Restaurant Porn: ALO RESTAURANT in Toronto

Foodies and Winos,

Board member Jay Shampur and I ventured to Alo restaurant, a newly opened tasting menu focused restaurant that just opened here in Toronto. It’s run by Chef Patrick Kriss who used to work at another of our favorite places Splendido.

It turns out that the date we booked was their one-monthiversary and we booked the extended 14 item tasting menu (which ended up being much more with bonuses thrown in) at the open kitchen counter where we could watch every dish being assembled and taken to the pass where the final touches were put on them before being sent out.

The first amouse bouche was a fresh Maritime Lameque oyster and a sea urchin sashimi on pickled vegetable. The oyster was fresh I loved the interplay between the creamy umami and the sour crisp pickled vegetable.

The second amouse was Hamachi done two ways – a cube of Hamachi loin flash-grilled on a skewer and Hamachi belly sashimi style sandwiched between two Panko crackers.

The third and final amouse was a dollop of fresh local Ontario corn sorbet topped with a freshly made corn chip.

We then began the courses themselves starting with Madai, aka Japanese sea breem, sashimi with asparagus foam. Very creamy textured sashimi, the asparagus complementing the fish quite well.

In the only restaurant I have ever personally seen this done, the traditional bread and butter starter was given the upscale treatment as it became our next course, Pain au Lait. It was created by chef Patrick with the idea of it being equal to the other courses and not merely an expected courtesy. Thus, it was treated exactly like one.

The Pain au Lait consisted of a tender flaky bread made using the leftover buttermilk from their housemade cultured butter which is itself then served right alongside the bread. Sweet and light as a pillow, it was easily the single finest piece of white bread I have ever had in a restaurant bar none.

Out next was a dish that has already garnered the restaurant a bit of fame: the Carolina Gold Rice. This deceptively simple dish consists of perfectly cooked plain white rice topped with melted fresh cultured butter for a sauce and garnished with some crumbled white popcorn.

Kinda plain dish for a fancy tasting menu restaurant, right? Well the rice is actually a near-extinct breed grown in South Carolina only with a very unique nutty flavor. The crumbled popcorn added extra texture and flavor. Deceptively simple, as I said, but also highly addictive. I could’ve eaten five times the amount that they gave us.

Then came the Chawanmushi, a ragout of Saskatchewan grown chanterelles, roasted tomatoes and herbs. This was meticulously put together by hand by the staff using kitchen tweezers. In fact, they used kitchen tweezers on every single dish in much the same way a sushi chef uses chopsticks.

Next was a BC Dungeness crab polenta with fresh corn kernels and herbs. The sweet crab and corn complemented each other very well with their respective sweetnesses.

My main was a deliciously tender perfectly done braised Dorset Lamb neck au jus that was melt in your mouth to die for. Jay’s main was a piece of just barely cooked BC wild sockeye salmon sitting on a bed of pan-roasted vegetables. When I say just barely cooked, I mean just that. It actually looked raw on the plate until I took a much closer look and photographed it to show the contrast in the just barely seared flesh on the outside. Delicious. I asked chef Patrick what inspired him to choose the neck of all cuts. He simply smiled at me and said, “Because it’s a delicious cut.” Good answer.

The courses now over, we were served a bonus palate cleanser which was not listed on the menu to prep us for dessert consisting of homemade crostini and cheese stick pirouettes paired with a Camarise compote. Camarise is a rare berry grown in Quebec that is like a cross between blueberries and blackberries.

The staff then offered us the option of having a cheese course, a bonus also not listed on the menu, either before or after the TRIO of desserts headed our way next. We opted for the cheese course first which consisted of a Quebec goat cheese log paired with fresh Niagara nectarines, yellow plums and cherries and candied walnuts.

First dessert was an Ontario yellow plum sorbet paired with Ontario yellow plum butter (think apple butter variation, not cream butter) topped with a foamed milk and sprinkled with popcorn brittle. This was intense, sweet and tart and worked perfectly as a palate cleanser after the creamy cheese and setting up the next dessert.

Our second dessert was a white chocolate mousse ribbon paired with a fresh honeydew granita on a bed of fresh made crumble. Now honeydew is not a flavor that ever came to my mind as a match for white chocolate but it was perfect together and it does make sense when you think about it. Both are essentially the umami of chocolate and fruit.

