Winterlicious review: Trevor Kitchen and Bar

Trevor Kitchen and Bar 

38 Wellington St. E.

First: Do not get confused and walk into Swish by Han, which is upstairs to the right. That is a different restaurant, and they do not have your reservations.  Second, definitely go to Trevor. The friendly server told us chef Trevor spent months coming up with his Winterlicious menu because he thinks it's a way to get people to taste a wide selection of their food, so they'll come back. That just makes sense. The food is excellent and so is the service. Definitely worth the $35 price tag.

Third, yes my pictures are rather dark, just made the switch from the dark days of the iPhone 3G to 4S, which I discovered only AFTER the meal, actually has a camera with a flash. Gasp.


The two shrimp and bacon ravioli with lobster coconut sauce were not very Italian at all, much more Asian dumpling. The light sauce sits at the bottom just a little dash of creamy sauce, which was just enough to compliment and not over power with its richness-- although you couldnt really taste the lobster. But I love dumplings and these ones were a great stuffing of light shrimp with just a hint of salty bacon.

Also got to try some of my friend's chicken liver pate, also a great way to start. The pate is light, airy and lemony. Great.

                                                  

I had read to get the beef cheek with turnip risotto here, I complied and am happy I did. The beef, braised in Port, was so tender you could shred it with your fork. On top was a creamy horseradish. The risotto is very thick and creamy, a little salty, but blended well with the tenderness of the beef and the punch of horseradish. The turnips are not integrated into the risotto but little chips that outline the edge of the bowl. A friend ordered the Ontario whitefish, perfectly moist and flaky.

                                                                                                           









And because I just wasn't full enough. The chocolate and caramel(less) torte with peanut butter Chantilly. A warm and spruced up version of the classic Reese combo. Chantilly tastes like a peanut butter whipped cream mousse. The torte is like a molten cake sans molten. Caramel, as previously mentioned, virtually non-existent. Fruit welcome.

 And if all that wasn't enough, cotton candy to sweeten up the taste of looking at the bill ( about $215 (pre-tip) between three of us with a bottle of wine and after dinner cocktail.).