02.08.12
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Winterlicious 2012: Brownstone Bistro & Bar

So not having posted in months, and rarely discussing anything around here anymore, perhaps now is an odd time to just announce in the early parts of a food blog that having recently started a company doing digital and social media marketing for friendly companies, I’ve recently taken Creemore Springs on as a client. Good folks up there in Creemore. Part of my duties there are to manage the Facebook and Twitter accounts, and in doing so I’ve recently become aware of Brownstone Bistro & Bar in Toronto. One can excuse my lack of knowledge of them earlier as they’re unfortunately located a few storefronts from barVolo, and thus it’s understandable I’ve never made it that far up the street before. My friend, Katie, had recently expressed interest in starting a baking blog and I was leaving a meeting with my old colleagues at 58Ninety, and thus a dinner gathering seemed a great idea. An even better idea? My first experience at a Winterlicious menu.

For those from areas outside the centre of the universe, Winterlicious is an annual Toronto event where restaurants across the city feature fixed price menus for lunch and dinner at reduced prices (and often sizes). It’s apparently popular, not that I’d know, but Brownstone was taking part and it was $4 Creemore night. Decisions make themselves at times.

Appetizer

Eggplant, Compania mozzarella cheese, tomato basil sauce

We passed up Mushroom Strudel with brandy cream sauce and PEI Smoked Salmon Salad with Tropea red onion, capers, English cucumber, and balsamic to opt for Aubergine Parmigiana – Eggplant, Compania mozzarella cheese, and tomato basil sauce. It was an excellent appetizer. Perfectly cooked, spiced with a deft hand, and resting on a very nice tomato sauce.

 

Main

Savoy Spinach, parmigiano, roasted tomato sauce

Coq Au Vin and Filet of Sole in lemon caper butter sauce were inviting, but Yukon Potato Gnocchi with Savoy spinach, parmigiano, and roasted tomato sauce won out here. It was a well-sized portion with an obscenely sized garnish. I’ve only recently developed a taste, and possible fascination, with gnocchi and it’s many variations. Texture these were spot-on, with a bit of give but feeling like a dough. Taste wise they needed a salt and perhaps a bit of the spice that rested on top, but the sauce was rustic and tasty.

 

Dessert

Chocolate Sauce

I never gave a passing thought to Banana Tempura with vanilla Ice cream, paused briefly on Au Jus Pear with dusted cinnamon, and then settled on Bread Pudding in chocolate sauce. I have very little experience with bread pudding, effectively beginning and ending with a Young’s Double Chocolate Bread Pudding I made for Easter a year or so back, inspired by Chuck’s Day Off. Both of us felt a bit saddened by the sheer lack of dessert on the plate, as evidenced in the picture above. Tasted fine, but I’d have hoped for a slightly larger presentation with a better chocolate sauce. But I’m also a dessert freak, so results may vary.

All told, I enjoyed my first Winterlicious experience, and I was pleased with the service, atmosphere, and food at Brownstone Bistro & Bar in Toronto. If I wasn’t such a beer whore I’d probably have made it there earlier, and I think the future holds more than a few stops for lunch and dinner there. I just may grab my drinks a few doors down the road before I get there. :)

 

10.17.11
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Beers 1,068 – 1,070: Stoutoberfest

In the midst of getting a company off the ground you’d think I’d have more to talk about than what beers I’ve had. No. No, I don’t. All the serious business is taking off over at rickjessup.com, so that leaves the emptying of the cellar as the primary focus over here. I’m sure other things will come up. I’m realizing I need a real smartphone, though. Gotta get on that. So what brought me to illustrious #1,070?

Garrison Brewing Oktoberfest Brau: A 4.9% Märzen from Halifax, Nova Scotia. I have to go on record with a shocking revelation – I have not yet thoroughly enjoyed a Garrison product. I know people love their stuff, especially the Imperial IPA, but I just don’t. Unfortunately, this was no exception. I had enjoyed a stunning Sam Adams Octoberfest beforehand and this simply didn’t measure up. Muted flavours, lacking in the expected malts, just disappointing. I think my last hope is Martello Stout cask at Cask Days in two weeks.

Cannery Brewing Maple Stout: A 5.5% Stout from Penticton, British Columbia. Gotta love a stout whose slogan is “stout, dark and handsome.” I’d had a couple Cannery products a number of years back and found them acceptable but certainly not memorable. Still, I love the combination of maple and stout so what the heck. The aroma was solid, great maple base coming from an artificial maple flavouring they add. That same product issues a great maple flavour a step above the common flavours one expects from “maple.” The big victory here is the huge body, smooth and silky mouthfeel. It’s like drinking a lamb. Not really.

Black Creek Stout: A 5.0% Stout from Toronto, Ontario. I still haven’t made it out to see this brewery, a replica of a historic brewery located at Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto. Every GTA kid remembers the field trips to Pioneer Village, what with the bonnets and butter churning. Turns out they now churn out some solid, old-fashioned, traditional beers. They don’t go crazy, just delivering solidly brewed basics. This roasty, dry stout is no exception.

