Category: Food / drink

Volo

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

As Ben Johnson reported earlier this week, Bar Volo will close this fall. What a shame. Volo, more than any other place (except maybe the original Smokeless Joe) is where I learned to love great beer after first walking in ten years ago. It’s where I tried Péché Mortel for the first time. Bartenders in Amsterdam asked me about it.

Like Robin Leblanc said in her excellent “An Ode To Bar Volo“, I take comfort in knowing that they’ll re-open in some form or another. For all the great beer joints in this city, it wouldn’t feel right without Volo.

Cover photo by Chris Connolly, used under Creative Commons license

Cava

Dan Dickinson1 Comment

Apart from a brief visit for a drink about two years ago, it’s been nearly ten years since my last dinner at Cava. Which is strange, because a) it’s two minutes from my office, and b) it gets consistently stellar reviews. We’d planned a small work outing there on Thursday, meant to be a couple of drinks and some snacks, and it turned into…more.

Everything — the wine, the food, the dessert — was absolutely outstanding. I need to go back. Soon.

The plates we shared:

  • pincho of valdeon with sherry-roasted figs
  • manchego
  • shishito peppers
  • pincho of gamay-poached foie gras
  • ceviche of argentine shrimp, cassava, rocotto chili, and cucumber
  • roasted broccoli with blood orange, dill, and whipped jamon fat
  • jamon iberico
  • grilled king oyster mushrooms, pipian, chayote, and queso cotija
  • eggplant with queso fresco, bonito, & tomatillo sauce (twice!)
  • roasted sablefish with black rice, and collard greens (twice!)
  • venison anticucho with warm red cabbage salad
  • bavette steak with artichoke, campo real olives, and charred ramp mojo
  • bitter orange cake with saffron and labneh
  • churros con chocolate (twice!)

The bottles we shared:

  • 2011 Losada Vinos de Finca Mencia (Bierzo)
  • 2009 Bodegas Pittacum Mencia (Bierzo)
  • 2011 Bodega Rejadorada Novellum (Duero)
  • 1962 Bodegas Toro Albala Don PX Gran Reserva (Montilla-Moriles)

 

.:.

Cover photo by Chris Connolly, used under Creative Commons license

Chimps Batch Jays Owen

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

That was a busy-ass week. Fun too.

On Tuesday we grabbed some dinner at Wine Bar and then went to see a talk by one of Nellie’s heroes, Jane Goodall. Such an impressive human being, and her final story of the night (shown below) pretty much says it all.

On Wednesday we grabbed dinner at Batch with our buddy GB, visiting for the week.

On Thursday I met my buddy Joe at the new Bar Hop (my first visit, believe it or not) where I had an excellent Burdock session saison and then availed myself of one of his Jays tickets, with which we watched the Jays beat the Yankees. Labatt’s acquisition of Mill Street at least meant I could have a 100th Meridian to go with this view:

Last night we went over to our friends A+A’s place and had a seemingly Dan-tailored evening: grilled meat and charcuterie, stellar beer (including a Gueuze Tilquin they brought back from Brussels, bless their little hearts), cool music that made me want to start collecting LPs again, and a cat named Owen who blithely tolerated my attention. We turned into pumpkins on their couch. It was, after all, a busy-ass week.

Cover photo from pukka.ca

Solid; genuine; authentic

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It’s not often that we find ourselves on St. Clair West, but last night we were moving with purpose: trying out Pukka for the first time. The reviews said it was Indian fusion, with solid wine pairings. So yeah, we went to that.

First, though, we had a drink at their sister location down the street: Concession Road. Again, solid wine selection (Nellie had a glass of rosé; I had a Closson Chase Pinot Gris) and the menu looked interesting enough that we decided to come back soon.

But the main event was Pukka (which was packed!) and it didn’t disappoint. We started with a trio of sharing plates: “gunpowder” king prawns with moong bean salad + pineapple chutney; tandoori calamari with coconut chutney + citrus salad; and chicken 65: south Indian fried chicken with chili + tamarind curry leaves. Nellie stuck to her rosé and I had a Viognier, before we moved on to a Vermentino and Riesling respectively. The wines were clearly hand-picked for this food, which was just nicely spiced (not hot).

We had glasses of Pinot Noir and Tempranillo with our next order: the garam masala duck breast with blueberry +chilli-lime curry, along with rice and naan. By this time we were totally full, and took most of the duck & rice to go. It’s in our fridge and I am going to eat the hell out of it tomorrow.

Of course there was no room for dessert, but since we were that far west we decided to swing by Midfield on our way home and continue the wine adventure. Nellie kept drinking rosé (!) while I let Giuseppe guide me wherever he wanted. That turned out to be a Trebbiolo, a Sancerre Rouge (which claimed to be 100% Pinot, but tasted to everyone as if it must contain some Cab Franc), and a German Pinot Noir.

Wineventure: complete!

.:.

Cover photo from pukka.ca

Batch

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Back in 2006, before we even moved downtown to this neighbourhood, we tried out a new restaurant at Victoria and Lombard called The Strand. It had been born into the space left behind by Growler’s brewpub and the Denison’s brewpub. The Strand didn’t have their liquor license set up yet so it was a quirky (and empty) first visit. I’m not sure they ever recovered; they closed before we moved down here in 2007.

