On our last night in Europe, we turned our Paris apartment into a gourmet restaurant and made a four-course meal for six people.
First course: Soupe à L’Oignon (French Onion Soup)
Caramelized onions swim in a twist on the traditional poule-au-pot soup, with swiss cheese on the bottom, and parmesan cheese and soaked bread on top.
Second course: Salade de Trinité (Trinity Salad)
Good things come in threes, and everything about this salad is good. Smoked salmon sits atop a bed of zucchini, corn, and onions, that can be enjoyed with three different yet harmonious sauces: teriyaki, garlic and mayo, and pineapple sauce with a kick.
Third course: Magret de Canard aux Pommes Rissolées (Duck Breast with Golden Potatoes)
Orange-infused duck breast with a sizzling crisp skin is bathed in a Bordeaux wine reduction with raisins and caramelized onions. On the side, golden potatoes in herbes de Provence.
Fourth course: Fraises au Chocolat et Truffes (Chocolate-covered strawberries and Truffles)
Orange-dark chocolate covered strawberries alongside raspberry-mint truffles dusted in cocoa.
The starters were enjoyed with a Gewurtzraminer from Isreal, while the main was accompanied by a rich red from Catalan, and dessert was served with a young Riesling. The entire meal was enjoyed with rays from the setting sun streaming in the large open windows of the salon of our Paris apartment with views of the Eiffel Tower.
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Bar Italia is one of many Italian restaurants in Little Italy of Toronto. This is what I love about Toronto – how far do I have to travel for authentic Italian food? Not far at all.
I arrived at the restaurant early and before I knew it, I was waiting at the bar with the most aromatic coffee I have ever had, on the house. Although this restaurant was more modern than homely, Italian servers almost always end up treating you like kin no matter where you are. Service was impeccable.
When my friends arrived, it took us a long time to order, but the server’s interruptions were well-timed and warranted. It took a while for everything to come after we ordered, or maybe that was just my hungry stomach talking. The cold, awkwardly-sliced bread with olive oil and vinegar was barely enough to share at our table and not nearly appetizing enough for me.
We shared an antipasto plate to start, which I forgot to take a picture of. The cured meats were average, the marinated vegetables a little over-marinated, but the bocconcini was quite nice.
When the food finally came, I knew I had ordered exactly what would satisfy me on this cold winter night.
The rigatoni was, of course, made in-house, and it was quite firm and chewy, although slightly over-cooked. The rose sauce was perfect, not too strong and not too bland. The sweet sausages were heavenly, and the portobello mushrooms complemented every ingredient. I was unsure whether I would enjoy the rapini, but they turned out to be all right. There was a nutty flavour to it that contrasted with the sweetness of the rest of the dish, and only a hint of bitterness. The portion size was just right, and I enjoyed every bite.
One of my friends ordered the Roasted Chicken Breast, which was aromatic in an entirely different way from my dish.
The chicken breast turned out to be more of a chicken quarter plus breast. The skin was glistening, golden, and lightly crisp. As always, my complaint regarding the chicken was that it was too thick. While the meat under the skin and around the bones were tender and flavourful enough, the rest of the white meat was bland. The peppercorn jus was a very interesting complement. Roasted vegetables were well-done, and lightly flavoured. The mashed potatoes had clumps in them, which is how I like them, but no hint of garlic.
Our other friends ordered the Insalata di Bresaola and Capellini. No complaints there, although the Capellini seemed a little bland. It was basically a salad sitting on top of capellini, with barely any sauce. (No, olive oil is not a sauce.) Am I the only one surprised that this is even a dish?
For impeccable service, not kicking my friends out even though we lingered far beyond what would be considered polite, and my satisfying Rigatoni, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Not sure how I feel about the Capellini, but there are certainly plenty of other great options on the menu.
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The Only on King has quickly become one of the most well-known restaurants in London, thanks to a review in Canada’s enRoute magazine (the magazine for Air Canada), and subsequent media coverage of Paul Harding and Jason Schubert’s endeavour to run a restaurant where all food is locally sourced. That means the menu changes according to season (and what they can get from their farmers), which is a challenge to explain to today’s “I get what I want” customers. However, one bite of their French and Italian inspired dishes will keep those whining mouths shut, and keep customers coming back.
