I seem to have amassed a sizeable collection of photos of recently-eaten meals that I’ve never gotten around to posting. In part to share the food porn love and to clear out my files before year-end, I’ve got a couple of Smörgåsbords for y’all.
Above, the gloriously luxurious foie gras parfait at Splendido where Greg and I spent my birthday in September.
Seared diver scallops with roasted endive, confit grape, verjus & pine nut vinaigrette.
We shared Chef Victor Barry’s pork dinner for two, and while the many different bits came in one dish, the head cheese (artfully disguised as a croquette) came on its own plate.
Piles o’ pork – served with a corn succotash, you’ve got your pork belly, pork loin, I think that’s a rib there by the squash, and a crackling. This was a LOT of meat. We ate this much again for lunch the next day.
I forget what this was called exactly (it’s rotated off the current menu, as it was more than 2 months ago), but it was chocolate and salted caramel and delicious. Big thanks to the Carlo and Victor and the staff at Splendido for making my birthday memorable.
Closer to home, and more recently, we dropped by Keriwa Cafe for their first day of brunch service. And started with a basket of tasty pastries including muffins, croissants and scones.
Smoked whitefish in a dill crepe, served with caramelized hen of the woods mushrooms. This was fresh and bright and I hope they continue to serve it. It would be especially good in the summer.
Keriwa’s confit pork belly with wild mushrooms, leek, shallots and toast. The toast wisely placed underneath all the other goodness, so it’s full of tasty pork drippings by the time you get down to that point.
In October, Greg and I attended a dinner at beer bistro in honour of the Toronto Chapter of Barley’s Angels, and featuring Hacker-Pschorr beers. Chef Michelle Usprech created a menu to pair with the brewery’s beers, and started us off with shrimp and scallops atop angelhair pasta with a red pepper puree and hefe weisse lemon chervil beurre blanc.
Usprech’s second course was a fall salad with foie gras and pork belly mousse, roasted beets and apple cider vinaigrette.
For the main, a roasted pork tenderloin with blue cheese, fall vegetables and Munich gold jus. You’d think the blue cheese might not work with the pork, but the meat was so sweet, it was bang on.
And to finish the night, Marzën pumpkin ripple ice cream and a vanilla tuille, which we paired with Hacker-Pschorr’s Oktoberfest Marzën.