Enjoying Canoe During the Winterlicious Festival in Toronto

It’s not often you can enjoy Canoe during the Winterlicious Festival in Toronto.

Seasonally, we get to enjoy the Winterlicious Festival or Summerlicious Festival in Toronto.  It’s an opportunity to experience prix fixe meals at lunch and dinner (as well as some specialty events).

And this time, we were able to get prized reservations to Oliver & Bonacini’s Canoe, on the 54th floor of one of the prominent skyscrapers in downtown Toronto.

This restaurant specializes in contemporary Canadian cuisine and the interiors are reflective of this country while the main “wall” of the restaurant serves up delicious views of the city, the Toronto Island and Lake Ontario.

Bring on the Winterlicious Cocktails

We started out with drinks.

Mine was a red wine Winter Sangria with pomegranate liqueur, triple sec, tangerine, cranberry, pear, and pomegranate juices, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

The spiciness added a layer to the sangria that’s not often evident in others’ sangrias.  Creativity abounds in the special drinks on offer.

Special Entree at Canoe during the Winterlicious Festival

My plate was the Ontario Duo of Beef with green beans and creamy Alliston spuds with bone marrow au jus.  One of the duo was a slice of tenderloin on top of delicious shredded beef. So good.

It was two dishes in one, both with fork-tender meats that were light and flavourful.  The mashed potatoes were creamy, buttery and provided a great base for the au jus to stand out in the mix.

Then Dessert

For dessert, I chose a Spiced Chocolate Panna Cotta with marshmallow, graham cracker crumb and white chocolate ice cream.  The panna cotta was the star of this dish.  The ice cream and marshmallow were great counterpoints to that rich chocolate.  I fully admit to trying to eat all of the sauce, too.

Canoe is a great restaurant, and enjoying Canoe during the Winterlicious Festival in Toronto was both decadent and fun.  I wish I could have this any time.

Here are some other places to try in Toronto.

Enjoyed February, 2013.

Canoe
66 Wellington St. W, Toronto, ON M5K 1H6
+1 (416) 364-0054