SilverSpoon - Platinum Experience!
http://www.silverspoon.ca/
I made a reservation at SilverSpoon for a Thursday night in November. It was my boyfriend's birthday and I wanted to take him out. When I made the reservation I mentionned that we were celebrating his birthday, but only in passing.
We showed up right on time and were greeted immediately upon entering the intimate restaurant. The decor was minimal but very comfortable. With high ceilings, a windowed front and a door that opened right into the restaurant, I was pleased to discover that it was comfortably warm and cozy. The smells coming from the kitchen already taunting my olfactory senses.
The service was spectacular, the waiter along with the kitchen staff catered to our every need. We were offered our choice of a number of tables and chose a table in the corner. The waiter took our coats and we were comfortably seated. It was not a very busy night, but there were only two staff serving tables and two in the kitchen. All the tables seemed to have received the same attention we did throughout the evening.
I never opt for the more expensive wines on a menu (if I want an expensive wine, I'll drink it at home, instead of paying inflated restaurant prices), and I was pleased that our choice was well received, and not met with derision. This is an unfortunate behaviour, to which I have been on the receiving end, of waiters and sommeliers, who frown, tsk, or make otherwise rude comments on wine choice, seeming to be based on price. If you don't like the wine, don't put it on your menu. Or if you have a better wine in the same price range, suggest it. But please do not attempt to change my decision simply because you disapprove of my more thrifty choice.
I had trouble choosing what I wanted from the fabulous menu options. Should I go with the lobster bisque or rainbow trout as my appetizer, wait...or maybe the venison carpacio. Then for my main I was torn between the agnalotti stuffed with sweet potato and the Lake Erie pickerel. When our waiter came to take our order I explained my dilemma and asked for his opinion and assistance. He suggested to start with the bisque and then the pickerel (our wine choice had been a Pinot Grigio).
We received some bread and a dish full spicy oil w/ vinegar. We enjoyed the soft fresh bread and our wine as we waited for the appetizers. Shortly thereafter the waiter brought over two tasting spoons with a melange of flavours to tickle our taste buds, a little amuse-bouche before our meal. All I remember is apples...it was sweet and savoury, a lovely refreshing little mouthful. Unexpected and well received.
Our appetizers arrived and we enjoyed every last bite. Ian had the shrimp and it was fabulous...every last bite on the plate was devoured (yes, I helped). I enjoyed every last rich drop of the bisque and sopped up the remains with the bread on the table. I could have eaten a whole meal of just those two appetizers. Ian's shrimp had come with some lemon gelato which we both enjoyed before our entrees were served.
Ian had ordered the cornish hen. It was served in a aromatic jus, full and dark in flavour. My Pickerel was served in a bamboo steamer with root vegetables. It was very light, and it felt like the healthy option. I have now realized that when dining out, I prefer the richer menu options. When our waiter came over to enquire if I was enjoying his choices, I explained this to him. Saying that although I was enjoying the pickerel, nothing being wrong with it, I realized that I prefer something more decadent. He smiled, explaining that he had chosen the richer appetizer but thought I might not want too heavy a meal. He also said he felt the pickerel was nicely complimented by the pinot grigio. I agreed, and was happy to have learned that I will always look to the sweeter, creamier, fuller menu options in the future.
I was not unhappy with the pickerel, more unhappy that I had missed out on the agnolotti, but confirmed to him that I would most definitely be back again in order to try the things I had missed this time. A couple of minutes later as we were finishing our meals, our waiter came back with a small dish. In that dish was one single agnolotti in the duck broth & truffle oil. I was very happy to get the opportunity to sample the dish. It was marvellous...I can't explain how "goooood" it was (to those of you who know me, it was two hands good). That taste alone will have me returning in order to enjoy the dish. It was sweet and rich, yet light and savoury. In that single taste, I think I discovered one of my new favourite meals.
When it came time to order dessert, upon reading the menu, there really was only one option. Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake. And. It. Was. Fabulous. The waiter came out a short while later with a single thin candle in the dessert, the plate decorated with the words Happy Birthday Ian around the edge. I had not mentioned it to anyone that evening, just having said something on the phone a week early when the reservation had been made. I was so happy...they had made me look GOOD! And the sweet was a wonderful, rich dark, warm, drippy, cakey chocolate. It was perfect.
To top it all off we each enjoyed a glass of a late harvest vidal, which tickled our tongues nicely as we sat there, completely sated and happy.
Over the past couple of months, I have received some of the worst service in my life, in restaurants in Toronto. The word service seemed to me to have lost it's meaning in the service industry. Many restaurants making me feel as though they're doing me a favour by letting me in the door. SilverSpoon went above and beyond. Yes, the food was fabulous, but food in Toronto IS fabulous, there are a million restaurants old and new where you can have a wonderful meal. However, SilverSpoon is a restaurant where you can ENJOY the food, because you're being treated like a guest, someone they are happy to have in their establishment. Not only were my gastronomical senses sated, I was completely relaxed and felt glorious after such a fabulous experience.
Thank you SilverSpoon, thank you for giving me hope in the service industry in Toronto. I will return!
