Website: http://www.milestonesrestaurants.com/
Address: 10 Dundas St. E #400, Toronto, ON
When I visited: March 26, 2014
A few weeks back, I was invited to a media event at the Milestone’s flagship restaurant in downtown Toronto to taste the new homestyle chef’s menu. I was honoured to be part of an elite group of top Toronto bloggers and Milestones’ executive team.
The menu was prepared by corporate executive Chef Jason Rosso who was present at the event to explain each dish and his vision for the menu. The homestyle chef’s menu incorporates his worldly travels and captures Canada’s diversity with dishes such as Valencia-style paella and butter chicken risotto. Chef Rosso had travelled across Canada and trained the chefs in each one of the restaurants. It’s true “there is a Chef in every restaurant, it’s time you knew”.
This location is my favourite during patio season overlooking Dundas-Square. The atmosphere of the flagship restaurant is welcoming, fun and upscale. The private room where we had our main meal is a must for large groups and provided the perfect ambience for a delicious evening.
What we ate and drank:
I started with Milestones’ famous Bellini, which used to be my “girl’s night” staple, followed by an Old Manhattan.
The bloggers and I shared the Chef’s choice of canapés which included the following (refer to picture in order of front to back):
-Prime rib adobo poutine with smoked gouda
-Gouger of cheddar and poached egg mousseline in puff pastry
-Atlantic smoked salmon rosette with tarragon goats cheese and fried capers
-Wild mushroom and truffle bruschetta on parmesan cracker
-Chorizo and mozzarella fritters with smoked paprika aioli
-Tomato gazpacho with dipping bread
My favourite was the prime rib adobo poutine, as the meat was tender, well seasoned and delicious. The second star was the chorizo and mozzarella fritters with smoked paprika aioli, as they were fun to eat and were poppin’ with flavour . These are must have appetizers!
Moving on to the main meal, here is what we tasted for the Homestyle Chef’s menu:
The miniature wedge salad with iceberg lettuce, double smoked bacon, fresh tomatoes, gorgonzola buttermilk dressing with maple bacon and fresh mint.
The wedge salad is normally drenched in blue cheese dressing and can be overpowering. This version still stays true to the original with the iceberg lettuce with a lighter twist to the dressing.
The winter root vegetable salad consisted of roasted root vegetables with brown butter vinaigrette, barley, sweet dried cranberries, spicy pecans and feta cheese. The salad can be a meal on its own. The combination is brilliant and as for the spicy pecans, I can eat a jar of them. They were addictive!
For the main, we had the Valencia style paella with slow cooked shrimp, mussels, salmon, chicken, chorizo sausage on basmati rice. This dish will please seafood lovers!
The second main was the butter chicken risotto with Arborio rice and southern Indian butter chicken.
The last main was the truffled tenderloin medallions with truffle buttermilk mash potatoes and gorgonzola peppercorn sauce.
My favourite was the butter chicken risotto. I never thought to put this combination together, but it works really well! It was creamy goodness that delighted my palette. We had a sample portion and I was stuffed!
With every dish, we were paired with specially selected wines from Constellation brands including the Kim Crawford and the Dreaming Tree wines. The wine paired beautifully with every dish!
And to end our delicious and filling meal, Chef Rosso made a spectacular creation of crispy banana cream pie. This is not on the homestyle menu but hopefully will be. There were caramelized bananas, banana cream and warm Nutella sauce. It was not overly sweet and the combination made for a gorgeous and scrumptious dessert.
Milestones knows how to throw an amazing event to showcase their menu. I was stuffed and would be happy to return to dig into my favourite dishes.
This homestyle menu, currently available across the country, is worth a visit to Canada’s famed chain restaurant. If you have tried their new menu, what was your favourite dish?
If you wanted more information, check out the awesome Rick Mathuru’s (Rick’s Good Eats) video with Chef Jason Rosso (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuylQl8GkdI)
*The meal was complimentary but the opinions in the post are my own.
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