Splendido dinner with Nick - Saturday April 13, 2013
This is a bit late but I realised I should totalllyyy write about my amazing dinner at Splendido. It was one of the best, most fun nights in a super long time. Eating is seriously, truly by far my favourite form of entertainment. I get to dress up, it's a whole evening affair, and when the food is exquisite there is really nothing better. It makes me so extremely happy and I feel like a little kid in a candy store... I get super excited to see what I picked out from the menu actually looks like when the dish comes. Anyway I never work Saturday evenings but this one particular evening, of course out of the blue I get scheduled. WTF? I refused to go in, since I wasn't even notified of this switch when I work the same days every week. Anyway it caused a whole ordeal for a bunch of reasons, but at this point I actually stopped caring. I literally do not care... which is why work is stressing me out less :) If I get fired... oh well. I actually have never been fired before, usually I leave long before I have a chance to be fired.
Well Saturday came and I was so excited. I have been eating at home and not out for literally months... eating as cheaply as I personally can. Which means I eat my rice and beans (beans that I buy dry and soak so it's even cheaper), but then of course I can't stop eating yummy tuxedo cheese, coconut bliss popscicles, Valrhona chocolate. BUT, just not eating out on regular basis alone is a big expense that I don't have anymore. It really helps not to live in or around the Annex definitely! SO point is, I have been saving for this occasion and same with Nick. We met up at Spadina and walked over together. First time wearing heels out this season too! Now it's too cold again :(
So we walked over together and when I went in a few of the servers were talking to me and wondering where I have been lately since I haven't been buying bread obsessively anymore haha. They grab our jackets and take us to our seats... our server happens to be the one I have a giant crush on!! lol! On our walk over to Splendido, I was even saying I hoped that would happen. And Nick actually guessed who it was (the one with the slicked back hair?) from when he was there doing his stage. Apparently it's obvious that would be my type. Anyway he is insanely handsome and he served us dinner all evening. Nick & I decided to not care about money tonight and just order anything we want.
What I ordered:
-gnocchi (the original one had prawns, so they made it instead with a white cream sauce + lots of truffles. Actually the hot server suggested to switch it to truffles... such good taste & exactly what I would want bahah)
-seared scallops with cauliflower, endives, etc.
What Nick ordered:
- Red deer tartare
- Atlantic salmon
We also ordered:
- fried peppers... uhhh I forget what they are called again. I kept asking Nick all night long to repeat it too lol. Damn. They are these hard to find peppers, possibly japanese? Not fresh but like pickled? Or maybe not? I wasn't into these... we didn't finish even half the dish lol.
- I picked out a chocolate basil mousse.
So first came the shot of mushroom soup with little tiny round looking buns filled with cheese. Ugh I wish I knew the proper name. Then the bread of course... lol Jeff walked by as we were eating it and was like "WHAT your not eating the french country!?!" haha... no Jeff, I have pre purchased a loaf to go ;D
So we ate our bread with tons of butter.
Next were our starters. Um, my gnocchi was life changing. Astounding, incredible, unreal. I posted on fbook that it made me cry tears of joy while at the restaurant. It was by very far, the BEST gnocchi I have ever had in my entire life. And I have had some good gnocchi before. It broke my brain a bit when the annoying friend I have been writing about recently suggested that I eat frozen gnocchi from the grocery store for much cheaper and it being almost as good. Uhhh shut the fuck up when you have no clue at all what you are talking about dude!!! Seriously, people need to try it before having a clue at all. Even though I have had lots of nice gnocchi,it never prepared me for how amazing it would be from Splendido. So the gnocchi itself was just really well made, so incredibly fluffy and light and just actually melted in my mouth. Melted!! The sauce was good, the truffles were plenty, all around amazing dish. Nick agreed. We shared, I knew he was loving it. He wasn't as impressed with his deer tartar... I tried it but have nothing to compare it to since that was my first time eating deer or raw meat.
