Continued from Part 3: Steve Beckta Restaurant At 5:30 p.m. Beckta greets the first guests, chats amiably for a few minutes, and then hostess Anique Montambault escorts them to their seats. Soon, the early guests are floating through their conversations on their first glass of wine. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, the first wave of canapé and appetizer orders hits Macmurdo. The servers buzz around her “pass,” the eye-level counter where she puts up the amuse bouche canapés and salads as they’re ready. It’s the narrowest point in this river of activity where the pace either flows or chokes. Ripples of […]
Restaurants: Best
Why Do Restaurant Reviews Dismiss Wine?
Continued from Part 4: Steve Beckta Restaurant Tonight, though, there are no kids in the place; and the adults have moved beyond their starters to the main courses. In the kitchen, the first ripple hits the entrée station. Vardy, now standing between Fraser and cook J.P. Filion, tapes his wristwatch to the beam of his station. “How long you looking at Ross?” Vardy asks. “Five minutes,” Fraser replies. He’s searing foie gras, which will be topped with a caramelized blini made by Filion and then Vardy will finish them both with apple butter. In minutes Fraser and Filion contribute their […]
Firing on All Burners: Juice Monkeys Thrive in the Heat of Service
Continued from Part 5: Steve Beckta Restaurant Anne DesBrisay was also happy to broadcast her enthusiasm—though she privately admitted later that given all the hype that had attended its opening, she had been nervous reviewing the restaurant. She was relieved though to find that it was indeed “a clear cut above, in all kinds of ways, but mostly in its service department.” “Beckta can only do good for this town in terms of raising the bar on service standards,” says Ottawa Citizen restaurant critic Anne DesBrisay. “The trend toward chef-owned restaurants is growing (yipee), but it means the chef’s in […]
Sommelier to Restaurant Owner: Steve Beckta Keeps the Fire
Continued from Part 6: Steve Beckta Restaurant When I step back through the wall of heat into the kitchen, Quinn is telling Vardy: “They loved the béarnaise—they ordered the steak just for the sauce. But they thought the steak itself was a little salty.” “Tell ‘em to go to hell,” says Vardy smiling. In fact, Vardy and all the staff take customer feedback seriously. They’ve adapted a number of dishes because of such comments, and made other changes too. For instance, the tasting menu, rather than just listing the food and wine, now explains why certain wines were paired with […]
Wine Review of the Week: National Waiter’s Day Wine
Steve Cranny, a graduate of the Canadian Association of Professional Sommeliers (CAPS) program, has selected our Wine Review of the Week to celebrate National Waiter’s Day, May 21. A toast to all those hard-working heroes of the restaurant industry! #NationalWaitersDay Here’s Steve wine review and rating: Until I became involved in the Industry I had no idea how hard service professionals work to make other people happy. So in honour of National Waiter’s Day and all of those great service people I would like to recommend a wine that I have enjoyed across several vintages. The Caparzo Brunello di Montalcino […]
Atelier Restaurant Ottawa: Food + Wine Video Review
When we decided to make reservations at Atelier Restaurant in Ottawa, we discovered that we’d have to wait several weeks for a Friday evening reservation. Such is the popularity of this award-winning restaurant that specializes in molecular gastronomy, and is one of my favourite restaurants in this city and across the country. I had written a profile of the superb sommelier Steve Robinson several months ago for Ottawa Magazine, the sister publication of Toronto Life. Now it was time to revisit and try the new summer menu with Steve’s pairings. It was spectacular, with whimsical dish names like “You’ve Got […]
Canada’s Best Restaurants – Maclean’s Magazine
Just got my copy of the Maclean’s Magazine first-ever Restaurant Guide for dining establishments across Canada. This is going to be my bible for where to eat when I travel. I was honoured to be part of the team of reviewers … pick up a copy to read the reviews. (An aside, here are my favourite restaurants in other cities.) Just a couple of hints … Sidedoor Contemporary Kitchen & Wine Bar Hours: Monday to Saturday Lunch: 11:45-2 pm, 7 Days a Week: 4:30 pm tacos; 5 pm Dinner Address: 20 York Street, Ottawa, ON Phone: 613-562-9331 Play Food and […]
Ontario’s Best Winery Restaurants
Cave Spring Cellars Inn On The Twenty 1-888-806-9910 Hillebrand Estates Vineyard Café 800-582-8412 Ravine Vineyard’s Bistro 905-262-8463 Vineland Estates Winery Restaurant 888-846-3526
Paris: City of Light, Food & Wine
My family and I had a terrific week in Paris recently! So many great restaurants, wines and food. Some of my favourite restaurants included Guy Savoy, Taillevant and Dominque Bouchet. One of the highlights was a cooking class with cookbook author Charlotte Pluckett and former chef and tour guide Richard Nahem. Richard’s done a great job of describing the class, so why reinvent the wheel? You can read his blog post here. Cheers, Natalie
