Best almond croissant ever - Alsatian patisserie in Toronto

I saw the almond croissant on the table as I walked into the patisserie - I knew I have to have it.   When I sat down at my table with my croissant, the woman at the next table took a bite of hers and said, "This is the best almond croissant I have ever tasted in my life!".  I looked at her and said, "Really?"  She looked like she is thirtysomething, haven't been around for long for sure but it set the right tone for my first bite.  And what a sensation it was!  Biting through the crunchy top layers, toasted almonds breaking up in my mouth, warm almond paste spilling onto my palette, then gently (trying to act civilized) tearing through more soft and crunchy layers  - it was heavenly!  

This IS the best almond croissant I have ever tasted!  It's better than the ones I'd tried in Paris, the home of the croissant.  The layers, density and consistency of the dough were all just right, as was the filling - it literally filled the croissant from end to end.  This is one instance where it doesn't matter how the croissant was cut up if we were sharing.  And of course, in the end, after I finished my half, I had to go and get another one, my lenten resolve shredded in pieces.  

After I calmed down enough to look around me, I found myself surrounded by the most exquisite pastries and cakes.  I thought I was sitting in a Parisian cafe.  But this is the Patisserie la Cigogne on Bayview Avenue, an Alsatian patisserie in Toronto.   The photos speak for themselves.

I visited on a Sunday afternoon around 1:45 pm - in case you want to time your visit when the almond croissants are still warm...

Bresse Hen at Le Bristol

My heart pounded with excitement when a waiter walked toward our table carrying in his hands a balloon in a copper pan.  But my excitement was dashed quickly.  He walked past us to the two men at the table next to ours.  They had ordered the same meat course – a young Bresse hen cooked in a pig’s bladder. 

Poularde de Bresse cuite en vessie (Le Bristol)

We had been in the restaurant for an hour and half and had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  Each of us had a glass from the Champagne cart for aperitif, and ate through two amuse-bouches and an entrée.  The wine (a 2000 Corton Charlemagne from Antonin Guyon) and the incredibly tasty bread and butter would sustain us while we waited for our hen.    

First amuse-bouche – foie gras custard with green herb gelee (right),

white fish in foam (center), oyster cucumber gelatin ball (left)

Second amuse-bouche – seafood mousse

Monsieur A’s entrée: Encornet et caviar imperial (stuffed squid with caviar)

Madame A’s entrée: Noix de coquilles (scallops)

Our waiter presented the copper pan to us before proceeding with the tableside service.  He cut open the balloon of a pig’s bladder and extracted from it a whole young Bresse hen.  He carved the bird and served the skinless half breasts with crayfish, black truffle, chanterelle, green asparagus and a cream sauce of vin jaune, foie gras and hen liver.  The tender and flavourful breast meat was enhanced by the traditional rich sauce.

Carving the Bresse hen tableside

Poularde de Bresse, supreme au vin jaune, royale d’abats,

ecrevisses, girolle, asperges vertes et truffe noire

The rest of the hen was taken back to the kitchen for the second part of the dish – a delicious bouillon de poule enriched with foie gras and truffle, and adorned with juliennes of thigh meat.  It was velvety with an intense aroma and flavor.  Given its richness, the small portion size was perfect.   

We were too full for the glorious cheese cart.  Nevertheless Madame A ordered a Campari and grapefruit sorbet.  The kitchen sent out a complimentary sorbet for me so that Madame did not have to eat alone.  We ended the lunch with a soothing tisane and ignored the petits fours that came with the tea service.

Dessert: Pamplemousse et Campari en sorbet (Campari and grapefruit sorbet)

Our three-course lunch lasted over three and half hours.  It was a wonderful meal.   We loved every minute of it, having a great time with the excellent food and the flawless professional service.  The luxurious winter dinner room with 18^th century wood panels, mirrors, tapestries, paintings and Baccarat chandeliers was beautiful.  It was also a good place for people watching but not eavesdropping as the tables were set far apart. 

The Winter Dining Room (Le Bristol)

In summer, the restaurant moves to another dining room that overlooks the largest hotel garden in Paris.  As far as I know, it is the only Parisian restaurant that changes its venue with seasons.  

Restaurant: Hotel Le Bristol, Paris

Chef: Eric Frechon

Pork aspic (肉凍) and the best puffs ever (高力豆沙 or高力芝麻)

One of my favourite foods when it was Chinese New Year at home was the pork or chicken aspic my parents used to make (and I mean both my mom and my dad).  They would boil a whole chicken or pork trotters, remove the meat from the bones, add gelatine to the soup (in the case of pork trotters, they need only to add very little gelatine because of the natural gel from the trotters), put the meat back in with a touch of fish sauce and put the whole thing in the fridge.  When it's unmolded, it was one of the best  cold appetizer ever, which made it handy for serving to the non-stop stream of visitors on the first couple of days of the lunar New Year.  Those were the days!  Today, in a fit of nostalgia, I went to a Shanghai style restaurant that serves something very similar.  It's not as good as what my parents made, but good enough - now if only there were more jello and less meat!

This restaurant with the odd name, Skyland de Shanghai, serves one of the best desserts ever.  This is deep-fried egg whites with bean paste inside (高力豆沙).  This is a dessert which originated from Beijing and is called 高力 (high power) because the egg whites have to be beaten with very high power until they are stiff, flour and corn starch are then folded in to make it into a paste, bean paste or other sweet paste added in the centre, then deep fried.  Whipping the egg whites is the tricky part, as in all puff pastries, the egg whites have to be at room temperature and the beater clean, the flour folded in gently without overstirring, making sure not to let the air out of the egg whites.  Other than the traditional bean paste, I noticed a version with black sesame paste today and promptly ordered it as I've never tried it.  Obviously the black sesame has a more intense flavour but I prefer the texture of the bean paste - that didn't stop me from eating three of these, in lieu of noodles or other starch...

