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Restaurant Reviews
I had the opportunity this week to stay at Toronto’s Drake Hotel and we had a fantastic time. I had never heard of the Drake Hotel although it has the sort of name that sounds familiar to me. I found it on Trip Advisor and every other hotel in Toronto was full. I never did figure out why everything was booked, but the Drake Hotel seemed like a good fit for us. I picked up my chef daughter from her job in Muskoka and we spent 2 nights and 3 days together in Toronto. We checked in on Sunday afternoon. The hotel is small, charming, and has multiple restaurants and bars full of trendy, interesting people. We were given a room on the 3rd floor. We were surprised to find out there is no elevator so we trekked up the stairs and found a lovely but small, very cool guest room. We were greeted with complimentary sparkling wine on ice and the room was full of interesting items for purchase as well as a fun “mini-bar” area full of tasty beverages and snacks. The design concept really stood out and we felt like we were not quite cool enough for our hip accommodations. That said, Jonathan the manager greeted us warmly every time he saw us and made us feel incredibly welcome. He hugged us when we left–we felt loved and cared for in this fun hipster hotel. I am not sure we were cool enough for our surroundings, but we felt welcome and enjoyed its charm. We ate breakfast twice in their cafe and the food was fantastic. I only wish we had the energy to explore more of what was going on. There is a roof-top bar that looked very fun. We heard happy people partying late into the night. This didn’t bother us, it was kind of fun–like falling asleep on the couch during a really great party. During our stay, there was an open mike and a pickle contest...
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I have eaten out frequently my whole life and some meals are better than others. Every now and then, I have a spectacular meal either by attending a super nice restaurant or, just by accident, everything collides and a meal unexpectedly astounds me. I thought it would be interesting to try to make a list of my top 10 most memorable restaurant meals. I have placed them in chronological order. Some of these meals we have talked about for years or I have enjoyed the sweet aftertaste of the memory of them over time. For each, I can still remember how the flavors hit my tongue. The impermanence of art as food intrigues me. Sometimes everything just comes together as food and theater – something special happens with raw ingredients being transformed into a completely unique and dramatic experience. These are my top 10 most memorable restaurant meals. 1. The Tower Restaurant, London circa 1984. They served me the best scallops I have ever had–still, to this day. I was 16 years old and with my parents, and this was one of my first experiences with fine dining in a top-notch restaurant. I just couldn’t believe how good the food was. We had grilled scallops and I have been searching ever since for a scallop that comes close to how good they were. 2. Sadie’s Restaurant, Albuquerque, NM, circa 1987 when the restaurant was still in the bowling alley. The margaritas were psychedelic and the food was sublime. After 2.5 hours waiting for a table, I still remember how spectacular the flavors of the food were with the deep dark red chile and the papas (fried cubed potatoes). Sadie’s still has good food but the bowling alley days offered an unparalleled experience. 3. Sushi with Rich, 1992, Evergreen, Colorado. I had never really figured out how to “do sushi.” I was from New Mexico and although I had eaten Japanese food, sushi seemed too foreign and I didn’t really know how to order...
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Last night we had a meal that made my top 10 list. It was a meal like nothing I have experienced. Alexandre Gauthier came to the Stratford Chefs School bringing his front of house manager and his pastry chef. Gauthier is a Michelin Star chef with a restaurant called La Grenouillère. Sela was lucky enough to be the student chef during the dinner we attended last night. It was a snowy night but thanks to some great driving by our friend, we made it. There were 7 of us who added to the festivities, and the meal was a tasting menu that knocked our socks off. I can’t tell you how many courses there were. I can never figure out how to count the amuse-bouche at the beginning and the petit fours at the end. There were 12 distinct dishes that we ate plus delicious dark bread. There wasn’t a menu, just a list of ingredients and we continually got the unexpected. What we had: there was a corn tart, a veal and sardine tartar with cauliflower, scallop and avocado roll, a souffle with crab, beet ravioli with eel, a lobster salad, lamb with broccoli puree and wheat berries, an apple curl with celery cream, butternut squash ice cream with meringue, a strawberry gelée, and a truffle that exploded in my mouth. The pace was faster than any meal I have ever enjoyed and the drama of each course kept me on the edge of my seat. I felt excited each time a new course came out. I couldn’t wait for the description of what each dish contained and had to hold myself back. The colors and textures were striking and the uniqueness of each dish was remarkable. Several of the dishes were a little intimidating–it was a little scary to take the first bite of the blood red eel ravioli. But the flavors in each dish were so deep, rich, balanced and satisfying that the food provided a thrill and a world class...
