisp plantain spring rolls served with macadamia nut ice cream and spice caramel sauce
or
Decadent Chocolate Tartlet
immorally luxurious Lindt chocolate tart with vanilla bean cream & roasted ginger pineapple gelèe
or
Tropical Fruit + Berry Bowl
select market hand picked tropical fruit and seasonal berries with Cassia syrup and honey mascarpone yoghurt

I had the calamari. It was really good, crispy and tender, spicy but not hot.
The rest of the crew had the prawn salad... a very tasty dish.
a glass of white for me...
Nick, Tammie, and Jay decided to have beef. The bread salad did not appeal to me, I mean this was dinner not lunch, and while the beef was very tender, juicy, and flavorful, it had too much gristle..
I had the red snapper. I loved it, black rice (which you cannot see because it's under the fish) was a touch on the sweet side, the sauce was delicate and the skin of my fish perfectly crispy... yum
For dessert Tammie and I had the plantain rolls. Sweet, crunchy on the outside, mushy on the inside, paired with an excellent caramel sauce and delicious ice cream.
Nick and Jason had the chocolate tart. Wow... very, very dense and rich. This tiny sliver was more than enough... love chocolate
Jay had a cappuccino... look at that perfect foam...
Throughout our meal the waiters were present but seemed rushed. I checked Flow's regular menu and I'm not in a hurry to try it. While it reads well, it is just too pricey for me.

pretty profile

Summerlicious I

We went with Justyna and Mike to Rosewater Supper Club. I only took pictures of Jay's and my meal, simply because Jusytna had exactly the same thing as me, while Mike decided to order off the regular menu, and I did not want to cause too much disturbance with my flash :)

Our bread basket... it was nice, even though it came with butter balls instead of a dip..red for Jay, rose for me
Justyna's and my appetizer choice Duck Confit with arugula, pickled red onions and cranberry plum vinaigrette... delicious
Jay's choice Summer Salad roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes, and goat’s cheese toasts, basil shallot vinaigrette... I would have enjoyed this very much, if only I liked goat cheese
Justyna and I both chose Grilled Atlantic salmon with potato gnocchi with peas and broad beans and a vine ripen tomato butter for our mains... very nicely presented and tasty as well
Jay loves his meat and decided on Oven Roasted Veal Striploin sweet potato gratin and green asparagus... yum
for dessert Justyna and I had Wild berry strudel with Honey lavender ice cream... the ice cream was so creamy and tasty, the strudel was very nice as well... reminded as both a little bit of blueberry pierogi
Jay the chocoholic had Chocolate Molten cake with crème anglaise and raspberry coulis... it wasn't raspberry coulis but chocolate sauce with raspberry sorbet... soo good
we finished our meals with some nice cappuccinos
It was one of the nicest and most delicious summerlicious meals we've had to date. The portions were generous, presentations neat and pretty, and very flavorful... I think we might just go back and try the regular menu one of these days...