A Steak Tasting at Jacob's Restaurant, Toronto.

Jacob's is known as one of the best steak restos in Canada. I go there from time to time, but recently, my experiences have been inconsistent, once great, once good and once a disappointment. One of the variables that I have encountered is the degree of doneness. The menu explanation is quite specific. Waiters are also extremely careful about explaining the temperature and colour result of the degree of doneness: blue rare - raw, red through 90%; rare - raw, red through 75%; medium rare - half raw, red through 50%; medium - half cooked, pink through 75%; medium well - 3/4 cooked, pink through 25%; well done - cooked through. Steaks are Char-Broiled at 1800 degrees in the restaurant oven, to your liking.

So, it is disappointing indeed when the expected degree of doneness specified is not met, although the waiter may offer to cook you another steak, no one wants to be the only one not eating for 15 minutes and then eating while everyone else is through. Another variable is the the beef experience itself. The experience of the taste, texture and juiciness of the beef can vary from animal to animal and it is very hard to keep the beef experience consistent within a given breed and from a specific farm. So, some variability in this regard, is to be expected.

Jacob’s dry age their beef in-house. Jacob’s menu of available beef is extensive and a meat lover’s inspiration. For example, one day’s beef menu included Canadian Prime Hereford-Lindsay, Ontario, tenderloin; Canadian prime hereford-High River, Alberta, 40 day aged ribeye and bone in ribeye aged 38 days; USDA prime black Angus-Nebraska, USA, 48 day aged California cut striploin, striploin aged 38 days, and 46 day aged ribeye, bone In striploin and T bone porterhouse; Oakleigh Ranch, wagyu, N.S.W., Australia, tenderloin, California cut striploin, striploin, flat Iron and T-bone porterhouse, all aged 45 days. I have not been to a restaurant in North America that showcases such an ambitious range of beef to experience.

We began with an exemplary beef tartar on toasts.

At out tasting, we ordered an array of steaks. Because the degree of doneness was so inconsistent and mostly cooked past our requested liking, this tasting was declared void, although we each had our preferences.

Good, but not great french fries.

The desserts were pleasing, but only a little more than adequate. But, we were not here for the desserts! The ice creams which are house made, are rich, creamy and very good.

Warm apple crumble.

Flourless chocolate cake.

Cheesecake.

Edulis, Toronto, A Noteworthy Canadian Resto

I have eaten twice within a week (exceptionally rare for me) at Edulis and I must say that those 2 meals have been among the most satisfying restaurant meals I have eaten in Canada. This is a cuisine for those who truly enjoy eating, that speaks to your soul, representative of farm and sea, crafted in a humble, respectful, knowledgable way. To me, this chef speaks with the vernacular of Rene Redzepi, of Noma, but with no pretensions at establishing a great resto (not that Rene is pretentious, he is definitely not). The chef's pleasure is to just cook ingredients he thinks are special (and he has such good taste .....not a pun on words) in a way that brings out their wonderful natural flavours, complementing them with the simplest seasonal elements. This is a resto you can go to for a simple roast chicken, BUT WHAT A CHICKEN!! The front of house partner Toby Nemuth and partner/ chef Mike Caballo show their conviviality and passion in every small thing they do for their clients. Enjoy how this meal unfolds. My food loving friends and I scooped the menu, which changes frequently!


We began with complementary olives with anchovy, olive oil and gundilla peppers, a very typical Basque presentation.

Green and white asparagus, pickled red onion, albacore tuna, lightly smoked in house, and arugula, all dressed with a vinaigrette sauce.  

Fresh, house smoke herring, and folks, it does not get better than this (and I have tasted herring in and out of season in every Scandinavian country, England and France). This is a herring version of what we understand of smoked salmon which is essentially mildly salted and smoked raw salmon. This is not brined herring that is readily available in jars. This has the unmuted flavours of the raw fish all dressed with sunflower oil with layers of razor- thin sliced, multicoloured heirloom carrots, and onions. The herring is accompanied by a small cast iron pot filled with warm potatoes dressed with a dijonaise sauce. These potatoes are the perfect complement for this dish. I could have made a meal of the herring and potatoes alone, accompanied by the very good house made red fife bread.

Spring onions with crispy porcini tempura, foie gras torchon with a pine nut vinaigrette and burdock reduction. These ingredients produced such a wonderful contrasting mouth feel between the silken texture of the rich foie gras and the crunchy elements of the porcini. The burdock reduction brought an almost beefy flavour to the dish.