Peppers came and they were whatever for me. Nick had a few. Mains were up next, my seared scallops were perfectly cooked and really jumbo sized. Had this dark glaze on it and the plate was beautifully presented. Little cauliflower florets, endives, what I think my have been bits of mashed potato and foam, the dish was quite pretty like abstract art. Nick's salmon was good but not as good as my dish again! Actually when I ordered fish from Splendido last time I wasn't into it. I think I can safely say... never order fish from Splendido. It wasn't BAD, but they have much better dishes.
I feel like I am forgetting something but maybe not. Hmm. We were really full at this point but I insisted on ordering dessert. We got little dessert bites (taro marshmellow, green tea macaron, and chocolate filled with fruity liquid). Taro marshmellow = yum! Exactly what it sounds like. Macaron = good! I was wondering if they would do it right, they did! The texture was just perfect, crisp coating, chewy, the green tea flavor was great and the icing in the middle was perfect. It wasn't buttercream. I didn't try the chocolate cause I don't like chocolate with liquid inside. Nick said it wasn't that good.
Dessert came next! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. The presentation was absolutely gorgeous... like a little piece of the forest. It was on a huge white plate and on one side the chocolate mousse was shaped into a log, a detailed log with all the tree markings and lines. Grahm and chocolate crumbs made the dirt around the log, and really thin chocolate branches... actually i'll copy and paste from what I wrote;
"Yeah I wish I took pics of the dessert, it was so pretty.. like a little forest scene. The mousse was shaped to look like a tiny little log and it was so detailed, the graham and chocolate crumbs were like dirt then there were a couple little strategically placed basil leaves and the other drops of stuff right around it... and super thin chocolate made into branches. Next time I go I will just double order the gnnocchi and double order that exact same dessert. I wanna go back so bad. Ugh. I seriously hadn't gone out for a proper really nice dinner since October 2012."
But yeah the taste was damn delicious, so fucking gooood. Nick & I shared and both agreed.... I picked the very best dishes hahaha. The basil in the chocolate mousse was really strong in a good way, it pared so well with the intensely flavored lemon as well as the mascarpone cheese. Ugh, heaven on a plate. It was gone so fast. We split the bill down the middle at the end and it wasn't too bad. Nothing we didn't expect to spend. We grabbed our breads on our way out as well as got the little box of shortbread cookies.
All in all, our diner was so much fun and we were there for over 3 hours and it passed way too quickly. It was so nice to catch up with Nick and talk about everything with him and especially food of course. He is really one of my favourite people on the planet, I remember when I first got kicked out, he was right there for me and even so was his sweet mum and I stayed there, and so many years later despite us living in different places and seeing each other once in a while, I can talk to him like no time has passed and those people are more and more rare to find in my life. The few who are like that, are keepers that I will treasure forever and I am lucky to know such great people. *sniff* Moving on! Nck & I have plans to travel together to CHICAGO & stuff our faces off... AT ALINEA. FUCKING HELL YES!!! Excited is not even close to the word. I can't even process this right now, but its happening this year. He will try and get a stage there as well as other places i Chicago and we will go eat our way around town!! Gotta run right now though, off to George Brown! More on that later.
