Last week I was invited to experience and blog a Dishcrawl which was happening in Kensington. The idea behind a Dishcrawl is simple but brilliant : diners are taken to 4 restaurants in a neighborhood to discover delicious, new food and new friends, over the course of an evening. Kensington is a fantastic neighborhood full of great places to eat. The first location is revealed 48 hours prior to the event but the last 3 restaurants are kept a secret, so it's fun to try to guess where you'll be headed to next!
Cuisine et Chateau
The room filled up quickly and everyone was very social. I had never been to Cuisine et Chateau before but was intrigued by their course catalog which had a number of different cooking classes. They are a very interactive culinary center and also offer culinary tours.
Curried quinoa salad with grilled shrimp, and spinach with preserved lemon shooter
A great appetizer and delicious start to the evening. Hot, juicy shrimp on a bed of curried quinoa topped with green onion. The shooter of spinach and preserved lemon was cool and refreshing.
Where were we going next?
The tour continues after the jump!
Osteria de Medici
Osteria de Medici has long been one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the city. They have just completed a drastic renovation in the main dining room, going from the traditional fine dining to a cool, contemporary lounge. They still have their other traditional dining rooms open on the other side of the restaurant so you really have the best of both worlds.
The first to the table was a gluten-free penne alla arrabiata, followed by capellini alla pesto which was my favorite. Both pastas were rich with flavor and cooked to perfection. Keeping with the traditional theme of the menu we had Mama Antionetta's meatballs. They were tender, delicious and just how my grandmother used to make them. Osteria impressed us not only with the food but their warm, attentive staff.
Pulcinella
Pulcinella: arancini and the lovely Annie MacInnis of Kensington BRZ cutting the pizza
Another great Italian restaurant in the heart of kensington is Pulcinella which specializes in traditional Napoletana pizza. I've had the pleasure of dining here many times and they always have me coming back!
Our meal started off with saffron infused arancini with mozzarella and tomato sauce. I love arancini but have always found it difficult to find a place who does it right. Pulcinella did an amazing job and I know I will be back to have it again. Bruschetta was presented next and it looked beautiful. The fresh tomatoes, olives, capers, and roasted peppers were topped off with an extra virgin olive oil. Our first pizza was the Margherita which had olive oil, parmigiano, tomato sauce, lots of mozzarella cheese, and basil. Our second was the Diavola which also had tomato sauce, basil, mozzarella, parmigiano, and basil but it had spicy salamino. I love spicy food so the Diavola pizza was definitely my favorite of the two.
Chef's Table
The Chef's Table is located inside Kensington Riverside Inn and has a reputation for excellence. We were thrilled to discover that we would be having our dessert here.
Honey and Nougat dessert
Our dessert was a peanut cake with 3 types of cream : a yuzu cream, a nougat cream, and a juniper cream. On top we had a peanut tulle, nougat ice cream, pureed peanuts and preserved lemon. The creams were so light and they accented the crispness of the peanut tulle. Each part of this dessert was a delight to taste and was a great way to conclude the evening.
The Dishcrawl was an absolute success and the Dishcrawl YYC team did an incredible job. Many people were already repeat clients and its easy to see why! I had such a lovely time, I met many wonderful new friends and got to indulge in some of the best food kensington has to offer. The next dishcrawl is in Inglewood and I definitely recommend getting your tickets sooner rather than later as they sell out very quickly.
I'd like to thank Jessie and Ashley for inviting me out to blog this event!
Tastefully yours,
Brandy
P.S. You can find out more info and get your tickets for future dishcrawls here!
