On a cold winter day, my friend and I were excited to warm up to Canadian cuisine at Canoe. The restaurant sits above the TD Centre on the 54th floor and offers unparalleled views of our beloved Toronto. My friend and I were both excited to try out the Winterlicious menu at a restaurant that has received many accolades for its inventive Canadian menu. I admire that Canoe builds close relationships with suppliers and farmers across our country to acquire premium ingredients. With a history that spans over 20 years, ‘Canoe crafts inspired dishes reflective of our country’s diverse landscape, history and culture’. As a participant of the City of Toronto’s Winterlicious program, Canoe offered an exquisite three-course lunch that we were so glad to have tasted. The Executive Chef John Horne and Chef de Cuisine Ron McKinlay crafted a contemporary Canadian Winterlicious menu featuring diverse seasonal flavours.
To Start, my friend tried the québec foie gras parfait enhanced with peanut oat muesli, pickled Niagara apple Muskoka cranberry and sorrel. I selected the sunflower oil poached salmon complimented with curried rouille, ink chips and pickled cucumber.
The Winterlicious lunch menu at Canoe offered a variety of excellent options which made this decision quite difficult. For the main course, I opted for the root cellar vegetable lasagna enriched with roasted squash, brown butter ricotta, pumpkin seeds and sage. My friend went for the Alberta beef short rib accompanied with stewed red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, Melba toast and mustard marrow sauce.
Dessert is what I enjoy the most and I was not disappointed. We ordered the birch syrup and molasses cake which was served with vanilla screech ganache and hazelnut praline. The other dessert we tried was the osprey bluffs honey poached pear which was accompanied by whipped sheep’s cheese, graham crackers and Espelette sugar glass. Each of our choices were quite different in flavour but both were superb. I would even go back to Canoe just for the dessert.
