The Hosts With The Most - Ruby Watchco
Two nights in a row.
After the first moving experience on Friday night, my first time at Ruby WatchCo, I made a reservation, during dessert, for the next night. That, really, says it all.
I fist called early in the afternoon on Friday to discover that they could squeeze two of us in, either very early or vary late, I opted for the nine o'clock reso. I arrived without expectation but as always, I was hoping for good food, and new dining experience and hopefully, a side of charm.
Immediately upon arriving through the second entrance door, there is a warm, casual and sincere embrace. Any attempt at an adequate description would be left wanting. Sufficed to say that this spot is all heart. One is immediately greeted by any one of a number of genuinely jovial and naturally unaffected staff. The room is effective. Noble in it's grasp of home and hearth, a comfortable berth in which to situate yourself for a meal at a friendly table. An antique file shelf, a long inviting bar, flirtatious lighting and snug seating are all misleading in their simplistic appearance. These well executed touches have, no doubt, been painstakingly crafted for one sole purpose - to make you feel at home, in your good friends dining room - a place you love to be in.
Each night is a new set menu. Seasonal, fresh and inventive, this is food to make you smile from the kitchen of a celebrity chef with an incredibly impressive record. Lynn Crawford is star of the Food Network show Pitchin' In, was the only female executive chef for a Four Seasons Property in the world when she was at the helm in New York and was the star at Truffles, Toronto. She is Canadian born and one of our sharpest talents. As an Iron Chef, she battled Bobby Flay - to any of us watching, she won.
This is a chef you can trust. You need to be able to because there are no choices here. You come to her table ready to eat what she and her staff prepare. For some of us, this isn't as easy as it sounds. When you know what you like, trust can be a difficult commodity to hand over. At Ruby WatchCo, it is a pleasure.
Starting with a cocktail, crafted with serious dedication from the bartender, the kitchen has a lot to live up to after her offerings. The 'stocking stuffer' arrived in a Marie Antoinette champagne glass (old world sexy) and was an intimate union of tequila, cherry juice, vanilla, cinnamon and lime. Garnished with a solitary cranberry that had bathed in cinnamon - best cocktail I have ever tasted. No shattering of nitrous ice on a triangular teeter totter over lava... this was the genuine article. No flash needed, substance reigned supreme. A lovely list of wines, showcasing some VQA gems, there is something to please every palette and any purse. Also provided, is the option to pair each course with the selections made for each.
Friday's dinner was started with a lively and hearty salad of lettuces, pickled onions, broccoli and crisp salami, dressed in oregano vinaigrette. Joined by homemade savory biscuits,it is more than a generous amount for two, served family style (as is each course) and yet, nothing remains.
The main course of bacon wrapped steel head trout was finished to perfection. Add to it apple butter and sides of roast cauliflower, brown butter garlic rapini and lentils with yoghurt so delicious that I could have made of meal of them (and lentils are at the end of my list of favourites).
A cheese plate is presented before dessert, the perfect amount and a selection made in earnest. Dolce came in the form of a Guinness spice cake with candied peel buried within. What an immaculate finish.
To reiterate, it was so good, I went back friends back on Saturday.
Kozliks' mustard glazed bacon atop living greens, fried garbanzo beans, sherry roasted radishes and a spicy tomato aioli! This was so much more than a salad.
Followed by grilled flank steak with pepper mushroom gravy. Sides of smashed potato and arugula, butternut squash with chipotle aioli and the one that knocked me over, the Hillside Gardens' Parsnips with walnut butter.
An artisanal cheese plate of chilli goat gouda with Warners Farms' pears and Chef Lora's Chocolate peanut butter tart with a delectable coffee whipped cream... oh mercy.
Two straight nights of farm fresh, eloquently crafted, heavenly dining.
The food is outstanding. The only thing that could upstage it is the family that invites you in. By far, this is a staff made up of the most effortlessly graceful, knowledgable and delightful cast of characters I have ever enjoyed a meal around. One cannot help but be tricked into forgetting you are in a restaurant, many times throughout the course of your meal. This is a dinner party, pure and simple. What an outright joy it is to eat amongst such efficient happiness. Couple that with the fact that the menu changes each day and you could happily eat here religiously. They are closed tonight, may be the only reason I'm writing this instead of eating there.
Ruby. Appropriate, because there will be many a time that I will surely wish I could don a pair of those slippers, click my heals and be back at their place for dinner.
