THE STANDARD GRILL

848 Washington Street, (Under the Highline) at 13th Street, Meatpacking District, New York City, 212-645-4100

On our first day in Manhattan we walked the High Line to the Standard Grill.  We had made our reservations for 8:30 and were looking forward to a great Thursday evening.  We arrived a little early after a wonderful stroll along the High Line (if you visit Manhattan you have to walk it - it is both mesmerizing and relaxing).  The Standard Grill is in a hotel called The Standard and connects to the High Line Park.

We could hear the commotion emanating from the Standard from a block away.  It was buzzing.  We arrived at the bar to wait for our table and enjoyed a couple of cocktails.

There was a raw bar beside us that looked great.

There is a large patio that was quite busy and filled with people enjoying the vibe.  It is a great place for people watching and is very alive.

After a couple of cocktails at the bar we were seated and reviewed the wine list and menu.

We chose a nice 2011 Chianti Felsina.  It was smooth and reasonably priced.

For our appetizers Tom had the steak tartare, fines herbes, lardo toast.  It was tangy and filled with amazing flavours.

Mark had the tamarind glazed pork belly, charred onion, cucumber, crispy shallots.  He really enjoyed this dish.

My wife and I had the little gem salad, champagne-dijon vinaigrette, rye croutons.  It was cool and delicious.

For our mains my wife chose the Atlantic salmon, rye berries, pickled turnips, poppyseed dressing.

Thomas and I chose the one of the evening specials - short ribs, with beets, edamame puree, asparagus and other vegetables. It was outstanding - the meat just melted in your mouth and there was a lot of it!!

Mark chose the bourbon glazed pork chop, cheddar grits, roasted apples, pecans.  Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of this awesome dish.

We reviewed the desert menu.

For our deserts my wife and Mark shared a blueberry cheesecake.  

Thomas and I shared the Deal Closer - a bowl of decadent bittersweet chocolate mousse topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings!! It was incredible!!

We completed our dinners with coffee

and espresso

Greg was a great efficient waiter that was amusing and friendly. We thoroughly enjoyed our relaxed evening here and will return again when we come to New York City!!  This is an amazing restaurant!!

http://www.thestandardgrill.com/
 

TAVOLO 

South Oakville Mall, 1515 Rebecca St. Unit 19, Oakville, 905-827-2221 Mon. to Sat. 11 am to 10 pm, Sun. 12 noon to 10 pm.

Went to Tavolo with a number of fellas I worked with on a nice Friday evening in June.  There were six of us that arrived at about 8 in the evening.  We decided to order several bottles of Malbec wine.
We read our menus and selected our choices.

The kitchen was open and easy for patrons to view.  It was clean and very busy.

There was a good number of patrons this evening.

We began with several bottles of an Argentinian Malbec, which was quite good with lamb.

We ordered a number of different appetizers before our mains.

Zucchine Fritte with black pepper and peperoncino aoili

Fritturina Poseidon with Calamari

Margherita Pizza

Pizza Cacciatore

For our mains 4 of us had the grilled lamb cutlets with lentils, baby kale, topped with salsa verde.

I had the feature pickerel with quinoa, green beans and corn.

We all enjoyed our appetizers and mains.  The service was excellent and we all finished with espresso. 

 


http://www.tavolo.ca/

ABERDEEN TAVERN

432 Aberdeen Avenue, Hamilton On. (905) 523-7707, Closed Monday, Tues. - Sat. 11:30 am to 11:00 pm, Sun. 10:00 am to 3:00 pm

On a nice Thursday evening at the end of April we decided to try Aberdeen Tavern.  We had driven by many times and had heard a lot of good things about it and it seemed time to see for ourselves what good things were happening here.

There is a lovely outside patio that is always busy during the summer months.  In its previous life it was a bank and a quiet restaurant, but the new owners breathed new life into the space and it is quite different now.

The bar space is large and inviting. The layout works well.

The three of us were seated at a table near the bar area and were immediately greeted with a rather classy menu folder.

We selected a bottle from an extensive list of wines. It was one of their house reds Quattro Fontamara red and it was quite smooth and reasonably priced.  

We then selected our appetizers. My son Mark chose (as he always does) the pork belly - it was the Hoisin Glazed Pork Belly - he was quite impressed.

My wife and I chose the caesar salad - it was unique and delicious because it was not drenched in caesar dressing and had wonderful pancetta slices, garlic croutons and some parmesan.

Their list of mains caters to most tastes and has nice variety. 

Mark chose the butternut squash ravioli and enjoyed it.

My wife had the Lake Erie pickerel, it was surrounded with very flavourful accompaniments including olives, bacon puree and artichoke.

For my main I felt like a good pasta - and they did not disappoint.  I chose the shrimp and asparagus linguini. The linguini was perfectly cooked, the shrimp were tasty and tender in the white wine and butter sauce.

The three of us thoroughly enjoyed our evening here.  The space was very inviting, the meal was unhurried, the clientele were enjoying themselves and the atmosphere was great.  We will definitely return to enjoy more wonderful meals and evenings here.  Outstanding!!

http://theaberdeen.ca/

LA CARNITA

501 College Street, Kensington Market Area, Toronto, On., (416) 964-1555, Open Sunday and Monday 5:00 - 10:00 pm, Tuesday to Sat. 5:00 - 11:00 pm

On a Friday evening in March, my son Mark and I decided we were hungry after viewing some cars for sale in Vaughan.  It was getting getting close to supper time and we felt like something not too heavy. We came upon La Carnita on College Street (famous for their tacos) and it seemed like the right choice.  The signage is terrible but Mark had been here before so he knew of it.

When we arrived the entry was full of people waiting for seating, fortunately we were able to sit at the bar rather than wait.

We reviewed the bar list for a quick pre-meal drink and I chose the strawberry margarita. It was tangy and refreshing and the bar tenders were great.

Mark had the Who Shot Ya, with bourbon.  It did have a kick to it.

After a couple of sips we reviewed the food menu.

We decided to choose a variety of tacos. Mark chose the crispy cotija and in cod we trust. While I chose pollo frito and carnita.  All of these choices were absolutely delicious.

We also decided to complete our meal with tortilla chips with ancho chili powder and quacamole.

The tortilla chips were crisp and tasty and the quacamole was exceptional.  All in all we enjoyed our meal here and would recommend it to anyone who likes good tacos.  They were unique and loaded with flavour.  It can get very crowded in a hurry here, but it is worth the wait.

http://lacarnita.com/