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| - So right off the bat, I'm going to get something off my chest. Leslieville is totally not on my list of neighborhoods for great food (with a few exceptions such as Goods & Provisions and Bobbette & Belle). With that said I had always heard rave reviews from others about Glas Wine Bar and was excited when a friend decided to take me there for my birthday.
Glas Wine Bar doesn't wow you with its minimalist decor. It's a quaint restaurant that seats around 25 with an open kitchen and bar. I love that their wine list is Ontario-heavy which goes hand-in-hand with their mantra of local and seasonal ingredients. It's also worth mentioning that they make a wicked Dirty Martini here.
I will forewarn that there were a few hiccups throughout the evening since chef/owner Dan Pantano was rolling out a new menu and training new kitchen staff. There were even changes to the new menu as we sat down and our server explained some substitutions. They ran out of the white wine I wanted and I had to send my glass of white wine back because it wasn't chilled properly. I'm sure if I was there on any other day, these minor wrinkles may not exist...
Instead of a bread basket, we get a bowlful of assorted, candied nuts to start which I definitely didn't complain about. My dining companion was worried I'd get full just chowing down on nuts.
We started out with a duo of crostini and fungus was the name of the game as we opted for mixed mushroom ragu and local ricotta, black truffle & honey ($3 each). Both were good and the flavor profiles really melded together, especially the ricotta, black truffle and honey.
Continuing on with my love of things that come on boards, we opted for the Glas Tagliere ($18), which included a trio of local cheese, daily terrine, pickled veg and toasted bread. The trio of cheeses were all from Quebec and included: Le Douanier (the Canadian doppelganger for French Morbier, a semi-soft cheese with a grey-blue ash made from maple wood), Bleu Bénédictin (another semi-soft cheese, made by monks) and Grey Owl (a surface-ripened goat's milk cheese). The Douanier was definitely my favorite cheese, but it was the honey that was my favorite overall.
I am told that if you walk down the street to one of the neighborhood garages, you'll see a man who seldom smiles, but if you ask him how you can get a hold of his honey he's all smiles. He gathers his honey from Quebec. Gosh, maybe I should just book a trip to Quebec already! I loved everything about this board. The daily terrine was a ham hock terrine and it was also very delicious with a nice, crispy, golden crust.
The Beef Tartar ($14) was quite yummy and came on a bed of smoked potato salad and quail egg. Can't say I've quite had a tartar like this before; usually the egg is raw and mixed in but I actually found the boiled egg made for a lighter, less rich tartar which was not a bad thing. The potato salad was really different as it still had crunch and bite to it and wasn't over-boiled.
We kind of regretted ordering the 6 oz. Bavette Steak ($22) because a) we were pretty full and b) it wasn't all that amazing. The spiced avocado mousse was a strange choice of accompaniment for a steak and the potato and onion "pancake" was really just a round smear of mashed potato. With that said, the flank steak had great texture and was cooked to a perfect medium rare. I found their menu lacking when it came to choices with only 4 mains and 2 of the items because starch/grain (rigatoni and risotto); that's a lot of real estate to take up for mains.
Knowing that it was a birthday, the folks did bring out a dessert on the house; a Strawberry Rhubarb Tart with red wine syrup. Though to be fair, it was more akin to a muffin than a tart. It was very buttery and I loved the edible flowers that wreathed around the dessert. Despite being full, I finished every crumb.
I would say I had a satisfactory dining experience at Glas. The service was friendly and stellar and the food was good for the most part. I would come back for drinks, tapas/shareables and dessert but probably skip the mains. Plus, I'm the type that likes to graze and have a nibble of everything.
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