Toronto Trip: Rain

I went to Rain (the restaurant featured in Food Network's Made to Order show) on Thursday. It was expensive, but overall it was a great experience.

There were a couple of minor glitches but they did not cause much trouble. First, they seem to have lost or forgotten about my fruitless request. But that was not too much of a problem, because the chef and I discussed for quite a few minutes (through the waiter) on the specific parts of fruits that I can and cannot eat, and eventually we agreed that a small amount of fruit is okay, and it is really the sugar that is the problem. I felt that the accommodation was great.

I obviously did not understand the appropriate time to go to dinner in Toronto (and it happened the night before as well). A reservation at 6pm was way too early and I was the only customer in the restaurant. It wasn't until 7pm that other customers start to show up. Guy Rubino did not appear until I was halfway done my tasting menu. But his sous chef Greg was there (the person that I was talking to through the waiter), as well as the pastry chef Robert. The kitchen isn't exactly "open", but you can peek in to see the action. It was quite interesting to see the whole kitchen cooking just for me.

Now for the meal: I ordered the chef tasting menu (with the additional fruitless restriction) as well as the wine pairing. The wine pairing was somewhat lost on me, as I do not think I appreciate wine as much as I do about the food. I don't even remember too much about the wines that I had. Most of the dishes feature one main feature ingredient prepared in two or three different ways. Sometimes there is a palate cleanser in the middle as you move from one preparation to the other.

First course: mini BBQ pork (char siu) bun with a miso shiitake lobster broth. I can't say that I love it, but it was enjoyable. Part of the problem is that this particular dim sum item is one of my least favorite to begin with. I also found that the miso and shiitake flavors were stronger than I would like and I couldn't tell that it was a lobster broth. This course was paired with a sparking white wine of some sort.



The second course was a hamachi (yellowtail) course: on the left is a piece of lightly cured raw hamachi on top of an edamame purée. I have never thought of making edamame purée before and the slight sweetness worked very well with the fish. This was my favorite on this plate. In the middle is a palette cleanser including green beans, bamboo shoot and seaweed dressed in sesame oil (and maybe something else), tied together with a slice of daikon. There were also some pickled cauliflower and cauliflower purée at the bottom. On the right are two pieces of grilled hamachi on top a coconut flavored tofu and a piece of kombu, all served with a coconut foam. The coconut part was only for the flavor and fragrance (coconut oil?) and there is no sweetness. So that is just fine for me. This was paired with an Austrian wine that was somewhat similar to chardonnay.




The third course was a course on Alaskan black cod. On the left is a seaweed salad on top of slices of raw fish. It was okay but not spectacular, and I really do not remember that much about it. In the middle is a palette cleanser: bean tempura on top of green tea tofu, some edamame, and a green tea foam. I thought the flavors worked quite well here. On the right is one of two most favorite items that night: grilled Alaskan black cod served sizzling on top of a hot stone, with some pickled ginger on top. The fish was cooked perfectly and with very crispy skin. I was told that there was a very small bit of mango paste on the skin but there was so little that I couldn't really tell, actually. I think they added it to help with the caramelization. This was easily one of the best things I have ever tasted, even better than a similar dish that I had at Nobu in Las Vegas last year. This was paired with a Riesling.




The fourth course was squab. On the left is a Chinese soup dumpling with braised squab meat and a reduced broth. The soup is actually contained within the dumpling and it releases when you bite into it. It was very good, though the dumpling skin could have been slightly thinner. I like the "help, I'm drowning" presentation :). In the middle was the other favorite piece: squab breast marinated in miso (I think) and roasted to rare. The skin was slightly crispy but the meat was so succulent, tender, moist, flavorful, ... (insert other adjectives) that I wish I could have 10 more pieces to eat. It was like having the essence of squab flavor all in two or three bites. Another one of the best things I have ever tasted. On the right is a paté made with squab heart and kidney, all wrapped in foie gras. It was good and I enjoyed it, but I was somehow disappointed that it wasn't any better because the roasted breast was so good. There was definitely nothing wrong with it. This course was paired with a pinot noir.




Final meat course: wagyu beef. On the left is a bundle of stir-fried beef with lotus seeds and lotus root. All of this is tied together in a piece of banana leaf. It was good, but not something that I was particularly excited about. The middle palette cleanser was kimchee, daikon, and pickled carrots. Finally, there were slices of seared beef on top of some very flavorful and tender braised shoulder meat (inside a daikon ring), all this topped with fine threads of dried chili peppers. I like the last course very much, but not as much as the grilled Alaskan black cod or the roasted squab breast. This course was paired with a spicy shiraz.




Finally the dessert: a chocolate course. On the left is a dark milk chocolate mousse with a coconut "cloud" on top. In the middle is a spiced chocolate brownie with a quenelle of chocolate truffle on top. The little "pearls" are coconut flavored, and perhaps this is what sodium alginate does. On the right is a "puddle" of chocolate, some chocolate cookie crumbles, with a coconut-lime sorbet on top. I like the last one the best, and I think there is a hint of ginger in the sorbet as well. Very refreshing. This final course was paired with a port.



At the end, I also had some green tea. The bill came, and there was a small glitch: some items were charged twice...but they realized it before I said anything, so no big deal.

I enjoyed the experience very much, and I think it is worth doing it (but not too often!). I can't say that I loved everything, but there were certainly some very good items and at least one thing that I would like to try at home. Even for the items that I didn't enjoy as much, they were still interesting flavors that I may not have thought of. So I am quite glad that I made this trip.