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If I had to pick a most favorite restaurant in the world, I think this would be it. It isn’t fancy or even innovative. It is always the same, never changing. And yet, when someone does something this well, why would they need to change? They are completely dependable, fabulously delicious, spicy, flavorful and amazing. When I was at the University of New Mexico over 20 years ago, I ate there a lot. It was cheap, delicious, and a pretty good place to study. Now, I often wake up on Saturday morning and wish for a Frontier Restaurant breakfast burrito. This morning during a visit to Albuquerque, I got my wish. I woke up and made my way to the Frontier on Central Avenue. It was as good as I remember—it always is. The building itself is iconic. Rumor is they bought it during the Vietnam War era when anti-war protesters were smashing all the windows on Central Ave. and real estate prices plummeted. The restaurant takes up an entire city block right across the street from the University of New Mexico which has about 30,000 students. It has 7 rooms. The loudest room is the front where you order at the counter. I stood around trying to get a table in the front room. I wanted it for the people watching. I scored! Back further in the restaurant the rooms get progressively quieter with student study groups working in the very back. The walls are covered in tacky southwestern art including several paintings of John Wayne. It is fantastically visually stimulating. It is not unusual to see a homeless guy sitting at a table next to business men in suits. On this Saturday morning, the restaurant was pretty full. Everyone loves the Frontier. There seems to be a magical flow that no matter how full it is, you can always get a table. I am sure they have figured out how to make this work. People order at the counter and always find a...
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It was my first time dining in a Michelin star restaurant and La Tour has one. We were in Sancerre for a language school and I wanted to have one really nice dinner in France before we left. We booked a reservation for Thursday evening. We talked about whether we should take the kids and we had a list of babysitters. Mel thought we should take them so they could experience it too, and I am so glad we did. La Tour has 3 Prix Fixe Menus. One of them comes with wine. We opted for the middle one which was 58 Euros for 5 courses. We ordered wine a la carte. We spent some time before we went for dinner, preparing the boys for what to expect. We asked them if they would like to go to a really special dinner. They said yes. We told them they would need to eat with a knife and fork and would need really good manners. We told them there would be dessert. We told them the food would be really interesting and they would need to try everything but they didn’t have to eat what they didn’t like. They were interested to try it out. We had 5 courses plus an Amuse Bouche, a soup, and the tiny dessert at the end of the meal. The courses were: Amuse Bouche–a tiny square of water melon with goat cheese and mint and a homemade crisp with shrimp and sesame. Soup–Cuttlefish with soy broth Salad–simple greens with viniagrette Appetizer–Gambas croustillantes à la noix de coco, nouilles de sarrasin Fish Course–I don’t know what it was but it was gorgeous Main–Cochon de Mr Dougy, brocolis et piquillos (Mel and Emerson got this) Pigeon de Saint Quentin sur Nohain, fenouil et cuisses confites (Xander and I had this) Assiette de fromages, grand classique Dessert–Île flottante, verveine et cerise (Mel and I had this) Fraises melba (the kids had this) Petite Fours–tiny lemon tarts and tiny chocolate tarts We didn’t...
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My media guy asked me the other day how restaurants fit with the central theme of the Crucible bookii, which is about falling in love with Mel. For me, when I go to restaurants, I am also alone with Mel, and it is when we have some of our most intimate conversations. Food and restaurants are so much a part of the flavor of our lives that I can’t imagine leaving them out. I love sharing my thoughts and experiences when we explore a new place. I just want to share these times with you in a way that allows you to get a glimpse of what we experienced. When we were ready to go live with the bookii launch and were looking through the articles, I realized I had 3 different reviews for Quatrefoil Restaurant in Dundas, ON. This is no accident. It is one of my favorite places to go for a special meal and I always want to take pictures because their food is so beautiful. We have decided that we really don’t like to eat out too often because if we go to the places we can afford, we end up spending a fair bit for a family of 4 or 5 and we usually eat better at home–we can spend $35 at Wendy’s or we can save up and go someplace special. When we choose to go out, we like to have the kind of meal that we will really remember. Apparently, Quatrefoil is this year’s favorite. I’ve combined 3 different reviews into one entry so you can compare and see them as a whole. These 3 meals happened between October 2012 and April 2013. I have only been to Quatrefoil in the fall and winter which seems silly, since they have a gorgeous patio. We’ll have to try the patio sometime soon. 1. Lunch With Sela Sela and I had an opportunity to have an amazing lunch at Quatrefoil Restaurant in Dundas before she left for Chef School....
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