Squirrel fish?

One of the most important "symbolism" in a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner is the presence of a food with "head and tail" to denote a good beginning and end and also the pun on the sound of the Chinese  word "fish"魚 which also sounds like 餘"leftover".  Half of this character 餘 is made up of the Chinese character 食 (eat), yet another indication of how important food is in Chinese culture.

So for a very good reason, we ordered the traditional "head and tail" dish when we had our Chinese New Year's Eve dinner at Delicious Restaurant last night.  We had all the regular goodies - their famous Hainan chicken and braised pork trotters, both perfectly done.  The grand finale was the very delicious "Squirrel fish", so called because in the traditional dish, the fish would curl up when deep-fried and with the head and tail arranged so that it looks like a squirrel.  I have had this dish at several restaurants in Canada but have only seen one that actually looked like a squirrel when I was in China.  But this one tastes terrific (and looks good) with a sweet and sour sauce and because it was the last dish in the dinner, it's almost like dessert.  The way it was served, with the fish almost standing, was both for looks and for practical reasons - the crispy fish and meat didn't get soaked in the sauce and so stayed crisp. The meat was detached from the bone when it was fried so that even the bones were crispy. The tail and fins were all crunchy, and more importantly for the symbolism, in tact.  Perfect!

A Special Dinner at Namu Gaji

David Lee was very kind to arrange for us and two friends a special dinner at Namu Gaji, the well regarded and popular restaurant run by him and his two brothers. (Namu Gaji is known for its “New Korean American cuisine”, of which the spirit and backbone is Korean; the technique and presentation Korean, Japanese and western, often with a creative twist.)

Our dinner started with an amuse–bouche, a creamy soft tofu topped with nori, jako (small dried fish) and sesame.  The crunchy topping enhanced the dish with a savory flavor and a contrasting texture.  It did a perfect job to whet our appetite.

The first course was “toro, oyster, shiro dashi, pickled mustard”.  White truffle slices graced an oyster and two cubes of toro.  Dashi (dipping sauce) was poured tableside.  It was a delicious bowl of luxury.  David suggested a bottle of Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine Sur Lie – Luneau-Papin “Domaine Pierre de La Grange” Vieilles Vignes 2010 – which paired perfectly with the seafood.

The second course was a refreshing “beet, avocado, watermelon radish” –  roasted red beets in small cubes, slices and chunks, arranged with ripe avocado wedges, paper thin watermelon radish slices and micro-greens.  It was a delightful salad to prepare us for what to come.

Next came the second amuse-bouche: a fried egg dressed with uni butter, pancetta and mushroom.  The rich sauce had a hint of sweetness that suggested white miso.  It was particularly satisfying when mixed with the runny yolk.  I wished that there were some bread to mop up the plate.    

 

The third course was “shiitake mushroom dumpling” with nori.  Two dumplings with sauce was a simple and yet flavorful dish.   

The fourth course was “crab risotto, preserved lemon, white truffle”.  Chef Michael shaved tableside white truffle from Alba all over the rice.  The earthy perfume was intoxicating.

David surprised us with bowls of makgeolli (Korean rice wine) for the table.  During our conversation before dinner, I casually mentioned drinking home-brewed makgeolli in Osaka.  It happened that the chef had a private bottle in the back.  That’s genuine hospitability. 

The last course on the menu was “bap sang: kanpachi, dashi butter, pickled vegetable, dry aged rib eye, grilled bamboo shoot”.  Bap sang is a traditional Korean individual table setting with rice and side dishes served at the same time.  In our case, it was a bowl of premium Kushihikari rice with elaborate side dishes consisting of kimchee, bean sprouts, a clear soup, grilled fish and beef.  Kanpachi (young yellowtail) is one of my favorite fish.  The chef was thoughtful to serve kama (fish collar) to the men and fish belly to the women.  Each also had two pieces from the back of the fish.  I enjoyed in particular the succulent meat hidden behind the bone of the fish kama.  My back pieces were cooked on the outside and raw in the center; the meat was soft and tender.  The two chunks of rare dry aged New York steak were perfectly cooked.  The bap sang was easily a meal by itself. 

Dessert was not listed on our menu.  It looked like a thin slice of pastry topped with shredded coconut and green tea powder.  When I took a bite, it melted slowly to reveal whole black soy beans that came from the restaurant’s own farm.   Different textures and flavors exploded in my mouth.  I went for another bite, and another, until it was all gone.

We ended the meal with a pot of fragrant and soothing lavender tea.

The food far exceeded our expectations.  The service was warm and impeccable.  Most of all, the hospitability of our host made it a truly unforgettable dinner. 

More Pork Belly!

We went on our annual Winterlicious visit to Pangaea and was surprised to see Pork Belly on the lunch menu.  How could I resist!  I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't try pork belly made at Pangaea at Winterlicious prices! 

It turned out to be an excellent choice - superbly done with just the right amount of melt-in-your-mouth fat, and the meat tender.  I don't recall trying pork belly done this way - it must have been braised, then sliced, then seared on both sides to reduce the fat and make it crisp.  It was done to perfection.  The grilled quail appetizer was just right too but clearly overshadowed by the pork belly.  (sigh!)

What I love about Pangaea - it's always consistent and never disappoints!

Pork belly with rapini, wild mushrooms, onions and sweet potatoes - great combination

The quail sitting on a bed of crispy potato salad and wild mushrooms

Pecan tart - the best!

Flourless chocolate cake - I swear I could taste the liquor in it!

Cinnamon Panna Cotta - ginger molasses cake