| rev:text
| - So I have a terrible confession to make: I hate fine dining.
Okay, that's not exactly true or fair. I guess it would be more accurate to say that I fear fine dining, that it makes me quite uncomfortable and gives great anxiety. But it's not for the reasons why most people would prefer Applebee's to five star French haute cuisine. You see, I love getting dressed up and I relish in perusing an expansive wine list. I like trying new dishes and I'm fairly confident in my ability to pronounce all of those items on the menu with the fancy names and actually know what they are. So why do these types of restaurants fill me with dread? I'm a vegetarian.
Glance at the menu at pretty much any fine dining establishment and you'll be hard pressed to find anything meatless. Even most of the salads are a no-no! Now I know that any good chef should be able to accommodate any patron but I've been told (by fairly reputable sources) that a lot of them don't care much for us crazy non-carnivores. That and the fact that I also hate having to ask for substitutions or order off the menu or whathaveyou. I don't want to cause any trouble even if I am a paying customer!
So you can probably guess that a place like Mark McEwan's North 44 wouldn't be my first choice, despite its impressive pedigree. My girlfriend actually took me here as a surprise treat and although I suffered a mini panic attack as soon as I looked at the menu (the food, not the prices...she was paying, after all!) I'm happy to say that North 44 may have helped alleviate some of my fine dining fears: it was a fantastic dining experience.
The service was excellent, not too aggressive, nor too inattentive. Both the chef and our server also made sure that my dietary restrictions were attended to by providing some of those dreaded off-menu options...my lady had called ahead to warn them that I (a scary vegetarian) was coming. The chef prepared a gnocchi in cream sauce dish, which was simply phenomenal. They're usually one of those things that I like well enough but have never been crazy about. These, however, were cooked to perfection...just the right colour and texture. They almost literally melted in my mouth. Far too often gnocchi are too heavy and doughy. This was most certainly not the case here. Perfection.
While I may not be crazy about gnocchi (or at least wasn't up 'til this point) I am huge fan of crème brûlée (the Cadillac of desserts) and this was among the best I've ever had. It was a coconut crème brûlée and I'm always a tad apprehensive when it comes to the flavoured variety. But in this case the coconut was just subtle enough so as not to overwhelm the custard itself. Again, the consistency was spot on and the dish was beautifully plated.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention my apéritif, their "Knob Creek Sour", which was also masterful...one of the best whiskey (or Bourbon in this case) sours I've ever had. My girlfriend had the streak for dinner, cooked rare and she enjoyed her meal as much as I did.
Now I'm not sure what the bill came to (and I'm not sure I want to know) but I think North 44 is a pretty safe recommendation...even for scaredy cat vegetarians like me.
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