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| - Upon my first visit to the Black Hoof my expectations were extremely high. Were they met? No...They were crushed! A note to vegetarians: This establishment is a carnivore's utopia, it should be renamed Jurassic Hoof, it is a meat lover orgy that will be the venue for my wedding ceremony.
My first experience was a special one. Upon arriving on a Thursday @ 8pm with 2 other patrons, we were told the wait would be 45min-1hr (no reservations). We waited around outside for 5 or so minutes before deciding that we should go somewhere else as we had a prior engagement to be ready for later that evening. Instead of just taking off I went in to inform the pretty hostess that we were going somewhere else and that I would for sure be back because I heard so much about this restaurant, she told me the best time to return would be Sunday and Monday evenings.
A few minutes later, depressed walking north on Claremont to College, the Hoofstess called me back to inform me 3 seats opened up at the bar and to hurry back if we were not too far! Needless to say we sprinted back and were seated right away. Extremely nice gesture from her considering there were people waiting around outside and the place was completely packed. As we sat down and the serotonin rushed around in my brain I knew it would be a meal to remember without having eaten yet.
We started with olives, bread and andouille spread. The spread was truly exceptional, we savored it throughout our entire meal and when one of the waiters tried to take it away from us when it was 80% finished he received extreme cut eye from all 3 of us followed with me screaming "NO!". He was startled but soon realized the power of the spread. In addition came a bowl of pickled vegetables such as artichoke, broccoflower, and pickles. The tartness of the contents of this bowl helped to cut and compliment a lot of the sweet and salty flavours that came ahead.
Our wooden plank of love, aka large charcuterie board was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen in my life. The neatly laid out meat rested so gracefully in front of me I almost did not want to tamper with it, it looked so perfect and best of all it is mostly made in house changing daily. It consisted of: Guanciale (unsmoked Italian bacon, pig's cheek or jowls) - delicious, Duck Liver Mousse - 1st time for everything, nice spread in subtle portions, Foie Gras - delectably rich & silky smooth texture, Duck Prosciutto - typically darker and tougher than your avg prosciutto, my rule of thumb which never fails is any prosciutto is amazing prosciutto, Angus Sausage - darker and tougher meat, bold flavour, Venison Bresaola - air dried salted, deep woody flavour, there were a few more items on the board but towards the end of the waiter explaining the contents I had drifted off into a foodgasm. This charcuterie board was the most diverse and best tasting example of charcuterie I have had yet.
We had a follow up plank of sheer prosciutto. It was the same sized plank just covered with carefully shaved neatly trimmed layers of sciutto. This was a nice change for me because I am so used to Parma style sciutto and this was house made, so it had a distinct flavour that I can confidently claim I had never had before. The overall flavour had a hint of nuttiness to it and it was lighter in flavour compared to the sciutto I am used to which is very bold very salty. An additional large order or bread and olives accompanied this item.
Next we had the extremely critically acclaimed Raw Horse Sammy Sandwich. I knew this would be a knockout because everyone who previously told me to eat at the Hoof made sure I tried this sandwich. Even when I ordered it our waitress's eyes perked up and she smiled. I could tell in her heard she was thinking "These dudes are gonna lose it when they see/try this".
The sandwich arrives open faced on rye bread. One side has the rich, velvety, purplish/red meat mixed with onions, olive oil, some herbs topped with capers and an egg yolk. The other side has the signature hot sauce compliments of G-Mo, the Peruvian sous-chef. Ideally you want to spread the yolk all over the meat and get it right into and around the meat, this will prevent the yolk from dripping out of the sandwich when you eat it thus locking in all the love, and believe me, there's a whole lotta love. One of the major highlights of this sandwich for me is that I had never had anything like it before, the texture, taste and whole vibe of the sandwich was new to me, and as I sit here typing I am borderline losing it recounting this experience. Truly a magical dish worthy of its own restaurant.
I simply can not wait to go back to this restaurant. I have yet to try the duck confit sandwiches, cheeses, roasted bone marrow, tongue on brioche, deserts, wine, and daily delights. For the record I could care less about the décor because I don't take my eyes off the food.
Thurs-Mon 6pm-2am, Sun (midnight)
patio
cash/d
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