I made a reservation at SilverSpoon for a Thursday night in November. It was my boyfriend's birthday and I wanted to take him out. When I made the reservation I mentionned that we were celebrating his birthday, but only in passing.
We showed up right on time and were greeted immediately upon entering the intimate restaurant. The decor was minimal but very comfortable. With high ceilings, a windowed front and a door that opened right into the restaurant, I was pleased to discover that it was comfortably warm and cozy. The smells coming from the kitchen already taunting my olfactory senses.
The service was spectacular, the waiter along with the kitchen staff catered to our every need. We were offered our choice of a number of tables and chose a table in the corner. The waiter took our coats and we were comfortably seated. It was not a very busy night, but there were only two staff serving tables and two in the kitchen. All the tables seemed to have received the same attention we did throughout the evening.
I never opt for the more expensive wines on a menu (if I want an expensive wine, I'll drink it at home, instead of paying inflated restaurant prices), and I was pleased that our choice was well received, and not met with derision. This is an unfortunate behaviour, to which I have been on the receiving end, of waiters and sommeliers, who frown, tsk, or make otherwise rude comments on wine choice, seeming to be based on price. If you don't like the wine, don't put it on your menu. Or if you have a better wine in the same price range, suggest it. But please do not attempt to change my decision simply because you disapprove of my more thrifty choice.
I had trouble choosing what I wanted from the fabulous menu options. Should I go with the lobster bisque or rainbow trout as my appetizer, wait...or maybe the venison carpacio. Then for my main I was torn between the agnalotti stuffed with sweet potato and the Lake Erie pickerel. When our waiter came to take our order I explained my dilemma and asked for his opinion and assistance. He suggested to start with the bisque and then the pickerel (our wine choice had been a Pinot Grigio).
We received some bread and a dish full spicy oil w/ vinegar. We enjoyed the soft fresh bread and our wine as we waited for the appetizers. Shortly thereafter the waiter brought over two tasting spoons with a melange of flavours to tickle our taste buds, a little amuse-bouche before our meal. All I remember is apples...it was sweet and savoury, a lovely refreshing little mouthful. Unexpected and well received.
Our appetizers arrived and we enjoyed every last bite. Ian had the shrimp and it was fabulous...every last bite on the plate was devoured (yes, I helped). I enjoyed every last rich drop of the bisque and sopped up the remains with the bread on the table. I could have eaten a whole meal of just those two appetizers. Ian's shrimp had come with some lemon gelato which we both enjoyed before our entrees were served.
Ian had ordered the cornish hen. It was served in a aromatic jus, full and dark in flavour. My Pickerel was served in a bamboo steamer with root vegetables. It was very light, and it felt like the healthy option. I have now realized that when dining out, I prefer the richer menu options. When our waiter came over to enquire if I was enjoying his choices, I explained this to him. Saying that although I was enjoying the pickerel, nothing being wrong with it, I realized that I prefer something more decadent. He smiled, explaining that he had chosen the richer appetizer but thought I might not want too heavy a meal. He also said he felt the pickerel was nicely complimented by the pinot grigio. I agreed, and was happy to have learned that I will always look to the sweeter, creamier, fuller menu options in the future.
I was not unhappy with the pickerel, more unhappy that I had missed out on the agnolotti, but confirmed to him that I would most definitely be back again in order to try the things I had missed this time. A couple of minutes later as we were finishing our meals, our waiter came back with a small dish. In that dish was one single agnolotti in the duck broth & truffle oil. I was very happy to get the opportunity to sample the dish. It was marvellous...I can't explain how "goooood" it was (to those of you who know me, it was two hands good). That taste alone will have me returning in order to enjoy the dish. It was sweet and rich, yet light and savoury. In that single taste, I think I discovered one of my new favourite meals.
When it came time to order dessert, upon reading the menu, there really was only one option. Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake. And. It. Was. Fabulous. The waiter came out a short while later with a single thin candle in the dessert, the plate decorated with the words Happy Birthday Ian around the edge. I had not mentioned it to anyone that evening, just having said something on the phone a week early when the reservation had been made. I was so happy...they had made me look GOOD! And the sweet was a wonderful, rich dark, warm, drippy, cakey chocolate. It was perfect.
To top it all off we each enjoyed a glass of a late harvest vidal, which tickled our tongues nicely as we sat there, completely sated and happy.
Over the past couple of months, I have received some of the worst service in my life, in restaurants in Toronto. The word service seemed to me to have lost it's meaning in the service industry. Many restaurants making me feel as though they're doing me a favour by letting me in the door. SilverSpoon went above and beyond. Yes, the food was fabulous, but food in Toronto IS fabulous, there are a million restaurants old and new where you can have a wonderful meal. However, SilverSpoon is a restaurant where you can ENJOY the food, because you're being treated like a guest, someone they are happy to have in their establishment. Not only were my gastronomical senses sated, I was completely relaxed and felt glorious after such a fabulous experience.
Thank you SilverSpoon, thank you for giving me hope in the service industry in Toronto. I will return!
posted by PrincessDoubt @ 9:54 a.m.
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