Restaurant Porn: Splendido in Toronto

Foodies,

After our beautiful day out in the Prince Edward County wine region of Ontario, board member Jay Shampur and I and our pal Michael Wright stopped in for dinner at the celebrated Splendido restaurant in Toronto, owned by chef Victor Barry.

We ordered the standard tasting menu but got far, far more value for our money in both the amazing food and the high level of service. The starter was an unlisted Amuse Bouche of a smooth and creamy corn chowder shooter topped with fresh chives and bacons along with a tiny popover.

This was followed by a trio of Amuse Bouches that were listed together on the menu consisting of an oyster topped with a jalapeno vinaigrette, a lobster sashimi, and an intriguing radish and porcini mushroom canapé.

After the opening snacks (listed as exactly that on the menu), the actual tasting menu began with a beautifully presented Applewood Smoked Oyster on a bed of pureed potatoes and chives. The dish came out covered with a large ceramic dome that kept the smoke in until serving time.

Next was an Organic Irish Salmon Sashimi sitting on crispy white and black sushi rice with avocado and nori seaweed.

Next up was an intriguing vegetarian dish of a Braised Heirloom Bolero Carrot seasoned with ginger, coriander and pumpkin oil foam.

There was a brief respite from the plates afterwards where we were served a palate cleanser of artisanal multigrain bread served with foie gras mousse and cultured butter on the side. This was honestly the first time I have ever been served bread as the palate cleanser and not the aperitif and it was intriguing and worked well.

Then it was on to the main event: a perfectly cooked rare organic local striploin steak with pickled onions and mushrooms on the side topped with Parmesan cheese and plated on au jus gravy. Delicious. Honestly the low ambient light pic doesn’t do this dish justice.

And lastly for dessert we have the Ontario Strawberry Plate: panna cotta, sorbet, sesame chips, biscotti crumble and coriander leaves.

The dessert was followed by some complimentary Petit Fours which unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of but included a petit macaron, a blueberry marshmallow, a chocolate truffle and a passion fruit jelly.

For drinking with the meal, we had a Billecarte-Salmon Brut Rosé champagne and a Jean-Philippe Fichhet Meursault Les Gruyaches. Both were really nice. The Meursault went especially well with the smoked oyster dish. The champagne, of course, went with everything.

Incredibly, Splendido also offers a FOURTEEN COURSE menu deluxe tasting menu above and beyond this one. That menu is so extravagant that the complimentary finisher is an entire bottle of El Dorado 12 Year Old Rum served with whisky cancairn glasses for as many people in your party, and a freshly made virgin cocktail on the side created weekly by the bartender for you to spike it with as much rum as you like.

This was an an absolutely fabulous dining experience, and I mean experience. Food was incredible, service was impeccable and they got every little touch right. Of course, the food was simply spectacular. Can’t wait to go back for that 14 item menu.

Wow Tran, that looks and sounds like an absolutely brilliant meal. I shouldn’t have read this before dinner…

Tran. You and Jay really know how to find the good food.
Tell him hi for me.
Looks like a special meal.

Is corkage allowed? I don’t see the Meursault on their online wine list.

Corkage is allowed, $30 or $35 the last time I was there, although they’ve changed their policy a few times over the years - they used to allow 1 free bottle mid-week. They may still but I haven’t been in a while.

While still good, it was really at the top of Toronto dining when David Lee was running the kitchen.

I believe their corkage is now $40-50/bottle. No more free corkage at the bar early in the week.

Considering the ridiculous prices on the wine list, you’re still ahead of the game if you BYO.

I’m glad I was able to take advantage of free corkage at Splendido when I dined back in August, about 2 years ago. I wasn’t as impressed with the food as I was when I dined back in the 1990’s when it was still near the top of Toronto’s dining scene. Although it certainly appears to be much more casual in ambiance than it was before.

Ramon,

There have be multiple “phases” to the Splendido evolution. They renovated and made it a bit more casual (bringing in a la carte dining) while David Lee was still there. David and Yannick sold the place to concentrate on Nota Bene. Victor and Carlo, long time back and front of house, respectively took it over. That would have been during the time you were there last.

Recently (as in 3-4 months ago), Victor and Carlo parted ways. Victor got Splendido, Carlo got County General and its rights (he’s since opened County Cocktail in Leslieville and has plans for a third, I think on the Danforth).

With Victor taking complete control of Splendido, he’s decided to go back to the ways of old, wanting to make it the fine dining establishment in the city. Part of that is ditching a la carte and going back to tasting menu only. As Tran said there’s a “small” and “large” tasting menu that changes regularly.

Thanks Jay for the historical update and informing about the most recent change by the restaurant to going back to a fine dining establishment.

Just one questions for an out-of-towner wine-and-food-geek who gets to spend only 1 good fine-dining dinner on a trip to TO. My prior experiences with the over-inflated prices and limited wine list there is that it’s not worth perusing for a wine geek (imo). in terms of the food and service, is the $40-$50 per bottle corkage still worth using up there?

Ramon, if your 1 night is based on fine dining, then yes, I would think the corkage route is the way to go.

We tend to go for the level just below those top names and therefore can often get either no or less prohibitive corkage. Pretty much zero wine list values in town these days. At least with food you’d consider ‘refined’.

looks great!

My favorite local restaurant for tasting menus leaves some bread on the table all the way up until dessert is served, refreshing it as needed. I always use it to cleanse my palate between courses, and it works fantastically. I assume that’s why they have it there. The old-fashioned sorbet cleanser seems like exactly the wrong thing. I have no idea how that tradition ever started.

We were in Toronto a few years ago, partially for Mike Grammer’s 40th birthday. The meal we had at that time, was probably the finest meal we have had for years. It was truly outstanding and yes, David Lee was the chef. The service was impeccable as we seriously, had the best waiter ever. We had brought a few special wines, as it was Diana’s birthday and they comped all the corkage. I know this smacks of hyperbole, but I really loved this place. I understand that it is no longer functioning at this level; But for us, it was truly a memorable experience.


Cheers!
Marshall