It’s Winterlicious time in Toronto from January 25 to February 7, 2013 when many Toronto restaurants offer special prix fixe menus to showcase their fare. This season, in addition to trying various lunch and dinner menus, you can participate in interactive culinary sessions offered by select Toronto restaurants including:
- 7 Numbers Restaurant at 307 Danforth Avenue will be offering Pasta Knowledge with Mama Rosa on January 28, 2013 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. 7 Numbers Chef, Mama Rosa, will share her secrets for making perfect pasta. Rosa will then lead participants in the preparation of a three-course meal. You’ll get to keep the Birch boards you’ll use during the workshop. Fielding Estate wines will be paired with the menu. Cost is $125 plus HST. Call 416-469-5183 or email info@sevennumbers.com
- Enjoy a French cooking demonstration and hands-on class at Calphalon Culinary Center at 425 King Street West where you will prepare a menu including endive salad with grilled pear and Roquefort, steak with green peppercorn sauce, haricots vert provençal, fingerling potatoes and crème brûlée. The French cooking sessions take place January 25-26, January 31, February 1, February 2 and February 7, 2013 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and costs $60 including HST. Call 416-847-2212 for tickets.
- Ciao Wine Bar at 133 Yorkville Ave. is hosting Pizza Making with Executive Chef Saverio Macri in the restaurant’s lower level rustic cellar on January 30, 2013 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Here you’ll learn how to make the pizza, the main course for the evening, while sampling appetizers. Dessert, two glasses of wine and Ciao apron are also included. Cost is $50 plus HST and gratuity and you can purchase tickets by calling 416-925-2143.
If you just want to sample the prix fixe menus, below are a few menus that caught our eye for value and versatility. Prices do not include taxes and gratuity:
George Brown College – The Chefs’ House, 215 King St. E., 416-2260
You won’t find better value and quality than the $15 prix fixe lunch offered by The Chefs’ House. Items on the menu include pate de campagne, Cookstown beets and pear salad, baked maple-glazed trout, lamb shepherd’s pie, pan-seared chicken, butternut squash and barley risotto, creme brulée and apple frangipane tart.
Blake House, 449 Jarvis Street, 416-975-1867
Try the Blake House’s $15 prix fixe lunch during Winterlicious which includes leek and feta tart, avocado BLT, spicy beef chili with crostini, banana nut bread pudding and stout brownie.
The Shore Club, 155 Wellington St. W., 416-351-3311
This new entry on the Toronto restaurant scene is offering a $45 prix fixe dinner with items including arugula, pear and brie salad, smoked cod, grilled halibut, mustard-rubbed New York striploin, polenta cake and sticky toffee pudding.
Bloke & 4th, 401 King St. W., 416-477-1490
You can get a $35 dinner at the Bloke that includes items such as apple wood smoked pork belly, fire-roasted shrimp, spicy tar tare, Bankok slaw and PB&J Bombs for dessert. Winterlicious is a great time to give this relatively new King West restaurant a try.
