Wednesday evening consisted of drinks and dessert at Canoe, then a tasting menu dinner at Stock
Screech Sour + a (virgin) Raspberry Mojito..yum!
As you may know, I LOVE Canoe's desserts. They had a few new ones on the menu, including this one - "Preserved Seaside Strawberries" (with Black Sesame Chiffon, Jasmine & Mascarpone Sorbet). It was soooo good!! Definitely my favourite dessert I've ever had at Canoe so far. I'll probably order two next time I go.
Milk Chocolate & Kernal Peanut (with 46% Milk Chocolate, Banana Butter & Caramel Ice Cream).
I took like 5 photos of it but somehow all came out blurry.
St. Honore Cheese (Pasteurized Cow’s Milk from the Eastern Townships of Québec)
Vegetable Spring Rolls (with Kozlik’s Mustard Plum Sauce)
Afterwards, it was time for a late dinner at Stock - located on the 31st floor of the Trump Hotel. I have eaten here a couple times in the past. While the food was good, I always thought it was a bit overpriced for what you get. A few months ago, Stock was taken over by Oliver and Bonacini (of my favourite restaurant, Canoe ;), so we went to try the tasting menu. We each got a 4-course meal for $95 + tax, which is definitely worth it and I recommend going for that rather than ordering a-la-carte. The chef prepared this menu especially for us, so I think some of the dishes (like the steak tartare) are variations of what they have on the regular dinner menu. I was extremely full by the end of it though, thanks to the pre-dinner desserts from Canoe!
We started off with an oyster amuse-bouche. That was literally my first time eating an oyster.
(I'm not really into seafood, but it wasn't bad)
Ahi Tuna
Intermezzo - sea buckthorn and green sorrel
Steak Tartare - this was my favourite! There was some caesar salad mixed into it.
For the main, I got the Kale & Ricotta Ravioli (butternut squash, marcona almonds, brown butter)
My friend had the Roasted Chantecler Rouge Chicken (spiced cauliflower, edamame, truffle)
This dessert was really sweet but I loved it - Poached Pear & Stout (Guinness gingerbread, Bailey’s cream, brandied toffee)
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Toronto
"Meetings by McEwan" is designed and executed by one of Canada's top celebrity chefs, Mark McEwan and his team at ONE Restaurant. The bespoke services combine the luxurious and unparalleled amenities of The Hazelton Hotel with the innovative gourmet cuisine of Mark McEwan to provide wonderful lasting impressions. Booking your next corporate meeting here will stimulate the minds of your guests, inspire ideas, enhance productivity and allow them to think outside the box. Package options include power breakfasts, working lunches, bespoke dinners with wine pairings, AM and PM treats. Each menu is delivered with flair and features the best of McEwan's culinary offerings.
The Hazelton Hotel offers four meeting spaces, beautifully designed by Yabu Pushelberg and equipped with state-of-the-art technology: The Yorkville Room, The Neil Young Room, Executive Boardroom and The Silver Screening Room. As Toronto's only member of The Leading Hotels of the World, guests can expect an extraordinary level of service and a memorable experience.
I was invited a couple weeks ago for a Meetings by McEwan breakfast. It was quite the experience. There was about ten of us in total, including Mark McEwan himself. That was my first time meeting him. He's extremely friendly, and his food was delicious as expected.
The set-up; fruit, bottle of Evian, Hazelton pen and notebook, and a piece of handmade chocolate by Laura Slack.
The food is set up in a buffet style. There were a lot of vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free options. Pictured above is the seasonal fruit cocktail and vegetarian breakfast tortillas (these were amazing! My favourite out of everything I tried)
Low-fat banana-chia seed muffins, housemade granola bars, assorted miniature donuts (I loved these as well. They were not that sweet - just perfect for breakfast), avocado toasts with chopped egg and reggiano, and sliced aged Quebec cheddar with heirloom tomatoes.
Sorry for the blurry photo! This was my second favourite; smoked salmon rosti with poached egg and hollandaise.
Sliced aged Quebec cheddar with heirloom tomatoes. I don't know why I didn't take any of this..I regret not trying it as I heard the tomatoes were really good.
Avocado toasts with chopped egg and reggiano
Time to eat! I had my bag on the floor next to me and as I returned from getting the food, a stool had magically appeared under it. The service here was really good. The staff were friendly and very attentive without being intrusive.
After the very satisfying breakfast, my friend and I paid a quick visit to Mark McEwan's grocery store:
To book Meetings by McEwan, call 416-963-6325 or email mcewan@thehazeltonhotel.com
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Toronto
When I was in Ottawa last week, we tried the afternoon tea at Chateau Laurier. The Fairmont Chateau Laurier is a beautiful historic hotel beside Parliament Hill, overlooking the Rideau Canal. Their tea is served every day of the week inside Zoé's Lounge; a relaxing and intimate lounge named after Sir Wilfred Laurier's wife, Zoé.
The front area of the lounge was filled with cozy armchairs and couches, great for a cocktail or light meal. We were seated at the back area which faced Rideau Street. It was nice and bright there, with a lot of sunshine pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows to create the perfect atmosphere for afternoon tea.
They had three different types of tea to choose from. The Traditional Tea, Canadian Tea and one for young children - the Little Prince and Princess Tea. We went for the Canadian Tea, as the finger sandwiches sounded more unique (open-faced sandwiches remind me of "Smorrebrod" from Denmark) and I couldn't resist ice wine marinated strawberries!
We started with the Ice Wine Marinated Fresh Strawberries, which were delicious. Afternoon teas don't usually come with anything extra in the beginning, but I thought this was a great idea to whet the appetite. Sort of like an amuse-bouche for tea.
After the strawberries, we ordered the tea. I had a difficult time choosing which one I wanted (as always), but in the end I went with the Ice Wine tea: deliciously fresh and piquant white grape flavour with hints of exotic fruit.
The server then came over with the tea cart to pour it in front of us.
Then out came all the sandwiches, scones and sweet pastries. I liked how they separated it so we each got our own stand.
The sandwiches - my favourite part! My favourite was the Curried Chicken Salad (toasted baguette, fresh scallions), which I didn't expect to like so much as I don't like curry. It was delicious though. The Atlantic Smoked Salmon one was also really good (toasted 7 grain baguette, dill cream cheese & citrus marmalade). I love smoked salmon. It tasted slightly sweet..like they added a bit of maple syrup to it. There was also the Roasted Sterling Silver Striploin (toasted whole-wheat baguette, grainy mustard horseradish aioli, candied onion relish). This one wasn't bad but the meat was a little dry. & Finally the English Cucumber (truffle scented Clarmell Farms goats cheese and baby watercress). I didn't like the cheese in this one.
The scones. They ran out of Sundried Blueberry Scones and gave us cranberry ones instead. I was quite disappointed as I LOVE blueberry scones, but the ones we got were really good too. I finished them both. Usually I can't because they're quite filling, but these ones were nice and light.
By the time we got to the pastries tier I was really full so I only managed a taste of each.
The cake at the back was my favourite.
If you are in Ottawa, I definitely recommend this tea! It is served Monday to Friday from 2-5pm, and Saturday to Sunday from 12-5pm. To reserve, call 1-613-241-1414
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