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| - A tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Queen East. One of those blink-and-you'll-miss-it spots that can still be called a neighbourhood gem.
I first heard about their veg-friendly menu via their own Twitter efforts, but the Veggielicious vegan four course prix fixe is what got us through the door.
The place was packed when we entered and very noisy. Because it's such an intimate space, one loud (possibly drunk) party elevated the noise level by several degrees. I doubt it's always like this and the moment this group left the ambiance changed completely. We were dining kind of late and this is a wine bar, so I'm not deducting anything because of this particularly obnoxious group.
Service was excellent, though we did struggle to hear and order wine over the loud talkers. They only offer a selection of well-curated Ontario wines. I went for a sparkling Hinterland white cap and was very pleased with it. My dining partner went for the wine pairing with each dish.
The first two courses were superb: a parsnip and apple soup, followed by a warm beet and potato salad served on a charcuterie board and topped with some sprouts.
Where this meal lost me was at the main, which was pitched as a celery root pappardelle, but was literally just sliced celery root and no sign of pappardelle. This was disappointing, as we had read the cuisine here was Italian and we're not gluten phobic or raw foodists, so we were hoping for celery root-infused pappardelle or the like. The dish was too light as a result of just being shaved vegetable and I wasn't crazy about how the flavour of the celery root worked with the pesto. I get that making fresh pasta without eggs can be difficult, but it's not impossible. Please try!
For dessert, it was white wine poached pears, which walked the line between sweet and savoury in a cocoa balsamic reduction and basil garnish. It was simple and not particularly exciting.
Overall, this was an excellent meal, with the hits far outweighing the misses. I only offer this criticism so they can improve their vegan offerings, but vegan food does not need to be 100% whole vegetables and fruits. Think about incorporating grains, wild rice, even legumes into your meals to balance them out. There's a lot of wonderful local ingredients to work with.
Looking forward to seeing what vegan offerings they cook up in 2014 and I'd return just for the wine.
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