On Tuesday Nellie and I met T-Bone and The Sof for dinner. We’d booked Alo months ago (not long after our first visit for a Pearl-Morissette dinner), such was the wait time required to get a table at one of the hottest restaurant in the city.

The menu is simple: a five-course tasting, with a choice for each course. That made it easy to try everything, so long as Nellie and I shared…which we did, more or less. It ended up being an absolutely outstanding meal.

Here’s the menu:

Amuse Bouche

• Broccoli, preserved lemon, ginger / Domain Baud ‘Brut Sauvage’ Cremant (Jura)

1

• Quebec Foie Gras, beets, pear, greek yogurt / Spy Valley Johnson ‘Envy’ Pinot Gris 2011 (Marlborough)
• Aged beef ribeye, bone marrow, watercress, shallots / Schiopetto Fruilano 2013

Bread course

• Pain au lait / Turres ‘Floralis’ Moscatel Oro

2

• Hedgehog mushrooms, celery root, chicken skin, radish / Tissot ‘Patchwork’ Chardonnay 2014 (Jura)
• Burgundy snails, parsley, black garlic, pearl onion / Dalrymple Pinot Noir 2013 (Tasmania)

3

• Hamachi, citrus, parsnip, fennel pollen / Aphros Loureiro Vinho Vere 2013
• Nova Scotia Lobster, squash, turnip, savoy cabbage / Gaia ‘Thalassitis’ Assyrtiko 2014

4

• Perth County rack of pork, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts / Thierry Germain Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur Champigny 2014 (Loire)
• Muscovy duck, kale, salsify, pomegranate / Tolaini ‘Valdesanti’ 2011 (Tuscany)

Ummm…parsnip course?

• Parsnip, coffee, orange

Chocolate course

• Smoked dark chocolate, cranberry, pistachio / Toro Albala Don Pedro Ximinez Gran Reserva 1986 (Montilla)

5

• Sea buckthorn, Earl Grey tea, Bergamot / Azienda Agricola ‘499’ Moscato d’Asti
• Carrot cake, clementine, lemon balm / Southbrook Vidal Icewine 2006 (Niagara)

 

The dark chocolate + Don PX course might have been the single best combination course/wine pairing I’ve ever had. I almost passed out.

.:.

Cover photo from Alo’s website