Showing posts with label braised short ribs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label braised short ribs. Show all posts

Francobollo revisited in 2024 (Toronto)

Posted on Saturday, August 10, 2024 by

The stretch of Avenue Road close to the 401 has been put on the map with the opening of LSL Restaurant. Up until its opening, one of the ‘finer’ dining options in the neighbourhood has been the longstanding Francobollo.

Still, the restaurant doesn’t take itself too seriously. Amongst the modern homey dining room, they play lively music so you’re not afraid to laugh out loud (the second floor reserved for those who like it quiet). Their menu even drops a few puns like the tagliatelle ‘Bollo’gnese ($27). Get it, ‘Bollo’gnese and Franco’bollo’?

The sauce is heavy on the meat (a combination of beef and veal), which is proper since it’s a Bolognese and not ragu. One of my husband’s signature recipes, I’ve learnt a lot about Bolognese and have been spoiled by his perfected concoction. Francobollo’s was decent, but too heavy on the tomato. Ultimately, it’s a fresher rendition but was missing that richness that less tomato and a touch of cream helps create.

Finding burrata at an Italian restaurant is not surprising, but having one that’s fresh and served at an ideal temperature isn’t always the case. Francobollo’s burrata ($32) was the consistency I crave: creamy and soft but not oozing. Served with peaches and a tomato salad the summery starter was simply seasoned with olive oil, balsamic reduction, and basil. I would have liked crostini versus bread sticks but skipping carbs in the summer never hurt anyone.

Besides, we were having our fill of carbs with the pastas. And in retrospect, should have gotten the bread ($3) earlier as the salty oiliness of the soft chewy ciabatta would have paired well with the burrata. 

If you’re craving something rich, order the braised short ribs pappardelle ($32). I was expecting a traditional beef broth or tomato-based sauce, so the white sauce was a surprise. Yet, it’s not an alfredo. Instead, a combination of sweet corn, mustard, and truffle creating a sweet creaminess with an interesting finish. I wouldn’t have pinpointed the sauce to contain mustard or truffle, but then it’s two ingredients that’s rarely combined. While I enjoyed the chunks of shredded short rib and the texture of the pasta, the sweet thick sauce threw me off. Luckily, my husband enjoyed the pappardelle, so we switched our orders.

Meanwhile, I rather enjoyed the corn used in the Caesar salad ($20; half of the order in the picture). Left in kernel form, the corn’s sweetness was contained and what escaped in a bite helped enhance the garlicky dressing – just a bit of sweetness without being in every mouthful. Who knows, maybe a similar usage in the pappardelle would help mellow out the sugariness. Oh, and this was a sizeable salad, so I’d recommend sharing.

Francobollo’s pistachio cheesecake ($16?) can also easily satisfy two people. Rich and creamy, the earthy nuttiness of the pistachio was a lovely change from the overly sweet chocolate, caramel, or fruit.

In an area where restaurant menus get printed and rarely change, I appreciate that Francobollo creates daily specials and morphs their menus regularly to keep things interesting. It’s the fortitude that’s required as Michelin chef restaurants begin to enter the neighbourhood.

In a nutshell... 
  • Must order: burrata and pistachio cheesecake
  • Just skip: braised short ribs pappardelle 

Overall mark - 7.5 out of 10


How To Find Them
 Location: Toronto, Canada
 Address: 1959 Avenue Road


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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!

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CLOSED: Scarpetta (Toronto)

Posted on Sunday, July 21, 2013 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 550 Wellington Street West
Type of Meal: Dinner

My first experience eating at Scarpetta was in Las Vegas after spending most of the afternoon outdoors for some fun in the sun at a pool party. After not eating since
breakfast, we were famished and right after ordering they presented us with a basket of stromboli (bread pin wheeled with salami), it was the most delicious thing at that time.
I'm happy to say the Toronto offshoot also offers this delicious bread (and more). In fact, their bread basket not only comes with the stromboli, but also crispy wedges of focaccia and soft airy ciabatta buns. Served with mascarpone whipped butter, caponata (like a vegetable tapenade) and olive oil, it’s perhaps the best bread basket I’ve ever had! It’s so good that a big risk of eating there is you’ll fill up before you food actually arrives. This is particularly a shame if you’re about to eat a three course Summerlicious menu!

Of the five restaurants I visited this year, Scarpetta was the only one that served everything I ordered on their regular menu. I feel they should be commended for this as you don’t get the feeling that they’re serving you a "slimmed down" version for the occasion. I wish more restaurants would follow this trend as what’s the point of eating something they don’t normally offer?

