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| - I was the first customer in the door!
This is a new venture by the Table17 folks, and has been in the work for a few months now.
There's no trace of Lou's Variety or Ben's gallery left. It's a cool, contemporary spot with an open kitchen (they make their own pasta) and the colours make me think of mens wear -- those subtle tones, nothing too bright. I don't recall any artwork on the walls: will check next time I go in.
On opening day, they didn't have their liquor license yet -- they were hoping it would come through this week. I'll have to follow up on that.
Failing alcohol, I had a carbonated beverage: they have a few Italian ones, and I chose a Chinotto. It's like having a non-alcoholic bitters. Label looks like '40's pin-up girls. I'm sure a few of my friends would enjoy that. Kinda had a nostalgia thing going on there.
There were a lot of items on the menu I wanted to order. I really had difficulties deciding (and I'll be back to try out other items).
I settled on the Crostini Toscana for an appetizer. Three toasts with a good dollop of chicken liver paté each, with caramelized onions on top, and a fried sage leaf covering all.
Very tasty! I've been making paté for over 30 years, and this one was enjoyable: smooth, sweet, no hint of graininess or bitterness. Not as rich as foie gras, which sometimes is a good thing! The sage leaf had been fried to the point that it shattered perfectly when biting into the toast and had that sort of funky sage flavour, and the onion contributed additional sweetness. Good appetizer. It's going to be a challenge not eating that all the time, now that I know how tasty it is -- saves me making a pound of paté and then eating it all.
I was tempted to order one of the side vegetables -- brussels sprouts -- they sounded delicious. But I worried about eating too much. Then I found a pasta main that included brussels sprouts, so I thought I had it all covered! I had the cavatelli with shredded confit duck, brussels sprouts, and chanterelle mushrooms. The mushrooms were on the verge of crispiness, which was delightful, and helped their meaty taste come out. The brussels sprouts were individual leaves, casually tossed in olive oil, and bright green. They were sweet, and I almost wished they were a little bitter, as a contrast to the richness of the duck, which was gorgeous and moist and everything that good duck confit is. The pasta was firm, provided some resistance when chewing it, and teamed perfectly with the fall food ingredients.
How to finish? I didn't need anything else to eat. I decided to have an espresso, and it came with perfect crema, lovely depth of flavour and richness to complete the meal.
Yah, it's a good thing I'm fixing up my exercise cycle with a laptop holder, because I'm going to need it with Ascari Enoteca in the Leslieville neighbourhood.
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