Oh, and speaking of Cask Days – I got my ticket. I’ll be hitting the 12-5 session, and I hope to see some of you there. Flag me down if you’re going to join me!

10.14.11
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Beers 1,065 – 1,067: Ye Olde Funnel Blower

It seems one peril of Toronto’s new craft beer fascination is that products that were once easy to come by during seasonal releases have become decidedly less so. I think every release for the past year or so has seen at least one inviting product – usually one of my beloved stouts or porters – horded and off the shelves before I can make my way south to a real LCBO. This time around it was Box Steam Funnel Blower that seemed poised to escape my grasp. I had a lunch with some old friends in Mississauga and hit up the website to find a few items noted as being available at Orion Gate. Sure enough, there it was. So anticipated was it that I bought two, along with the Ayinger Celebrator noted below, and an Aecht Schlenkerla Rauchbier – the smoked meat beer, for the uninitiated.

So there’s a look at the rest of this week’s beers:

Brouwerij Van Honsebrouck Bacchus: A 4.5% Flanders Red Ale from Belgium, obviously attractive in that it was entirely wrapped in sexy paper. This is not a style of beer I’ve developed a taste for as of yet, unfortunately. I understand it’s well thought of and well made, and I did drink the entire thing. It’s almost cloyingly sweet, and as is often the case, warmed to something more enjoyable than what came out of the fridge.

Ayinger Celebrator: A 6.7% Doppelbock from Germany, extremely well rated, and something I was excited to try. I wasn’t disappointed. You can see the pour was quite dark, and it was so flavourful and thick my brain didn’t want to believe it was a lager. The further through this journey I get the more I find myself enjoying bocks, and specifically doppelbocks. This guy is probably my favourite doppelbock yet, up there beside Paulaner’s.

Box Steam Funnel Blower: A 4.5% Vanilla Porter from the United Kingdom, and what appeared to be the catch of the autumn released based around the craft beer community discussion. I was.. underwhelmed. Granted, the pour burst forth with vanilla, and the aftertaste is something to behold. But the beer itself was light, quite bubbly and lacking in any sort of depth. It was almost watery.

So that’s 1,065 through 1,067. I need to pick up a Cask Days ticket, no doubt those few hours will rocket through this list for me. And I’m hopefully close to a Night of Stouts with some friends where I can rid my cellar of some pretty remarkable darks.

10.11.11
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Beers 1,060 – 1,064: Including the Phantom Addition

It was a packed long weekend, I might get into a few of the other details, but since most of the interest around here nowadays is in what I drink let’s have at it:

The Ghosttown was one of the weirdest beers I’ve ever had. It would seem cost prohibitive to add absinthe to a beer but that’s certainly what I tasted. It wasn’t a thick or heavy stout, running somewhere closer to a dark brown ale with odd flavouring than a stout. The Goliath was a traditional English Bitter, well done but not worthy of adulation and praise by any means. The Vobiscum Triple was tasty enough, and hid its 9% well, but I’ve had far, far better triples in my time. I still hold good memories of their Blanche, though.

Ah, King Goblin. So if you know much about beer you’ve probably tried Hobgoblin, unless you were scared off by the “lagerboy” insults of the label. King Goblin takes the 5.2% Hobgoblin and waits until there’s a full moon (for serious), then removes the pale malts and adds some Sovereign and Cascade hops to the Styrian and Fuggles to create a stronger tasting, darker 6.6% brew that bears some similarities, but is really more than “stronger Hobgoblin.” I loved it. I’m always amazed at Wychwood’s ability to churn out full-flavoured, strong ales that also refresh. It’s tough to do.

So where’d beer 1,060 come from? Research. I was updating Facebook Timeline on the weekend with my old vacations, sorting through old blog posts here, and found an entry indicating I had enjoyed a Samuel Adams Cherry Wheat years ago. Who knew? It’s on the list.

10.07.11
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Beers 1,055 – 1,059: Indie Ale House, Beau’s, Great Lakes

It appears everything I’ve done in my life has brought me to the point where people either know me for drinking beer or social media, sometimes both together. I guess everybody needs to be good at something.

So this week came the opportunity to combine my two loves as long time friend of OA, Alex, who’s been hard at work on writing ebooks lately, offered to ply me with craft beer in exchange for stealing my Foursquare secrets. I’d link to his books but I think it’s a secret that I’m leaking him this info, and let’s be honest, if you wanted to read books referencing me there are other options.

So for those wondering beers number 1,055 through 1,059 were:

Indie Ale House is new and it’s a great first effort, what you’d expect from a West Coast pale ale with fresh hop aroma and great malty/hoppy balance. Beau’s regularly churn out awesome stuff, and it reminds me I still have a numbered first edition Bog Father in my cellar to crack. The Great Lakes lineup, split amongst Burger Bar and Volo, were all great and likely had in order of preference. I’d had high hopes for a peppercorn saison, and while it was good, I wanted it to be great. Still, how Great Lakes continues to turn out what seems like 15 great beers a week is beyond me.

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