Fat Friday - Trevor's Kitchen

Twice a year Toronto hosts two annual events involving food – Winterlicious and Summerlicious. We’ve been a fan of both events, so when the list of restaurants are announced and the menus go online, we always check out to see who’s participating and who’s offering what. With fixed price 3 course menus for both lunch and dinner, this is a relatively inexpensive way to try out new restaurants around town. Mainly we look for the restaurants that offer some sort of steak dish, or if not steak, options that both Matt and I will enjoy. This year we only managed to make it out once.

We found ourselves at Trevor’s Kitchen one Friday evening, a quaint (read: dark and not good for taking photos; I’ve had to Google a few to include) little restaurant in a basement on Wellington Street East. With a selection of tables, spots at the bar, and a couple couches for larger groups, there was plenty of room for guests. Tables were set a tad close together, but that just lets us see what other people are eating and eavesdrop on interesting conversations… A group of women (early 20’s) were gathered in the couch area having drinks and appetizers, which I thought was a neat spot for a little get together. It wasn’t until we left that we noticed that there was a whole other section of tables, making the place about double the size I first thought.

Their menu online was very good, and we actually had a tough time deciding between the options. Most places will offer a choice of three to four options for each course, but Trevor’s had at least five, and I would eat almost all of them, which is saying a lot. I knew I liked this place when I read macaroni and asiago cheese and goat cheese poutine.

 For round one, I simply had to have said macaroni and asiago cheese; how could I not? But it was a close race between the potato and leek soup with roasted garlic and aged cheddar. The small portion I enjoyed was divine; some of the best I’ve eaten in a restaurant. Matt started with the seared diver scallop and slow roasted pork belly with frisee salad and truffle mustard (long name for a starter…). Both were very good, and I won’t lie, I would have liked to order that mac and cheese as my main, too.

 For round two, Matt enjoyed the Surf & Turf, consisting of jumbo wild prawn, Alberta sirloin steak and goat cheese poutine. He was kind enough to let me try the poutine, and oh my goodness, it was heavenly! The goat cheese lent such a mild flavour to it, and it was topped with chives, which made it taste like sour cream and onion seasoning, but on French fries! I had to stop eating it to make sure he enjoyed it, too. My second dish was a Crispy Chicken Confit with a cheddar pierogi, sweet potato and buttermilk gravy. The combination of everything together tasted just so darn good, even though I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes. I guess the trick is to smother them in buttermilk gravy.

And finally, for round three: dessert. Just when you think you can’t possibly squeeze another bite in, they bring out a wonderful plate of sweetness. To be honest, I don’t actually remember what I had, but looking at the menu I think there is a fairly good chance I had the dark chocolate and caramel torte with peanut butter Chantilly (yup, that definitely sounds like something I would eat). And for Matt, I believe he had the crème brulee. We swapped bites of eat, and, just as the prior two courses before, we were not let down. I commend Trevor’s Kitchen for putting together such a wonderful sampling of their menu, and all at lovely price of $35.

As we finished the last of our desserts and enjoyed our last few sips of our red wine, we marvelled at how full we were and how good the food was. Not long after, the waiter brought over the cheque and a little after dinner treat. But unlike traditional dinner mints, he brought out a bowl of….wait for it….. blue cotton candy! That full belly we thought we had, well, there was certainly room for the cotton candy.

We walked by Trevor’s this past weekend to check out their full price menu; it is a little on the pricey side, but now that we’ve been, if they are on the Winterlicious list next year, I’d go back in a heartbeat!