Saturday Night at its Best

Wow, is all I can say. Well among a few other words I am not going to type:) We had an absolutely amazing dinner and overall good time Saturday night (last night) at Treadwell's in Port Dalhousie.

But that is not how my day started, that was merely the end of it. I had taught a great Italian Alfresco class in Maple LCBO with a really genuine and great group of students and I tasted a surprisingly good wine from Calabria. See my family is from there (the toe of Italy) and I've tried wine from there and it hasn't been all that great. But this one was from Spadafora near Cosenza. So I very proudly purchased a bottle for my dad as it's his birthday in August and I thought it would be a nice surprise. Not to mention the yummy dinner I am having for him.

So after my class I zoomed home to shower and get ready for our night out. Well could the rain have spoiled it, almost. What a downpour! But we made it out to Niagara on the Lake to Jackson Triggs where I met with Candis Walsh from Le Clos Jordanne to learn more about the wine and of course do a tasting.

What delicious and smooth Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays! I am going to dedicate a blog just to that cuz it was such a wonderful experience.

Then off to Treadwell's for dinner. Now of course company is always important and we had 2 couples with us that were perfect company but also had a true love of food and wine pairing so the night was set. Who of course made it perfect? Stephen and James Treadwell! What a duo of father and son team.

Stellar food and wine pairings that kept us excited about each course and somewhat on our toes. Now a promise came from Stephen for me to hop over onto the line and help out, but alas that did not happen. Which was good as I didn't have my lovely pink chef's jacket with me and only open toed heels which as we all know are never safe on a kitchen line!

Perhaps next time I will enjoy the heat of the kitchen, which I miss dearly. I will be honest and tell you that I do not miss the long hours-whew. Eating the food as opposed to making it is so much easier!

I have the menu of what we enjoyed here (both food and wine) for you to look at:

Kitchen Table at Treadwell's
Saturday, July 25th, 2009

Amuse Bouche
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Foie Gras
Seared “Grade A” Foie Gras with Wild Blueberries and Brioche

2007 Riesling “Select Late Harvest”, Cattail Creek
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Zucchini Blossoms
Tempura of Local Zucchini Blossoms with Chili Mayonnaise

2008 Riesling “Featherstone Vineyard”, Twenty Twenty-Seven
2008 Riesling “Falls Vineyard”, Twenty Twenty-Seven
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Whitefish
Seared Lake Huron Whitefish with Lobster Knuckles and Lobster Bisque

2003 Chardonnay “Whimsy! Canadian Oak”, Southbrook
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Trout
Citrus Cured Lake Huron Trout with Salad “Nicoise”

2007 Gamay Noir, “Thirteenth Street”
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Scallop
Sea Scallop with Pea Puree and Smoked Bacon Foam

2006 “White”, Stratus
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Sorbet
“Fromage Frais” and Lime Sorbet
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Duck
Maple Glazed Duck Breast with Pommes Anna and Foie Gras Jus

2007 Merlot “Reserve”, Ravine Vineyard
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Cheese
Fifth Town “Operetta” on Toast with Wild Honeycomb
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Apricot
“Shelia’s” Apricot Clafouti with Dolce de Leche Ice Cream

2006 Vidal “Icewine”, Reif Estates

Pretty amazing don't you think. I highly recommend it if you ever have the opportunity for this special and absolutely amazing evening. We were there for 4 hours and enjoyed every minute of it! I included some photos as well to show you some of the food as well as the kitchen. As Stephen and James said after each course-ENJOY!