I first heard about The Only from some foodie friends, who mentioned there was a new restaurant on the block rapidly rising to stardom after being named one of Canada’s best new restaurants. At the time, I had no idea they were also one of the only restaurants attempting to “do the sustainability thing.” It wasn’t until we invited Paul and Jason to speak at a sustainability event at the business school that I really understood, and came to appreciate, their unique venture. Paul and Jason get all their ingredients from local farmers, who they have established great relationships with. However, this means their menu is completely dependent on what is “in season” or what they can get from their farmers that day/week/month. Obviously, costs are going to be higher for ingredients that are local, organic, or both, and it can be reflected in their slightly higher prices. However, they claim to offer top-notch service on top of great tasting food, so you get what you pay for.
I made a reservation for six people on a Monday night, but unfortunately, only three could make it. Before I had even taken off my coat, the waiter scolded me for not calling ahead of time to let them know our reduced party size. It wasn’t so much what he said that put me off, it was how he said it – as if I was a human being lacking in basic decency. Well, sorry if half my party decided not to show up at the last minute. Did that give him the right to scold me? Did that give him the right to ruin my meal before it had even begun? Was this the great service they prided themselves on?
I was quite miffed as I sat down, and wondered if he would have scolded another customer the same way if it had been a 50 year-old man as opposed to a 20 year-old girl. I decided to ignore it, since I had been looking forward to coming to The Only for quite some time. Besides, he wasn’t our server for the night, and our server turned out to be very nice, and even humoured us when we started talking about premium gins by bringing some out.
Between the three of us, we ordered three appetizers, two intermediates, and one main. The serving sizes were quite reasonable, and the meal turned out to be more filling than we anticipated, so none of us had room for dessert by the end.
The artichoke soup was first to arrive.
I have never had artichoke soup before, so it is hard for me to judge the quality of this particular bowl of liquid cream. Other than the fact that it was very creamy and not too flavourful, the soup made no distinct impression on me (certainly not my favourite dish of the night).
Then came the winter vegetable salad. My friend ordered this because she was curious what would constitute a “winter vegetable” as opposed to a spring/summer/fall vegetable.
I was amused with the “really good Tuscan olive oil” description on the menu. I am not sure if this was the same olive oil that they used on the rest of the dishes, but I realized by the end of the night that I did not like this “really good Tuscan olive oil.” At the time though, the taste of the salad suited me just fine. Unfortunately, we could not identify most of the ingredients, other than winter cabbage, carrots, and radish.
My appetizer was a quail, which out to be more of an “intermediate” than an appetizer.
It was very well-seasoned, and the meat was not too tough even though the skin was toasted to a crisp. The “boneless” part was a lie, as you can obviously tell from the photo, but I actually prefer bone-in meats, because meat near bones tend to be more tender. Smoked capicolo is basically bacon, and it is actually not in this photo because the chefs forgot to put it on the dish when they first brought it out. Our waiter later brought me a few pieces, which was quite yum. And for a creative finish, the sour cherries were a delightful twist.
The first intermediate to arrive was my friend’s house-made gnocchi.
Naturally, this dish did not appeal to me because of the abundance of cheese. Nonetheless, I tried some, and discovered a surprisingly unhappy aftertaste, to which my immediate reaction was “nyech!”
While we tried to deduce what made me react negatively to the dish, I found that my own intermediate had the same unpleasant aftertaste.
Despite how I tried to enjoy my dish, I simply couldn’t. We finally pinned down my cause for displeasure: it was in the olive oil. Something in the olive oil did not agree with my palate. And as much as I enjoyed the raw trout and the tender potato chunks, I could not develop an appreciation for this “really good” olive oil.
Instead, I shared the rest of my friend’s duck entree, which was delicious.
Maybe things flavoured with sauce as opposed to olive oil agrees better with me (which would make sense considering my palate is accustomed to the strong flavours prevalent in Chinese dishes), or maybe the chefs here are just really good at game meats. Either way, the duck breast was tender and savoury with a crispy skin. The meat was medium rare and lightly seasoned, yet it was very xian. The cabbage and peas tasted great in the calvados sauce. Like the sour cherries in my quail dish, the poached apricot gave this dish a sweet twist.
The restaurant is small, but the ambience was mixed. It wasn’t quite homey, but it wasn’t quite upper-class either. There was a sleek elegance to its understated wooden furnishings. The bar was very well-stocked with some premium liquors and a varied wine selection. I would say they delivered quality service if it wasn’t for the initial lecture I received. The servers were well-versed on the background of the restaurant, but you can tell the chefs are the one running the show (the servers could not withstand prolonged questioning on the ingredients of particular dishes).
Would I come back? Certainly, but not often at these prices. And next time, I’ll steer clear of anything infused with olive oil.
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