Anticipation

Summerlicious has come to Toronto once again, and once again the girlfriend and I will be tasting some prix fixe menus at some VERY nice restaurants around the city. Tonight we're going to Czehoski on Queen St. West.

This is a new restaurant that has opened in an old building, and they've kept the original hand-painted sign. The original Czehoski was a neighbourhood butcher shop and deli that apparently was also the site of some of the city's most notorious card and craps games.

It had been sitting empty for quite a few years, and I remember riding past it on the streetcar on my way to work and noticing the wooden sign with the large block letters - CZEHOSKI, and wondering what the place was. The new restaurant, after about two years worth of renovations and restorations, is a very hip-looking place with lots of hardwood and original brick.

The dinner menu being offered for this event is set at $35. It's really interesting, and I'm going to have a tough time making choices. Here it is:

$35 Dinner (plus taxes and gratuity)

mixed mushroom soup with truffled whipped cream
or
baby arugula and walnut vinaigrette salad
or
a cheesy tart: organic quark cheese and semi-dried tomato tart
or
smoked miso poutine
or
mission figs stuffed with chutney and wrapped in double smoked bacon
or
satan on horseback: salted pork belly wrapped in double smoked bacon

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chargrilled burger of naturally raised beef, cheddar and our own milk-bread buns
or
quinoa, white bean and chickpea veggie cheese burger
or
smoked ricotta gnuddi and squash gnocchi with marjoram
or
banger and mash
or
truffled brie hand-made pierogies with crème fraiche and riesling braised sauerkraut
or
roasted black cod with bouillabaise, chickpea frites and shredded fennel
or
black rice risotto with artichokes raw and cooked, and an onsen egg
or
cumbrae farms flatiron cooked sous vide with lemon-dressed roquet
or
roasted little chicken with lemon-thyme spaetzle and vervaine and pepper jus

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praline crème caramel
or
michel cluizel chocolate semifreddo
or
lemon white chocolate parfait

It's a hell of a selection, and possibly the largest variety I've seen for any of the over 130 restaurants participating this summer. I particularly like the look of the 'Satan on Horseback' appetizer selection. A restaurant after my own heart.

I'll post a recap tomorrow, and I might just take some pictures this time.