Spot prawn ceviche, seasoned lightly with Peruvian hot pepper and bathed with a Spanish white gazpacho (sherry vinaigrette almond sauce). 

Sweetbreads and melted onions with chive tops, then a warm stinging nettle broth is poured over all. A remarkable combination of subtle flavours. 

House smoked bacon, chick peas and cock's combs with "bravas" sauce, a Spanish, mildly spicy sauce classically made with tomatoes, garlic, onions, paprika and vinegar. A hearty, earthy farmer's dish.

Clams, pig jowls cured with bonito with wild leek greens. Bravo!!

Squid, grilled over charcoal, with onions and herbed bread crumbs. You have never had such perfectly cooked fresh, silky-soft squid, except perhaps at a rare, very good Spanish resto.

The dish below was only offered on my second visit, St Canut, milk fed, cream finished pork, from Quebec, served as Chuletillas, (a grilled chop) with spring garlic and crisp roast fingerlings. Such a simple, beautifully flavoured dish, but so satisfying.

And for me, the piece de resistance, which must be ordered in advance when you place your reservation, hay baked chantecler rouge chicken, produced in Quebec, Canada's answer to poulet de Bresse. The chicken was perfectly cooked, beautifully juicy with the perfection of texture created by cooking "a point"!

We ordered 2 desserts and I highly recommend both if they are still on the menu when you go. The photo below is the coldfoot flower and green almond ice cream with stewed rhubarb and olive oil. The flower has a subtle mellon like flavour. What a great refreshing dish. The second dessert (no photo) was a baba au rum cake with Chantilly cream and a reduced Appleton reserve rum syrup. This was DEVOURED quickly!

Mugaritz Chef Andoni Aduriz: Buca Restaurant, Toronto, Entertains.

When the chef of the #3 Resto in the world comes to your city, where would you choose to take him? That was THE MAJOR question dangling on everyone's mind. Here is a chef with impeccable visual and oral aesthetics, at the top of his game. We decided to entertain him at Buca restaurant where chef Rob Gentile creates dishes that are both rustic and sophisticated ethnic representations of his roots and travel experience. Rob Gentile is a talented, fastidious perfectionist whose execution of a range of rustic dishes makes a strong impression on his diners. This rustic, ethnic aesthetic would provide chef Andoni Aduriz with a contrast to his usual experiences visiting other cities, such as New York, where he recently experienced elevated cuisine as a guest of chef Thomas Keller's Per Se and chef Wiley Dufresne's WD-50.


The Cookbook Store event with chef Aduriz, left to right, Alison Fryer, store manager, Chef Aduriz, Annie Sibonney and store owner Josh Josephson.

 
I must thank Annie Sibonney, food network show host and owner of Relish Tours, who made it possible to give chef Aduriz a full range of personal experience here in Canada. This connected experience was made possible by Annie's wide ranging personal relationships with some of the finest chefs in europe, extensive travels and her time living in Spain. Her good taste, flawless command of the Spanish language and her entertaining and lively personality all made it possible for Chef Aduriz and his english speaking hosts to have such an enjoyable social experience. Annie with chef Aduriz, below.

We began with bocconcino, gnocchi fritto accompanied by burro di lardo and Tuscan pistachios. We broke open the gnocchi "puff" and spread the lardo and chopped pistachios.

Crudo di mare

Raw B.C. spot prawns with coriander, unrefined citrus herb salt, Terre di San Mauro olive oil and crisp rosemary leaves. The head was minimally deep fried to perfect doneness so that the soft interior was enjoyed with the crispy shell of the head, legs and antennae, a potato chip of the sea!

Ricci, fresh shucked sea urchin with wild ginger, impeccably fresh!

Antipasti

Salumi di Buca, a selection of house cured salumi served with seasonal preserves, including 1 1/2 year aged elk leg, thinly shaved off the bone, beef tongue, lardo and pork heart sausage and a horse meat bresaola. The elk was particularly noteworthy for it's subtle, complex nutty flavours. Below, chef Gentile proudly displaying the elk leg for slicing.

The sliced elk.

The rest of the charcuterie, from left, beef tongue, lardo and pork heart sausage and the horse meat bresaola.

Nodini, bread knots with olive oil, rosemary, garlic and sea salt (no photo).