(also on the cheap friend note, he also suggested I buy two or more organic chocolate bars instead of Valrhona. WHY? I obviously prefer the taste of Valrhona by far, also they have/are organic, their cocoa beans are obviously of great quality so it's likely they are just not certified but are well grown. Would I prefer two chocolate bars I dislike instead? NO HENCE MY FREEZER BEING FULL OF CHOCOLATE I DONT LIKE! I don't know why he is so interested in my finances.. like wtf? Who says that to people. He alwaysss talks about cost, or says "it's expensive". He's Jewish, I bet that's why he is cheap and a mooch lol. I give him my leftover crap I don't want like haagen dasz, or some nice chocolate, and he comes back asking me if I have any haagen dasz for him 3 days later or if he can have the chocolate stash when I told him it's for someone else and he keeps asking please. Can you get any more unattractive? Oh yeah, that's exactly how! Beg me for leftovers when I already said no lol. Oh and he asks to have one of my vega protein bars and at this point I was just annoyed and said not unless he pays me for it. I am nice and pretty giving but when dude is a legit mooch, asking me for my freaking rejected food, making comments about the money I spend on food, I get annoyed andfeel like he doesn't deserve anything of mine. Especially when he himself spends money on kitchen gadgets that I don't have, who is he to talk about expenses)
Well Saturday came and I was so excited. I have been eating at home and not out for literally months... eating as cheaply as I personally can. Which means I eat my rice and beans (beans that I buy dry and soak so it's even cheaper), but then of course I can't stop eating yummy tuxedo cheese, coconut bliss popscicles, Valrhona chocolate. BUT, just not eating out on regular basis alone is a big expense that I don't have anymore. It really helps not to live in or around the Annex definitely! SO point is, I have been saving for this occasion and same with Nick. We met up at Spadina and walked over together. First time wearing heels out this season too! Now it's too cold again :(
So we walked over together and when I went in a few of the servers were talking to me and wondering where I have been lately since I haven't been buying bread obsessively anymore haha. They grab our jackets and take us to our seats... our server happens to be the one I have a giant crush on!! lol! On our walk over to Splendido, I was even saying I hoped that would happen. And Nick actually guessed who it was (the one with the slicked back hair?) from when he was there doing his stage. Apparently it's obvious that would be my type. Anyway he is insanely handsome and he served us dinner all evening. Nick & I decided to not care about money tonight and just order anything we want.
What I ordered:
-gnocchi (the original one had prawns, so they made it instead with a white cream sauce + lots of truffles. Actually the hot server suggested to switch it to truffles... such good taste & exactly what I would want bahah)
-seared scallops with cauliflower, endives, etc.
What Nick ordered:
- Red deer tartare
- Atlantic salmon
We also ordered:
- fried peppers... uhhh I forget what they are called again. I kept asking Nick all night long to repeat it too lol. Damn. They are these hard to find peppers, possibly japanese? Not fresh but like pickled? Or maybe not? I wasn't into these... we didn't finish even half the dish lol.
- I picked out a chocolate basil mousse.
So first came the shot of mushroom soup with little tiny round looking buns filled with cheese. Ugh I wish I knew the proper name. Then the bread of course... lol Jeff walked by as we were eating it and was like "WHAT your not eating the french country!?!" haha... no Jeff, I have pre purchased a loaf to go ;D
So we ate our bread with tons of butter.
Next were our starters. Um, my gnocchi was life changing. Astounding, incredible, unreal. I posted on fbook that it made me cry tears of joy while at the restaurant. It was by very far, the BEST gnocchi I have ever had in my entire life. And I have had some good gnocchi before. It broke my brain a bit when the annoying friend I have been writing about recently suggested that I eat frozen gnocchi from the grocery store for much cheaper and it being almost as good. Uhhh shut the fuck up when you have no clue at all what you are talking about dude!!! Seriously, people need to try it before having a clue at all. Even though I have had lots of nice gnocchi,it never prepared me for how amazing it would be from Splendido. So the gnocchi itself was just really well made, so incredibly fluffy and light and just actually melted in my mouth. Melted!! The sauce was good, the truffles were plenty, all around amazing dish. Nick agreed. We shared, I knew he was loving it. He wasn't as impressed with his deer tartar... I tried it but have nothing to compare it to since that was my first time eating deer or raw meat.
Peppers came and they were whatever for me. Nick had a few. Mains were up next, my seared scallops were perfectly cooked and really jumbo sized. Had this dark glaze on it and the plate was beautifully presented. Little cauliflower florets, endives, what I think my have been bits of mashed potato and foam, the dish was quite pretty like abstract art. Nick's salmon was good but not as good as my dish again! Actually when I ordered fish from Splendido last time I wasn't into it. I think I can safely say... never order fish from Splendido. It wasn't BAD, but they have much better dishes.