The highlights of the meal were the appetizers, so delicious that I could go back and just order a couple of them to be a meal itself.  My appetizer consisted of a generous portion of braised short ribs; three slices of tender yet non-fatty beef.  Sometimes braised meat can be overly salty but Scarpetta’s had just the right amount of flavour and went well with the farro risotto.  Mixed into the risotto were cubes of zucchini, other vegetables and gooey mild cheese.  To make this decadent dish even better a thin slice of parmesan cheese covered everything.
My friend’s creamy polenta was absolutely delicious and the most buttery rich polenta I’ve ever had.  Served with a little pot of mushrooms cooked with truffles, once spooned on the cheesy polenta it’s a dish that you wish you ordered yourself and could eat more of.
When the roasted pork chop arrived I was astounded by the sheer size of it.  Even though it was 1.5 inches thick, the meat was evenly cooked throughout and still tender - even the meat right at the bone was cooked to the same doneness as everything else.  I commend the kitchen for the great job they did at cooking the pork. The massive crusted chop sat on top a dollop of shallot puree and mixed sautéed greens.  On the side was a small rectangle of deep fried pork jowl.  I’m normally a big fan of the uber tender cheek meat; but, this was brined so much that it was unbearably salty so I just couldn’t enjoy it, what a shame.      
If you look at the picture below you may be under the illusion that the panna cotta is the small football shaped object on the side of dish.  In fact, that is just a coconut cream; the panna cotta is actually the entire bottom of the dish!  Covered with passion fruit syrup and pieces of diced pineapple the panna cotta was rich and flavourful.  If eaten with the pineapple it’s more tangy and light, whereas you can mix in the creamy coconut addition to sweeten everything up.  Scarpetta’s panna cotta was one of the best I’ve had. 

My friend’s cheesecake arrived like a work of art – one of the cylinders vanilla and the other blueberry. Served with marinated berries and crumbles of graham crackers on top, it was a good deconstructed cheesecake.
Scarpetta is where you go if you want decadent food; it’s definitely not for the health conscious.  With their hefty portions you certainly get the feeling that you’re enjoying a hearty home cooked Italian meal. Yet, their dining room is open and airy with high ceilings and the floor to ceiling windows.  Other than a large wine fridge along one wall everything is nice and opened and contemporary looking.  In the end, Scarpetta was a nice combination of delicious Italian food in a modern setting.  It’s definitely worth a try, just for their bread basket alone!



Is Summerlicious worth it?
As a special feature to the Summerlicious blogs, I will attempt to calculate the savings being offered (based on my meal selection).   
Summerlicious - $45
Regular menu - $63 - short ribs ($16), pork chop ($35) and panna cotta ($12)
Savings - $18 or 29%
* Congratulations to Scarpetta who actually offers the same dishes that's on their regular menu on the Summerlicious menu!

 Overall mark -  8 out of 10

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CLOSED: Bent (Toronto)

Posted on Wednesday, November 14, 2012 by
Location: Toronto, Canada
Address: 777 Dundas Street West   
Type of Meal: Dinner
It’s been years since I’ve eaten at Susur and Madeline; so, when news that Susur would be teaming up with his sons to open Bent was announced, I was excited to try his Asian fusion creations again.
Bent is much like many of the new west-end restaurants – small with compact seating where all that separates you from the neighbouring table is half a foot of space.  Much is discussed about its décor – it’s designed by Barbara Bent, Susur’s wife, and pays homage to them and their son’s childhood by including their toys and school pictures.  Indeed the family feel is interesting but what makes Bent great is the food.
As a warning, if you don’t like dishes that are strongly flavoured and a mixture of varying textures and tastes, you will not like Bent.  Undeniably, the main ingredients are often covered with so many sauces that you won’t be able to taste its natural flavour; but, it’s these distinctions that make Susur’s creations his own.


The highlight for me was their ceviche, which is surprising, as I'm normally not a huge fan of acid cooked seafood.  My favourite was the Peruvian style ceviche ($15) that incorporates tart lime juice, the heat of chili and freshness of cilantro.  All are laid on top of carpaccio slices of white snapper, pieces of mussels and calamari and a few in shell clams.  I love being able to fill the clams with the sauce and eat the clams straight from the shell.  The shaved red onions add a great crispy texture against the tender fish.
The tuna and watermelon ceviche ($15), although also chili and citrus based, has a sweetness to it from the cubes of watermelon.  The tuna is cut into cubes and more like the ceviche you’re typically used to. I actually prefer the carpaccio slices as it soaks up the flavours more and you can cut slices of the snapper and wrap it around the herb mixture.  Topping the tuna and watermelon ceviche were croutons of fried Chinese dough stick, which is an interesting play on the Asian traditions.  The croutons are great for soaking up the citrus spicy sauce.

We had many fish dishes that night, aside from the ceviches we also tried the tartare 2 ways ($10) - spicy tuna with avocado and onions and salmon with shallots, capers, gherkins and dill.  Both are served on top of a crispy sushi rice cake so it resembles eating a mini sushi pizza.  The dish was good but I found the rice cake a bit chewy and tough.  If it were perhaps thinner it may be crispier and add a better contrast to the tender fish.

