Leaving it all to the chef, tasting menus offer small portions of several dishes as a single meal. Before the meal begins, your server will ask whether anyone has allergies and once that is settled, dishes will start coming out. Nonstop (well not really "nonstop" but it usually feels that way after awhile).
I've had several tasting menus before but last Thursday was my first time trying a Winterlicious Tasting Menu. I had dinner with three lovely ladies, Nicki from View The Vibe (@ViewTheVibe), Val (@ValTorontoGal) and Sandy (@sassygirlcanada) and thanks to Executive Chef Jason Bangerter of Luma (@chefbangerter), we were completely spoiled from our multi-course dinner. With smaller portion size, we got to taste every single item on Luma's Winterlicious menu (except for the pan roasted chicken because we were just too full). Our dinner lasted almost four hours! Good times =D
APPETIZERS
Chicken Liver + Foie Gras Pate - Chicken liver parfait, foie gras terrine, braised veal tongue, confit duck tongue, braised pork head torchon, pickles, mustard, and earthy kolrabi purée.
Winter Root Salad - Iceberg lettuce, shaved roots, crispy wheat berries, smoked bacon and mustard dressing.
Roasted Beetroot Soup - Blue cheese, walnut and apple.
Where is the soup, you ask? Well, Chef Bangerter came out and personally served us the beet soup =)
MAINS
Seared Albacore Tuna - Braised sunchoke and heirloom bean salad, red wine rosemary vinaigrette
Sandy and Chef Bangerter.
DESSERTS
Chocolate Bread + Butter Pudding - Butterscotch and shaved white chocolate
Cinnamon Rice Pudding - Preserved kumquat and nutmeg
Apple + Buttermilk Panna Cotta - Maple granola and apple compote
My favourites of the night were the following: APPETIZER - the chicken liver and foie gras pate - anyone who knows me knows I'm a sucker for liver and foie gras; MAIN - the grilled flat iron steak - this was everybody's favourite as it was extremely tender and flavourful, and finally; DESSERT - the chocolate bread + butter pudding - we all loved it so much we scraped the plate clean.
Chef de Cuisine Brent Maxwell on the right (@BrentMaxwell)
A big thanks to Chef Bangerter, Chef Maxwell and the rest of the Luma team for such a wonderful dinner ^_^ By the way, Winterlicious ends on February 9!
