Smith’s décor, much like sister restaurant Wish, is swathed
in rustic elegance and has memorable eclectic details. How could I ever forget
the pomegranates held in an enormous cast iron ladle gracing the middle of the
table? The large picture book sitting in the corner that you had to ensure was
a safe distance from the lit candelabra? Or the fact it took over a minute of
circling the communal sink in the washroom before I realized to operate the
bloody contraption there were small pedals on the floor...at the back?
Being a smaller restaurant, the service was a touch faster than
the snail-like pace of Wish; there wasn’t the excruciatingly long wait times
between courses. A meal in itself, the French onion soup came in a traditional
vessel engulfed in cheese - the dish will surely excite any dairy lover.
Although delicious, the sheer amount of it sometimes becomes too much as
after a few spoons it feels like you’re eating the cheese rather than enjoying
the actual soup.
The broth itself was adequately flavoured, decent amounts of
caramelized onions gracing the bottom and the soup’s saltiness well balance to
not cover their sweetness. The thick
round of toasted bread on top was delicious.
Even though the steak was cooked to the requested medium
rare and adequately seasoned, the meat was sitting atop my favourite part of
steak frites… the FRIES. Sure, it could help with the dish’s presentation by
elevating the meat in the cast iron skillet, but NEVER at the expensive of
ruining the fries. What could have been crispy delicious pieces of potato
heaven (they were nice from the ones I could salvage around the side) was
rendered into a soggy mushy oily mash, resembling what accompanies Swiss Chalet
delivery.
With all the desserts sounding delicious, I was in luck when
my friends agreed we had to order everything and share! The apple crumble was
served hot allowing the cinnamon sugared oats to waft out a lovely aroma. There
were tons of apples and a big scoop of cooling vanilla ice cream on top.
Despite being a tad watery, the lemon tart had a smooth
sweet citrus custard and a crumbly buttery crust.
Admittedly, the Nutella bread pudding isn’t accurately named
– the chocolate hazelnut spread not prevalent and the bread in a hunk rather in
pudding form. But, this was still my favourite of all the desserts given it was
reminiscent of Cinnabon and what’s not to love about that?
Of all the desserts, the dark chocolate cake was the ones I
had doubts about. Sure enough, it was a heavy sweet dessert with the dense chocolate
cake and frosting, ice cream, and candied nuts. But, sometimes you’re in the
mood for a rich sweet and given we were sharing, having a couple of spoons was
pretty delicious.
Brigitte, our server for the evening, was such a treat:
genuinely friendly and seemed to love what she was doing. I know Winterlicious
isn’t a favoured time for those who work in the industry – more crowds, more
courses to serve and with the lower price points, sometimes less gratuities.
So, it was refreshing that she had such a great attitude and zest for life. For
that, I’ll ALMOST forgive the fries incident.
Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10
Is Winterlicious worth it (based on my meal selection)?
Winterlicious - $35
Regular menu - $47 - soup ($9), steak frites ($25) and dessert ($10)
Savings - $9 or 20%
How To Find Them
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 553 Church Street
Address: 553 Church Street
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____________________________
Gastro World's Grading System
- Anything under 5 - I really disliked and will never go back
- 6 - decent restaurant but I likely won't return
- 7 - decent restaurant and I will likely return
- 8 - great restaurant that I'd be happy to recommend
- 9 - fantastic restaurant that I would love to visit regularly and highly recommend
- 10 - absolute perfection!
Is That It? I Want More!
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