Since then the space had a decent run as Duggan’s (which we really liked) and Beer Academy (which was just okay, but made a weird use of the space). Beer Academy had been an offshoot of Creemore (itself owned by Molson), so when they announced they’d be shutting down and re-opening as a new Creemore brewpub named Batch, that kind of made sense. It opened last weekend, and we finally tried it last night.

Gotta say, I’m excited to have it there. The beer they brew on premise was solid, especially the Pale and the Porter. They have guest bottles as well. They also sell Creemore and Granville products on tap, and sell everything in bottles from their fridge. So that’s a good option on our way home.

The food was good too, maybe a little better. We split a dense, tasty pretzel to start. My fried chicken was delicious, if a little sticky/saucy. Nellie’s pierogies were just okay. Luckily there are about a dozen other things on the menu we want to try, and we’ll have plenty of opportunity.

Maybe most surprising was the wine list. 12 by the glass (or bottle) and all Canadian: 11 from Ontario, 1 from BC. Good wineries, too: Creekside, Pearl-Morissette, Tawse, Keint-He, Hinterland, 13th Street, and so on.

I’d say this place has a serious shot at becoming our new local. Welcome to the neighbourhood, Batch.

Cover photo by sersen, used under Creative Commons license

Blackball: blackballed!

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A while ago we joined the new wine club for one of our favourite wineries: Pearl Morissette. It’s called the Black Ball Wine Society, named after their Riesling, so named because of a story involving the VQA. We got early access to some new wines (which I bought) and will certainly take advantage of more early ordering in years to come.

A couple of days ago I got an email telling me that Pearl Morissette had “paired with 11 phenomenal Toronto restaurants to offer you a preview of our just released 2012 Cabernet Franc Cuvée Madeline”. All you had to do was show your society card and they’d give you a glass. Now, I have six bottles of that Cab Franc at home, but I still thought this was a cool idea. One of the restaurants on the list was Richmond Station, which I love, so I hit it on the way home. Sat at the bar. Got some food. And laid out the card.

My server looked totally confused, but she handled it well. “Okay,” she said, and disappeared upstairs to find someone who knew what this card was. The wine director (I think her name is Julia? Can’t quite remember.) came down and explained to me that, uh, unfortunately Pearl Morissette hasn’t dropped off any Cuvée Madeline yet. So no perk for me. Alas.

Fortunately, it didn’t hurt my meal at all. I started with an exceptional glass of 2013 Sohler Pinot Gris Grand Cru, and layered in the smoked chicken bratwurst w/ fingerling potato salad, cucumber relish, onion ring, grainy mustard, and dill. Then I had the special, a seriously delicate and delicious duck breast, paired not with Pearl Morissette Cab Franc, but with Pearce-Predhomme Pinot Noir.

While proposing the Pinot, Probably-Julia had also opened a Pearl Morissette Cuvée Métis Pinot/Franc blend for comparison. I went with the P-P Pinot, but wanted some dessert, so I ordered a glass of that Métis which had so kindly been opened earlier. That, paired with a little coconut chocolate fudge, made for a brilliant end.

.:.

Cover photo by sersen, used under Creative Commons license

Cover photo by Thomas Hawk, used under Creative Commons license

Meat loop

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

Through weird circumstance we found ourselves eating at NAO again last week. And then again last night. Not that we mind, of course. But we’re starting to dig a rut.

Last night the sommelier continued his usual record of outstanding wine selections…a 2003 Roche de Bellène to start, a fantastic Montepulciano to bridge us through to the steak, and then a phenomenal cab sauv from Banshee with the meat itself.

Last week the sommelier wasn’t there so BC and I did our best to pair (and held our own, I think) before coming further downtown for some cocktails. Unfortunately D.W. Alexander was packed, and CC Lounge was fucking awful, so we came home and drank some wine instead.

.:.

Cover photo by Thomas Hawk, used under Creative Commons license

Alo

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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

 

Cover photo by Sandy Noble, used under Creative Commons license

Low-key, high-falutin’

Dan DickinsonLeave a comment

This was a big week for me at work. After more than two years of long hours, constant challenges, and blah blah whatever, this week we had reason to celebrate. Unfortunately I had no energy left to celebrate properly (and it’s not like the work is stopping), so we decided to do something low-key. We’re also in austerity measures (fiscal, caloric, etc.) following the holidays so Nellie decided to make dinner for us at home.

We started with some sushi-grade yellowfin tuna in citrus/yuzu/kosho. It was meant to be paired with a 2011 Pearl Morissette Black Ball Riesling, but this bottle appeared to have refermented. Luckily we had a cold bottle of Weihenstephaner, and the citrus-y beer went just fine.

Then we shared a 20 oz ribeye with heirloom tomatoes and a variety of mushrooms.

We opened a special bottle of wine to go with it: a 2008 Kerrigan + Berry Cabernet Sauvignon from the Margaret River region. We bought it from the winery when visiting Australia over four years ago, and have been very patient in waiting this long, if I do say so myself.

The steak? Fantastic. The wine? OutSTANDing. Seriously, worth the four-year wait.

For dessert Nellie picked up a lemon tart, and we had a bit of Crown Royal Northern Harvest Rye to wrap things up.

Ace meal. Thanks baby!

.:.

Cover photo by Sandy Noble, used under Creative Commons license