Saturday, September 29, 2012

Review: King Street Trio Uptown

King Street Trio Uptown is gorgeous - I've been in love with the curving ceiling installation that mirrors the train tracks just outside with a deliberate yet playful air since I first saw pictures of them as the restaurant was opening.  Better yet, they've been upcycled from the old floorboards, like the vintage tin tiles on the walls (which were moved from the ceiling.)  Reinvention is always exciting.

Still, I'd not yet been in to check out the place (and the food!) so when M suggested it for our anniversary dinner, I was excited to wander over. One of the perks of dining early was that we were able to sneak in without reservations on a Friday (if dining after 6:30, I'd recommend them!)

From the door to the delivery of our dessert (the evening's feature, a pumpkin-white chocolate bread pudding served with [great!] ice cream, Chantilly cream, and strawberries, with a sparkler on top), service was friendly and professional. Our server was welcoming and very knowledgeable about the food and beverage options.

Along the line of beverages, I can't help but wish that the wine list displayed a little more variety, finding it more weighted towards the Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir varieties than I'd hoped.

...With that taken into consideration, the first two of those reds match well with the steaks featured on the menu - all of which are local Ontario beef, which is great to see. As to the last variety, Pinot Noir is well-known. And to be fair, there were a pair of Argentinian Malbecs, an Aussie Shiraz, a couple of French Bordeaux, and an Italian Ripasso and Chianti, all available by the glass. (The white wine list mirrors this, with six of the fourteen whites available by the glass or bottle being Chardonnay.)

When you look at it that way, the list is comprehensive in that a lot of the classics for each wine region are covered - but I'm thinking I'm spoiled in that I wished for something a little different, a little more out-of-the-ordinary.

...I know I shouldn't complain! The wines we chose were tasty, and maybe the choice of varietals helped me see past my usual VQA wine blinders (as an import to Ontario, I've always figured that, when in Rome...) and try the Valpolicella Ripasso. M enjoyed the Kaiken Malbec, and found it a great match for his steak and garlic mashed potatoes.

My salmon, served with a rutabaga mash (autumn-y, comfort food gloriousness) and shredded brussels sprouts, was cooked to order and not overwhelmed by either the mash or the brussels sprouts.

The attention to detail and plating was excellent throughout - though I couldn't help but wish for a little more of the berry puree that was swirled artfully around the salmon, which was more tease than coulis, portion sizes for the main courses and desserts are filling, leaning towards generous.

At the end of the day, King Street Trio prepares classic, if safe, food choices very well, with an eye towards some local sourcing, in an atmosphere that's chic, welcoming, and romantic.

King Street Trio Uptown on Urbanspoon

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Gastronavigation: Four Days in San Francisco (part 1)


Still adjusting to being back on Eastern Standard Time - California was a welcome change of scenery (though not particularly pace) and after spending a great weekend in Yosemite Park, M and I hopped across the Bay to San Francisco. He'd put a lot of thought and time into the Yosemite leg of our trip, and basically left the "city" part of the trip up to me. Which meant...

On our first day, we hopped on a bike tour out of Hayes Valley with a company called Streets of San Francisco - it was a blast, and although a lot of companies try for the "cruise the city with a cool friend who lives there already" vibe, these guys pull it off completely. We had a blast, and due to an ingenious route called the Wiggle (would I kid?) we did dodge the worst of the hills. Post Half Dome, my legs were very grateful for this reprieve.  It helped that our tour guide, Josh, was as savvy about food trucks as he was about the copious amounts of street art around the city's downtown.  

Lunch on our bike tour day found us darting under the San Francisco Chronicle's building for a small Off The Grid event - in the alleyway beneath the building, five or six food trucks waited. Food trucks, from what I could glean, have been booming in SF for the past two years, and as the trend is fairly new to Waterloo Region, it's inspiring to see what two years of ingenuity looks (and tastes) like.

It was tough to choose what to order, so Mike waited in line at The Chairman for steamed and baked bao, and I headed over to The Taco Guys' truck (right) for a summer squash taco and a Maui fish taco.  The summer squash taco and the pork belly bao (Chinese baked bun) with pickled daikon were standouts - summer-bright and packed with flavours that were at once comforting and unique.  ...mmm, pickled daikon.  We ate them too quickly to take pictures!

That said, both of these food trucks have a pretty serious food enthusiast following - we were glad to have the chance to try them at a smaller event. We found these food trucks again at the larger food truck gathering on Friday evening, and the lineup for the Chairman looked like it might be twenty to thirty minutes of waiting in line, easy!










At the end of the tour, we found ourselves back in Hayes Valley and wandering over to Smitten Ice Cream and its Kelvin machines that turn fresh cream and locally sourced ingredients into ice cream by using liquid nitrogen.  M was intrigued by the science, I by the sweet corn with berries ice cream. Though sweet corn was a flavour I chose for its quirky factor, bypassing salted caramel, which would normally be my YES PLEASE, NOW? choice, it was a worthy experiment. (And the blackberry sauce was perfect.) The texture of the ice cream, which the shop notes is less 'icy' than most ice creams as ice crystals don't have a chance to form in the flash-curing from the liquid nitrogen, is very smooth, allowing the delicate flavour of the sweet corn to shine through. Unusual, but yummy.

Day two, and M and I were en route to the Ferry Building's Farmer's Market... until, as we chilled out on a streetcar (we'd figured we'd take the scenic route) a bright green truck in the Financial District caught our eye.

"It's called the 'Nom Nom Truck," I explained as we waited at a stoplight. "If I don't get off this streetcar and check it out, my foodie friends back in KW (and some of our climbing buddies) will disown me."

M only laughed, following me across the road.



We split a lemongrass-chili banh mi (Vietnamese submarine sandwich; right) - the guy who took our order was great and split it in half for us. These are one of my favorite kinds of sandwiches, as I enjoy the collision of tastes, from the fresh, crunchy cucumber and carrot matchsticks to the sweet heat of the lemongrass chili chicken - the add-on of their vegan vegetable pate was brilliant. It added a savoury, earthy quality to the sandwich in the best of ways, and was completely different from anything I'd tried on a banh mi before.  (Now, to start talking with KW's own Givral Deli to see if they'd make something similar...)

 The Ferry Building's market is definitely a fantastic experience - not least because I was able to track down one of my favorite Japanese foods, okonomiyaki - with a Korean twist at Street Food Namu, Namu Gaji's traveling booth. (M has a picture of me smiling with said second breakfast in the minute before devouring it, but he's notorious for never uploading his pictures.)



Kimchi made for a satisfying twist on the pancake-like treat I'd enjoyed in Japan, and while I still think that Osaka-style okonomiyaki is my favorite, I floated around the Ferry Building somewhere around Cloud Nine.  M & I marveled at the wide variety of specialty mushrooms and their colours; my photo doesn't do the brilliant, burnt-orange-crimson colour of the lobster mushrooms justice!


I also got a kick out of the grow-your-own-mushrooms on display under massive bell (?) jars, and there were kits for sale, but I can't imagine Customs taking too well to my bringing one home as a souvenir!


At left is the inside of the Ferry Building. It reminded me of Chelsea Market in NYC on a variety of levels, and it was fun to have a fellow wanderer (M) with me, this time around.

We snacked on everything from airy vanilla bean marshmallows to a tall glass of Cowgirl Creamery milk - the latter of which was simple perfection, and probably a wiser treat than the home-made donuts in every shade and flavour just down the hall. (Another trip!)


Part Two will come; I'll leave you with a fun piece of chalkboard art: