Well, that was a week of polar opposites.

Saturday we decided to visit an old favourite: Richmond Station. Lindsay had spotted the rotating chef’s menu, and everything on it appealed, so we booked in. A terrific meal as always, and the wine pairings really shone. Not as close to to home as their wine list bias would suggest, but everything worked beautifully. And it’s not often you see a Duras.

Chef’s Menu Edition #255:

• Welsh Brothers Sweet Corn Velouté w/ miso, yuzu kosho, hushpuppy
  • 2020 Last House Blanc de Noir
• Cookstown Cherry Tomatoes w/ nordic shrimp, niagara peaches, nam jim, candied cashews
  • 2022 Foffani “Ramato” Pinot Grigio
• Seared Digby Scallops w/ slivered almonds, beurre noisette, wax beans
  • 2024 Colome “Altura Maxima” Sauvignon Blanc
• Dry-Aged Tanjo Farms Duck w/ confit-stuffed napa cabbage, cherry jus, duck fat potatoes
  • 2020 Domaine Plageoles Duras
• Olive Oil Cake w/ plum, almond espuma
  • 2023 Fogolar “Noble Selection” Riesling
• Ontario Poached Peaches w/ fior di latte ice cream, black tea gel

.:.

On Wednesday I had to drive to the office, and ended up driving home just as that crazy thunderstorm hit. I could see it coming as I crawled along the Gardiner — it looked like a black green wall coming at us — and it hit when my navigation said I was 20 minutes from home. Of course, it ended up taking longer than that. Rain came in faster than I’d ever seen it. Hail hit the car, though not the ping-pong ball sized stones that fell north of the city. Something hit the car in front of me, presumably something that had flown off a balcony on the surrounding condo towers. Water pooled immediately on the Gardiner, and five minutes after it started the water had flooded parts of Lakeshore. I managed to avoid the worst of the flooding — the deepest water I drove through was 12, maybe 15 inches deep — and got home relatively unscathed, amidst blaring emergency alerts on my phone. Our house got away scot-free too: no flooding, and no fallen trees, unlike a neighbor a few doors down, whose tree crushed a parked car.

Immediately after I got home, we lost power — one street over, a tree had brought down a power line, which was sparking everywhere — but candles got us through the evening and our lights came back on around 1am.

Pretty freaky experience, but compared to a lot of other people, we got off easy.