Address: 99 Yorkville Avenue
In November 2014, MoRoCo welcomes a new Chef and sommelier, Eyal Liebman and Rebecca Meir-Liebman, along with a new menu featuring sweet and savoury dishes (most laced with chocolate) with suggested pairings to match. It’s nice seeing that although dishes have been revamped, it doesn’t deviate from what the restaurant is all about … chocolate! This has always been a place for connoisseurs to enjoy the ingredient in its many forms - eat, drink or dip.
At their
Bubbles and Bites launch party, hosted by Abbey Sharp and Mike Chalut, I was
given a preview and taste of their new offering. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of chocolate – I know a shock. But, then I also didn't think it’d go with something like salad; after taking the salad caprice de reine ($13), my mind changed. The greenery
(endive, arugula and apple) was crisp, light and vinegary. But, as the shavings of Valrhona blond chocolate subtly comes through there's an added creaminess and extra essence to an otherwise simple dish.
Another great
combination was the confit de canard ravioli ($27) where the dough incorporates
chocolate. Filled with a fair amount of tender duck, the dark chocolate
adds a hint of bitterness cutting against the richness of the duck. Finished
with a fragrant porchini broth this is one worth eating again.
An intriguing main I didn't try is their MoRoCo chocolate wellington ($29). Chef Eyal is no stranger
to cooking meat having worked at Harbour Sixty. How exactly would beef taste
wrapped in a chocolate crepe and puff pastry?
The event treated us with
a table set-up to make s’mores with house-made marshmallows, fresh thick
graham crackers and tons of chocolate. Having only roasted a marshmallow I already found it delicious. Not to showcase anything that’s not actually offered on the menu,
this torch at the table s’more is available normally as well ($22) and serves
up to 3 people.
If no one wants to split the
above with you, don’t worry, you can also stick with the s’mores love ($14) dessert
where you get all the ingredients on top of a chocolate lava cake with ice
cream.
Personally, the sweet I liked
most was Eyal’s cheesecake ($14) which was simple but delicious. The cheese was
fluffy, almost like a mousse, and the graham cracker buttery and crumbly. The
dessert was also nicely balanced between sweet and salty.
For those who aren’t a fan of
chocolate, do not fret as there are things that you can eat too! Below are but
a few of the offerings that may tempt you.
Steak tartare ($16) served with
greens and crostini.
Salad nicoise ($25) with a choice
of wild salmon or roasted chicken.
Napoleon á ma façon ($12) a
beautiful lemon mousse layered between orange tuilles and topped with sweet
berries.
In speaking to Chef Eyal, customers should expect freshness in all their dishes. Ingredients are
thoughtfully sourced to make sure they are high quality and even ingredients
such as bread will be baked in-house daily. Indeed, this new philosophy should
create scones that are better than my first experience with MoRoCo. Eyal certainly exuded passion for his food and his craft. Hopefully,
visitors will feel and taste this passion come through on their new menu… it
may just be time to give them another taste.
Is That It? I Want More!
Other Gastro World posts similar to this:
- MoRoCo Choclat (my first experience)
- Sugar Marmalade
