| rev:text
| - We decided to go on a Saturday night after reading great reviews here on Yelp and because of the close proximity to our place. We were seated without reservations (which they take! Glad to see!)
The decor is beautiful and modern Canadiana, with some nostalgic touches (the framed dress was owned by the chef's grandmother). We started our meal with some cocktails and from this point the service took a turn for the worse.
Nothing was quite timed right. We were often waiting for things. The restaurant missed several opportunities to up-sell us on more drinks. Our cocktails were empty when the appetizers came, but we weren't asked if we wanted more drinks. We asked for wine when they took our dinner order, and it didn't come until after we had started eating.
Nothing came unless we asked. No one asked if we needed anything or made suggestions - which was frustrating when hearing such great service to surrounding tables. We heard a neighbouring table raving about the bread, which hadn't been offered to us. We asked our server, and he cluelessly mumbled that he forgot, brining us some near the end of our mains.
And of course, when you notice bad service, you begin to notice all the things your waiter is doing when they're keeping you waiting. When we asked for a wine menu, we watched him go to the bar, casually chat to the chef for a while through the window at the back, before coming back to grab the wine list for us 10 minutes later (which was within reaching distance from us the whole time).
Every course was fantastic - some of the best food I've ever had in the city. My gazpacho was flavourful with heirloom tomatoes, amazing texture from the sunflower seeds, with a bit of kick from some jalapeno. My partner's smoked whitefish appetizer was delicious, and we both called the accompanying mushrooms the best part of the meal.
We both had the grilled trout, which was perfectly cooked - served with fresh tomatoes and basil, with a lightly battered deep-fried zucchini blossom.
Because the food was amazing, we were interested in desert. Again, our empty plates were taken and we had to call over someone else to tell us about dessert. We ordered the apple pie and asked to see a drink menu for an aperitif. Our waiter brought us a wine list (which we'd already seen, and didn't include the desert drinks we were interested in after hearing a different waiter describe them as the perfect accompaniment to our dessert to a different table) and he disappeared until our desert was nearly gone - again missing a sales opportunity. (the Apple pie was fantastic, BTW, but overshadowed by our impatience and disappointment that no one had come back to take our order for the delicious spiced calvados that we heard our neighbouring table again raving about).
I'll definitely be back - as I was so impressed with the food. Kudos to the chef! Again, it was one of the best meals I've had in this city. I hope they get their front of house sorted out though. For a quiet night (we counted 6 tables) and the prices charged, I expect more.
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