Orecchio di Maiale, crisp pig's ears with wild fennel salt. These were addictive, comparable to trying not to eat more than one chip when presented with a bag of truly great potato chips....but better!!

Noteworthy culture columnist of the National Post, food loving Shinan Govani, distracted for a moment....but, not for long!

Pizza alla Romana, Tuscan style porchetta with mostarda, mascarpone and agliata (a Sicilian herb). We were given scissors to cut the pizza. This pizza has a wonderfully addictive flavour/texture combination.

Pasta

Sciallatelli, fresh, hand cut pasta, zucchini soffrito, raw spot prawns and bottarga di riccci (a bottarga made with urchin roe). The pasta was tossed after presentation. A great combination of flavours of the sea.

Orecchiette, saffron infused, hand made pasta with baby octopus, cherry tomatoes and fava beans, finished with fresh chili and bone marrow. Another wow of a dish that filled one's palate with exploding flavour.

Carne

Polenta with smoked pork blood sausage, finished with wild leeks, moscato grapes and cacio di fossa cheese. This from a chef infused with local traditions whose passion brings together the flavours of the region.

Smoked mozzarella cheese foam (spuma), with a texture like hollandaise sauce, but made with olive oil rather than butter, and also scamorza cheese melted into this and mixed together. The top was caramelized and morels, rosemary leaves and a liquid reduction, was added. This was a mouth watering dish, with mild, smokey, rich tasting flavours all enhanced by the wonderful morels.

Sorbetti

Nespole (loquat) sorbetti with boreal honey to which passito (a late harvest wine)was added all topped with coltsfoot flower. This was a truly refreshing, palate intriguing dessert, with wonderful, subtle, complex flavours. The flower contributed a mild mellon like flavour.

Sapori di Sicilia, a tasting of Sicilian cannoli with a filling of buttermilk, riccotta cheese and bergamot; briosche with a pork blood, pistachio and red current wine gelato sandwiched in the briosche; and baba 'al rum soaked with balsam fir gelato and spiced rum, the baba drizzled with maple syrup.

Gusto 101 Restaurant, Toronto

One of the kitchen elements that make the food at this resto potentially more interesting, is their Tuscan wood fired grill.


Fried calamari, somewhat crispy (could have been crispier) but a bit oily, were served with cucumber giardineria (pickled cucumber), jalapenos and roasted garlic aioli.

Bruschetta of Pingue prociutto on smoked eggplant (alla romana) all on grilled Tuscan bread. This was a very good starter, perhaps the best.

I only take photos of french fries I like and these were crispy and tasty.

Octopus cooked over the wood fired grill. Tender, with a nice mild smokey flavour, accompanied by an olive tapenade, orange and green beans.

Braised pork belly on oven roasted tomato, on toast, with shaved parsnip chips.

"Da Dee" pizza topped with sweet potatoes, black kale (cavallo nero), fior di latte cheese, caramelized Spanish onions, pecorino and rosemary. A thin, crispy crusted pizza with delicious toppings and flavours that complemented each other.

Spaghetto chitarra alla vongole, manilla clams, white wine, roasted tomatoes and toasted bread crumbs made for a very good pasta dish.

Bronzino, grilled over the Tuscan wood fired grill, and perfectly cooked, with white and green marinated and grilled asparagus, faro, eggplant, olives and feta cheese.

Desserts were not that interesting, a mundane tiramisu on the right and a pleasant lemon air on the left, made with limoncello, lemon juice and candied celery.

Lou Dawgs BBQ, Toronto

This branch, on Gerrard Street, is an offshoot of the original King Street location.

The brisket sandwich with house made baked beans. Unfortunately the taste of the brisket was overwhelmed by the sauce. I should have requested the brisket without sauce and added my own. The brisket had a pleasant smoky flavour but, because of all of the sauce, it was hard to tell and may have been a touch on the dry side. The bun was slightly crispy from toasting and was perfect for the sandwich. The mildly smokey beans were laden with chunks of the bbq brisket meat. The accompanying sauce had been nicely reduced into a thick consistently. I could return just for the beans!

The pulled pork sandwich was good. There was a good porky flavour to the meat with a soft smoky taste. The sauce did not overwhelm the meat.

The ribs were the only disappointment. They were too dry and fell off the bone in an unpleasant way. I did not enjoy the rub and if the meat had been better I would have added the sauce.