Our third and not so final dessert as it would turn out was a white chocolate ganache disk topped with caramel shards compressed Ontario peaches, blueberries and cherries. Quite refreshing for a dense white chocolate dessert.

Did I say three desserts? BONUS! Due to a miscommunication where Jay and I heard “dark” chocolate when the server meant “DENSE” chocolate, the staff kindly prepared yet another chocolate based dessert for us after Jay inquired about our allegedly “missing” dessert and wondered where the dark chocolate was.

Our generous bonus was a milk and dark chocolate ganaches were served in milk and dark chocolate rings sitting in a dollop of white chocolate and decorated with more dark ganache and chocolate curls. The only thing that floored me more than the delicious and smooth combination was the extra service and dessert borne out of a simple misunderstood word which was far above and beyond the call of duty and was very much appreciated. We also received at this time some petit fours to finish off consisting of a Pate a Choux cream puff and a Pate a Fruit Cerise cherry jelly.

THE WINES

Alo being newly opened, its off to the wine list we go. To give you an idea of how well the place is doing on their one monthiversary: of the

4 wines you see here, just ONE is actually left available on their wine list, the Riesling. You will not find any of the others on the list at this time anymore. Excellent timing.

CEDRIC BOUCHARD 2009 ROSES DE JEANNE La Haute-Lemblée Blanc de Blanc-- Not being a Chardonnay fan usually, I have avoided blanc de blanc champagnes like the plague but this one absolutely changed my mind. It was so fine and delicate and smooth in texture I actually thought that it was Pinot Blanc. Quite a suprise with soft willowing baked apple aromas and flavors with a touch of vanilla and lees and a creamy texture. Really quite good and eye-opening for me.

SYBILLE KUNTZ 2012 MOSEL RIESLING Qualitätswein trocken/dry – A good and precise dry Riesling that went very well with the food. As a wine, it falls short of the lofty standards set by the recent Clemens Busch Marienburgh Fahrley-Terrassen Rielsing and Dr. Burklin-Wolf Jesuitgarten ones which were like drinking laser beams. Of course, those latter two are also $100 Rieslings. This costs nowhere near as much. It’s still crisp, aromatic and a good food pairing. Just not as intense and laser-like as the other two I’ve mentioned.

CHATEAU MONTELENA 2008 NAPA VALLEY CHARDONNAY – OK, you’ve read many, many times how I hate Chardonnay, right? I take it all back. I LOVE Chardonnay… when it’s made like this. Blind, I would’ve called this the finest white Burg I’ve ever had. All the delicacy and minerality and finesses of a Burgundy but an underlying sweet and fresh fruit structure that gives it away as California all underscored by the finest perfectly balanced butter flavors.

If all Chardonnay drank like this, I’d be drinking it all the time. Absolutely blew me away at the table, and then Jay told me about the winery’s history in the Judgment of Paris (Google it up) and he picked this wine specifically because he knew about it. Great choice. A life-changing eye-opener of a wine. Far better than any Burgundy I have ever had to date. I must have more of this and am actively seeking it out. Me, an avowed ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) charter card-carrying member, is actively seeking out a Chardonnay. Wow. Definite WOTN.

BOUTARI 2009 VINSANTO – This Greek Vinsanto was dark brownish and full of raisin and toffee flavors with a roasted coffee edge to it. Very nice with the chocolate. Had I not introduced Jay to the 20 Year Old Argyros previously, this might’ve even blown me away. Very good as is, though, and always nice to have a rare Vinsanto from Greece.

Wow. This was an incredible experience. Right up there with Langdon Hall and Splendido in terms of class, service and food. It was a treat sitting at the open kitchen counter and really inspired me and gave me some ideas for my own cooking watching the laser-like precision with which every dish was produced. I loved every second and highly recommend the place. The only fault I could possibly list is that the dessert wine list has now fallen to just three wines but that’s only becuase it’s me. Truly, it was a perfect flawless dining experience. I cannot wait to go back.

And here’s the pastry chef on the premises hard at work on desserts:


And finally the staff at work in the open kitchen in front of us:

Because you drank all the rest of them?