So the ferry’s back
up, and that’s good news for food fans. Toronto is world-class when it comes to
restaurants, both at the chic high end and for ethnic fare (particularly
Asian). With the trip now more pleasant, Rochesterians will be leaving more
money in Ontario and bringing back little besides a few extra pounds.
No expert, I turned
to local foodie Gordon Anderson for guidance. That’s an appeal to authority, a
classic logical fallacy — I mean, who is this guy, anyway? — but what’s an
ignoramus to do? Anderson makes monthly trips to Toronto, taking in the St. Lawrence
Market, hole-in-the-wall Asian joints, and trendy places like Susur. So, Michael
Warren Thomas and I decided accompany him to one of his favorite spots,
Perigee.
New experiences leave
me feeling joyously ignorant. The world would be dull if it could be compassed
easily, and thankfully there is no danger of that. The meal at Perigee was
absurd in depth, breadth, and quality. But our eight-hour stay in Toronto contained
other enlightenments.
First there was the
St. Lawrence Market, which we whipped around late Saturday afternoon. Not the
best time to be there, but the volume and variety of meats, seafood, cheese,
and prepared goods were still stunning. The farmer’s market is in a separate
building, and open only on Saturdays (the South Market, with the specialty
vendors, is open Tuesday through Saturday).
We munched a bag of
candied, smoked salmon as we walked a few blocks to Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar.
Kennedy is a famous Toronto chef, and his Wine Bar attempts to bring haute
cuisine down to affordable prices, with small plates all under $11 (the menu
changes daily). We had a wild boar terrine that had the headcheese hominess I
didn’t appreciate as a kid. Duck confit was a killer drumstick with crisp skin,
plenty of succulent fat, and deliciously delicate meat around a bone I could
have ground for bread. A plate of Ontario cheese didn’t convert this
Vince-Giordano-inspired Europhile cheese-head, though. Go early; there are no
reservations and the place is popular.
Outside Jamie
Kennedy’s we got panhandled by a drunk, which was not a novelty, but what
happened next was. Gordon barked, “How many pushups can you do?” And the guy
dropped to the sidewalk, with Gordon playing Tony Little. The guy got to 15,
Gordon gave him some money, and we all walked away.
On the long hike to
the Vietnamese bahn mi shops on
Spadina, Gordon and I argued the ethics. His central assertion was, “I work
hard for my money, so he should work hard for his.” Here we have a raft of
logical fallacies — the analogy between Gordon’s life and that of the
panhandler seems false, to start — but his chutzpah was something to see.
Up on Spadina we
encountered a different definition of “affordable,” with which no logician
could argue: bahn mi, a Vietnamese
submarine sandwich, for $1.50 Canadian.
It had roast pork, mystery meat, pickled carrot, hot sauce, and fresh cilantro
on an excellent, crisp-crusted, batard-style
roll. I’ve never been happier with a food value.
Gordon ducked into a
cab, and Michael and I were left tired in cool, misty conditions on Spadina. It
was a long walk back to the Distillery District and Perigee, but we needed it
to work up a little appetite again.
Perigee seats just
35, with just one seating per night. Chef Pat Riley and owner Vic Brown follow
the Japanese dining concept of omakase,
meaning “entrusting.” You choose a five-, six-, or seven-course tasting ($90,
$100, and $110); the cooks spend some time gauging your tastes; and then you
get a meal prepared on the spot especially for you. Every diner gets a
different dish with each course, though each course at a given table will have
a theme.
This is high
derring-do, in culinary terms. Omakase in Japan is built around sushi, a fresh, mostly uncooked cuisine that lends
itself to the idea. Taking the concept in a Western direction — with grilled
meats and reduced sauces, for example — presents complications. But Riley and
his staff of wizards pull it off without any wires showing.
Riley knew Gordon
from several visits, so our menu was quite adventurous, including courses built
around duck, tuna, lobster, foie gras,
bison, and beef (mostly sweet breads). There was an intense array of charcuterie (fancy, French deli meats),
a cheese plate, a fish and seafood platter, a melon “intermezzo,” an apple
“pre-dessert” course, and a chocolate dessert course (46 distinct items, in
all). Could you expect such opulence if you weren’t a regular gifting an expensive
bottle of wine (as Gordon did)? Pretty much. Riley says this was an almost
standard seven-course, though you might not get both the cheese and the
charcuterie.
Riley likes to de-
and reconstruct classics, creating splashes of invention that don’t taste
weird. For example, our charcuterie plate included a cream-of-mushroom terrine,
much like a fabulous mushroom soup in flavor, but in a solid form. Another
example would be pickled anchovy, frico (a cheese wafer), quail egg, and romaine hearts — that is, an inside-out
Caesar salad.
I won’t bore you with
the menu (write foodguy@rochester.rr.comif
you want it). Yours will be entirely different, tailored to your tastes and
wishes. I had quibbles with a couple of dishes, but they were minor. We ate and
enjoyed every bit of everything, and despite rampant creativity, nothing was
odd or “artistic” for its own sake. Does thinly sliced tuna need to wrap
braised veal cheek and be served on lime aioli, fried capers, and peppercress
with shallot vinaigrette? Perhaps not, but that dish was perfect.
The whole concept
could easily come off pretentious, but doesn’t. The entire staff is in view in
the open kitchen, and the cooks take turns explaining the courses. It’s
friendly and fun. Wine pairings are available with your tasting, and when I
asked for non-alcoholic pairings, the response was, “We can do that.” All my
pairings were fascinating, some fruit juice concoctions, others unusual teas.
If anybody tells you
he knows what the best restaurant in Toronto is, throw the appeal to authority
fallacy at them. I do know you could spend a lifetime in that city and not
exhaust its possibilities (this generalization based upon my small sample size risks
the fallacy of composition). Furthermore, I know I’ve never had a better meal
than mine at Perigee. If you want to eat at Perigee on the weekend, call at
least three weeks ahead, though on weeknights there is usually space available
without that kind of forethought.
Perigee, 260-55 Mill
Street, Cannery Building, Toronto, Canada. Hours: Tuesday through Saturday,
5:30 to 9 p.m. 416-364-1397
Food tip
The owners of The
Mundo Grill have purchased Toasted Head Grill & Bar at 187 St. Paul Street,
and renamed it Table Seven Bistro & Lounge. Cameron Boyd, executive chef at
Mundo, will oversee the Table Seven menu and installation of a wood-fired grill
(232-4305).
— Michael Warren
Thomas
Michael Warren Thomas
can be heard weekends on WYSL 1040 AM. Details and archives available at
www.SavorLife.com.
This article appears in Jul 20-26, 2005.