I feel like I am forgetting something but maybe not. Hmm. We were really full at this point but I insisted on ordering dessert. We got little dessert bites (taro marshmellow, green tea macaron, and chocolate filled with fruity liquid). Taro marshmellow = yum! Exactly what it sounds like. Macaron = good! I was wondering if they would do it right, they did! The texture was just perfect, crisp coating, chewy, the green tea flavor was great and the icing in the middle was perfect. It wasn't buttercream. I didn't try the chocolate cause I don't like chocolate with liquid inside. Nick said it wasn't that good.
Dessert came next! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. The presentation was absolutely gorgeous... like a little piece of the forest. It was on a huge white plate and on one side the chocolate mousse was shaped into a log, a detailed log with all the tree markings and lines. Grahm and chocolate crumbs made the dirt around the log, and really thin chocolate branches... actually i'll copy and paste from what I wrote;
"Yeah I wish I took pics of the dessert, it was so pretty.. like a little forest scene. The mousse was shaped to look like a tiny little log and it was so detailed, the graham and chocolate crumbs were like dirt then there were a couple little strategically placed basil leaves and the other drops of stuff right around it... and super thin chocolate made into branches. Next time I go I will just double order the gnnocchi and double order that exact same dessert. I wanna go back so bad. Ugh. I seriously hadn't gone out for a proper really nice dinner since October 2012."
But yeah the taste was damn delicious, so fucking gooood. Nick & I shared and both agreed.... I picked the very best dishes hahaha. The basil in the chocolate mousse was really strong in a good way, it pared so well with the intensely flavored lemon as well as the mascarpone cheese. Ugh, heaven on a plate. It was gone so fast. We split the bill down the middle at the end and it wasn't too bad. Nothing we didn't expect to spend. We grabbed our breads on our way out as well as got the little box of shortbread cookies.
All in all, our diner was so much fun and we were there for over 3 hours and it passed way too quickly. It was so nice to catch up with Nick and talk about everything with him and especially food of course. He is really one of my favourite people on the planet, I remember when I first got kicked out, he was right there for me and even so was his sweet mum and I stayed there, and so many years later despite us living in different places and seeing each other once in a while, I can talk to him like no time has passed and those people are more and more rare to find in my life. The few who are like that, are keepers that I will treasure forever and I am lucky to know such great people. *sniff* Moving on! Nck & I have plans to travel together to CHICAGO & stuff our faces off... AT ALINEA. FUCKING HELL YES!!! Excited is not even close to the word. I can't even process this right now, but its happening this year. He will try and get a stage there as well as other places i Chicago and we will go eat our way around town!! Gotta run right now though, off to George Brown! More on that later.
(also on the cheap friend note, he also suggested I buy two or more organic chocolate bars instead of Valrhona. WHY? I obviously prefer the taste of Valrhona by far, also they have/are organic, their cocoa beans are obviously of great quality so it's likely they are just not certified but are well grown. Would I prefer two chocolate bars I dislike instead? NO HENCE MY FREEZER BEING FULL OF CHOCOLATE I DONT LIKE! I don't know why he is so interested in my finances.. like wtf? Who says that to people. He alwaysss talks about cost, or says "it's expensive". He's Jewish, I bet that's why he is cheap and a mooch lol. I give him my leftover crap I don't want like haagen dasz, or some nice chocolate, and he comes back asking me if I have any haagen dasz for him 3 days later or if he can have the chocolate stash when I told him it's for someone else and he keeps asking please. Can you get any more unattractive? Oh yeah, that's exactly how! Beg me for leftovers when I already said no lol. Oh and he asks to have one of my vega protein bars and at this point I was just annoyed and said not unless he pays me for it. I am nice and pretty giving but when dude is a legit mooch, asking me for my freaking rejected food, making comments about the money I spend on food, I get annoyed andfeel like he doesn't deserve anything of mine. Especially when he himself spends money on kitchen gadgets that I don't have, who is he to talk about expenses)