On Sunday May 5th I was so lucky to be able to go to a very fancy and nice supper that was put on by my husband Jesse at Pizzeria Gusto. As I have already made mention in previous posts Jesse is a member of the Chaîne des Rotisseurs which is an exclusive club for chefs. The membership fee alone is pretty pricey and all the dinners and lunches they do have the best food and wine and are pretty expensive to attend. Luckily I am married to him and get to tag along. Jesse has done 4 Chaîne dinners in his career and has hosted 2 of them. One of them when he was the chef at 295 York and the other Sunday night at Pizzeria Gusto. This coming October he will have been a member for 6 years. He is excited because once he reaches 10 years his rank will change.

I invited my friend Miranda because her dad is an old and well respected chef and member of the Chaîne. She has been to several dinners and lunches and she hadn't been to an event in a long while. She is also the greatest mom to her little girl doing it all on her own and deserved a fun night out. I feel slightly intimidated by this crowd because most members are a lot older than I am, a lot fancier and of course my weird dark side that not everyone understands. It was nice to have a friend by my side so I was happy she was able to come with me. Win win for both of us.

The restaurant is soooo nice. if you have ever been to Pizzeria Gusto you will know what I mean. It was always nice before but ever since the renovation they did a couple years ago it’s something out of a very modern magazine I feel like. Crisp white, with succulents, greenery, marble tables, mood lighting and wood paneling to accent. It is always immaculately clean and the service is impeccable. Everyone is so nice and friendly and I always feel welcome and at ease whenever I am there.

We walked in and were welcomed with glasses of Prosecco. The brand was called Giggle Water and this was probably my favourite wine of the night, not only because Prosecco is my absolute favourite, but also because of the fun name and the beautiful packaging. It also was the only wine I was able to photograph for the night as the servers were pouring for us during supper. If you are interested in what wines we had they are on the menu which I photographed. We were the first to arrive, both Miranda and I joked about our punctuality on the way there. We were not alone for long though and most of the guests started trickling in immediately after us. As most of you might know I try to eat plant based mostly and have recently made the decision to not ever eat pork or beef anymore. Chicken and eggs will quickly follow and I will do my best with real cheese. I requested a vegetarian supper which was incredibly hard because I knew what the menu was before and how good everything was going to be, but I also knew how amazing he could make my vegetarian option. But for the purposes of this blog post I will be showing the real deal veal and all and my vegetarian accommodated dishes that were just as good if not even better.

Shortly after the Prosecco was passed around the hors d’oeuvres were passed out and margaritas. There was somewhat of a Mexican theme because the day was Cinco de Mayo. At one point we were standing there enjoying the hors d’oeuvres and a man walked in with a legitimate sombrero and I chuckled a little bit and then Miranda says to me “that’s my dad.” We both laughed. The margarita was a red chilli, apricot margarita with El Jimador Blanco tequila. The hors d’oeuvres were Barbacoa tacos which is smoked tri tip with chipotle, queso fresco, crispy onion and lettuce. Then there was shrimp quesadillas that were stuffed and rolled tortillas filled with barbecued shrimp, pacillo peppers, jalapeño and smoked cheeses topped with avocado, pico de gaillo and arbor chilies. There was Calamar Rellano which is squid stuffed with chorizo, corn and tomatillos braised in lime juice and tomato sauce. The final was a vegan option which I thoroughly enjoyed and was a tostada with refried beans, salsa verde and pickled cactus. It was my first time trying cactus and I was pleasantly surprised.

We sat down after much appetizers and mingling. Miranda got to talk to many people she’s known for most of her life so I think it was good for her to come and catch up. I got to meet her dad and others as well. We sat down and and got ready to receive the first course. The dinner was 6 courses with wine pairings for each course. All the wine was generously provided by Jim Jaworski who owns Kenaston Wine Market and knows everything to know about wine. We were given a different wine with each course, to compliment the dish we were eating.

The first course, mine was a vegan version, which consisted of roasted cauliflower, marinated chickpeas with gazpacho and Serrano chillies. Everyone else received a crudo of fresh sea scallops from the East coast, marinated mussels, gazpacho and Serrano chillies, arugula oil and salmon caviar. I absolutely will not eat anything from the ocean anymore for multiple reasons that I won’t get into it right now so I was so happy to be fully accommodated, although most will think I am crazy for not eating the best of the best.

The second course which was the same for everyone consisted of spring asparagus, horseradish, mascarpone zabaglione and moliterno pecorino. This was one of my most favourite dishes because I love asparagus and all the components made one delightful vegetarian dish.

The third course for me was not vegan but it was vegetarian. Tortellini stuffed with house made ricotta, arugula, caramelized onions, mascarpone and roasted garlic. Two different types of dough, one was verde and the other negra. The verde was green because of arugula incorporated into the dough and the negra was black because of squid ink.. With the tortellini was celery root purée, sous vide lobster, boar belly and micro basil. My dish did not contain the lobster and boar belly making I vegetarian.

The fourth course was veal tenderloin crusted with porcini mushrooms, chianti reduction, Peroni beer mustard with pine nut risotto, Brussel sprout leaves and morel and black trumpet mushrooms. Mine was vegetarian as I did not get the veal. I grew up Italian, I love veal it tastes delicious but I can’t even tell you the last time I had it because it has never sat well with me where veal has come from. Risotto is definitely one of my top favourite foods so to get an extra helping of risotto versus veal makes me a very happy girl.

The fifth course was the salad course. It consisted of melon and prosciutto, watermelon radish, white balsamic, parmesan reggiano. Mine was veganized and did not have prosciutto. I have had a watermelon radish several times while going to these fancy dinners with Jesse and it is my absolute favourite. it is visually stunning and doesn’t have an overly pungent taste but it adds good texture and crunch to a salad.

The last course was dessert which was caprino cheesecake with pistachios, mint syrup, biscotti crust, basil curd and white chocolate. This was not vegan as caprino in Italian means dairy from a goat. It was vegetarian however and incredibly delicious. This was the one I forgot to get a photo of until it was already too late and its had almost been half eaten. The most beautiful cheese board was donated from Marco Deluca and from Deluca’s. This was paired with port and chianti wine. This concluded all the food for this Chaîne supper.

After all the food and wine everyone enjoyed socializing. Jesse and I left not too much longer after the food was done. We had a babysitter for the night and wanted to enjoy our precious time together. We ended up going for a drive to our favourite park and then going home to bed to enjoy a nice, kidless sleep. It was a really amazing night of the best food ever. I was so happy to be accommodated for my veg side and be able to show both sides of how a night like this would go. Both vegetarian and omnivore. I am the most happy to participate in these kinds of dinners and am so happy to be married to Jesse, not only because he is an amazing human and the best husband and dad, but also because he takes me along on these amazing culinary adventures. Thank you to Miranda for coming with me as well and to all the wonderful people I met it was nice talking with you. Can’t wait for the chance to go to another one!