Alo
While researching where to eat in Toronto, there was one name that kept popping up again and again: Alo, which has been selected as the best restaurant in Canada for the past couple years. Whatever your stance is on best restaurant lists, we can at least all agree that they are good restaurants. So after looking through sample menus and diner photos, I decided that I really wanted to eat here, but I knew that getting a reservation would be a tough feat, if not nearly impossible. Being honest, I also kind of dropped the ball a little bit and forgot about reservation release day. If you can picture it, I had this moment of clarity in, of all places, the shower, where I was so immediately panic-struck that I was momentarily paralyzed before running out, dripping wet, to my laptop, where I very luckily snagged one of the last available slots during our trip. In the end, I'm so glad that we made it - it was totally worth this roller coaster of emotions.
Gougères, pommes soufflés with caviar, and two foie gras(?) bites that I did not eat.
Cocktails
Striped bass, barley miso, sudachi, puffed barley, grape
New Zealand salmon, apple purée, vinegar, sliced gala apple, pickled young ginger, bok choi, sorrel
Seared Hokkaido scallop, bernaise, herb sauce, crouton, shaved white asparagus
Potato and manchego tortellini, potato espuma, shellfish emulsion, fermented chili oil
Crispy Pork(?)
Carolina Gold rice, parmigiano foam, blue foot chanterelle, black garlic. The rice was similar to congee, which sounds basic and ... breakfasty, but it was so good. It was like what a little, baby congee idolizes in its youth and spends its life dreaming that it can become some day.
Brioche and Butter
Amberjack hamachi, vermouth morels, asparagus
Armagnac caramel, earl grey espuma, pineapple
Raisin verjus, malted buckwheat ice cream, crispy buckwheat, milk chocolate mousse, crispy milk chocolate
Rhubarb, beeswax, honey
Post-dinner drink at the bar
Post-dinner drink at the bar
Date: May 2018
Camera: Canon 6D, Leica Q