Another was the smoked cod taro tacos ($15), which was personally my least favourite dish.  I liked to tomatillo and jicama salsa that topped the taco – it was refreshing and crunchy. The shells were interesting as they were made from fried taro slices; I liked the starchy crispiness.  The smoked cod mixture itself reminded me of a tuna fish salad and was okay.

Some of the meat dishes we had included the rare beef ($14), thin slices of what seemed like tenderloin beef that’s quickly seared and sits in an olive oil and ponzu sauce.  I’m normally not a carpaccio fan but, found this to be quite good, perhaps because the raw beef was masked with so many flavours.  The menu states it’s served with a crispy rice cake but on that night arrived with a parmesan crostini instead.  I didn’t mind the substitute but found the strong parmesan overwhelmed the delicate beef.

The Shanghainese steamed pork belly ($19) is marinated in Shao Hsing wine, although it was really hard to distinguish. It’s likely due to the Romano bean & turnip puree and poached apple sauce being so sweet that it covered up other flavours. In the end, the pork belly ended up tasting like any other braised meat, which isn’t necessarily bad, but just not very Shanghainese. I liked that the dish came with a mixture of fattier and leaner cuts to give variety to patrons.  I had the leaner slice and because of that it was a little tough. The poached apple, although to me tasted like pear, was too sweet for my taste and could be left out.

If you were going to get one hearty meat dish, I’d suggest the braised spiced short ribs instead ($22).  The meat is tender and went really well with the thick demi glace (?) and the silky truffled parsnip puree.  Even the roasted baby potatoes accompanying the dish were great.  Crisp on the outside, yet tender and light on the inside, with just a hint of rosemary; all baby potatoes should be prepared like this.

To balance out all the proteins we ordered the vegetarian roll ($10).  It had a good mix of flavours – sweetness from the braised daikon and eggs, earthiness of the shitake mushroom, saltiness from soy sauce and the bitterness of the legume on top.  However, overall nothing remarkably different from a typical futomaki roll you’d get at a sushi restaurant.

The duck salad ($14) was an interesting mix of tender shredded duck and vegetables dressed with a sweet and salty sesame dressing which reminded me to having cold sesame noodles. The coleslaw type mixture was topped with crispy taro slivers and served in a fried vermicelli bowl. Given the mixture of ingredients it was difficult to taste the duck itself unless you specifically pick it out.  The duck was surprisingly tender and I wish it was served in a slice format, rather than shredded, so it could be better appreciated.

 A salad I shockingly liked better was the kale and tofu salad ($10). I know, it sounds very healthy and bland so how could it taste good?  But, I loved the soft tofu and crunchy kale mixture.  Domino sized slices of tofu are marinated in a miso soy sauce and sesame dressing, so even when eaten by itself was wonderfully flavoured. Topped with large amounts of chopped kale coated with a sweet dressing (similar to the Japanese seaweed salads but less sugary), the dish was refreshingly light.

At Bent, all tables receive a complementary dessert, which pays is similar to getting fortune cookies, sliced oranges or red bean soup from Chinese restaurants. Given there was four of us, we got to try all four desserts (guests get one per person). 
  • The lemon curd was a welcomed addition after feeling so full as it was nice and light.
  • The coffee pannacotta with foam was nice and rich a favourite of my friend. 
  • The chocolate mousse with crispy cocoa rice bits was good and tastes just like it sounds.
  • The fried sesame ball with red bean filling in a rum caramel sauce was a bit tough as it’s likely made ahead of time and gets cold and stale.
We ended up ordering 11 dishes for four people and we were very full; likely a better number is five dishes for every two people.
Service was good – the staff were pleasant and checked in to make sure we actually liked the dishes. But, what could have greatly enhanced the dining experience are some simple cutlery improvements:  
  • After some of the saucier dishes, Bent should offer to change the patron’s dish.  My plate ended up having such a mess of sauces after 10 courses that flavours blended together. I’d like to enjoy the dishes as they were meant to taste; 
  • Given Bent encourages sharing dishes they should offer serving utensils – some simple like chopsticks, a spoon and a fork for the table would suffice; and 
  • A utensil holder, similar to the chop stick and spoon rest some Chinese restaurants use, would be helpful given Bent provides four utensils and it’s very difficult to ensure everything is balanced on the small plate once used.
In 2014 I returned to Bent for their Winterlicious menu. Unfortunately, I didn't think it was as successful as their regular menu.  To read about the Winterlicious offering please go here to read about it.

Overall mark - 8.5* out of 10

 * Mark could have been a 9 if Bent had a bit more polish in terms of servicing customers. The food was good but it’s the small things (like the recommended changing plates and having serving utensils) that scores higher marks.

____________________________
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!
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