Wednesday evening, we'd planned to go to one of the more casual restaurants after our yoga class, but... we are creatures of habit, and didn't remember until we were already most of the way up the hill, and the place would be closing in about a half hour. So we opted for showers instead (you're welcome, fellow restaurant patrons!), and then searched the Barrielicious site for a spot that might be open later on a Wednesday.
We were in luck! The brand-new restaurant we'd been meaning to try, Hudson, had its kitchen open until 11pm – and does so EVERY DAY. Not only that, but it's the second-closest restaurant to us in the festival. And did we mention the kitchen stays open until 11pm every night?!?!? Insert happy dance here. Late-night menu, walking distance... we're already off to a great start.
If we were good people who hadn't already walked down and up the damned hill an hour or so before (after a particularly brutal yoga class), we would have walked, honest! But it was cold and we were lazy, so we drove. We promise to walk from now on, but have mercy. Those who have walked the hill will understand, I'm sure...
We arrived around 9-ish, and they were still pretty darned busy, but they did have a table for us (we hadn't bothered with reservations, oops!). It's a long, narrow room with the bar at the front – topped with a library shelf filled with beautiful old books – and the restaurant filling roughly the back 2/3rds. There was music in the background, but it wasn't terribly loud – at least, once the "girls' night" table of eight beside us paid their bill and left (no matter how hard you try, if you're at a table of eight, you're gonna be noisy...), and it's quite elegantly decorated.
Our waiter was Natasha, who despite apologizing for keeping us waiting didn't really keep us waiting at all – sure, she had to attend to some tables, but she got to ours promptly and we didn't have an iota of impatience. We were actually enjoying just looking around and we've definitely had to wait far longer at other places many other times, she had nothing to apologize for.
We decided on a bottle of Ironstone Cabernet Sauvignon – we've had it before, so we were playing it a bit safe, but the wine menu there looks very good, and they've got lots of fancy cocktails available too, if you so desire. When Natasha brought it to the table, she noticed the bottle felt very cold, so said she'd go get us a different one (like we'd refuse wine...). The manager, Devon, came back and apologized that they've been having difficulty figuring out where to store the wine in the bar – they'd had it up top before, but it got too hot, and now they were trying it along the wall, but that was getting too cold. So she said they'd warm it up a bit for us (not sure how?) and it would just be a moment. Again, we really didn't mind, but certainly appreciated the attention to detail they both demonstrated!
Both the festival menu and their regular menu have vegetarian-friendly options, and even some vegan-friendly! It looked like there were gluten-free options too, although please double-check and don't take our word for it.
For appetizers, Alyssa chose the Wild Mushroom Purée with Black Truffle Oil – a vegan-friendly soup with tons of flavour. There was much cooing... and maybe a moan or two. Don picked the Traditional Caesar, with romaine, parmesan padano, egg yolk, and TONS of garlic (Alyssa had to try a bite, just to make sure we could stay in the same room together... and because it looked and smelled so darned good – yes, the salad was coo-inducing as well!).
The one and only ding we had against the restaurant (and this is just Alyssa being stuck up and picky): Don's plate was cleared before Alyssa was finished. Otherwise, this place would have gotten six stars out of five. :) They were super-attentive to us and the other patrons, topping up our wine and – bonus prize! – giving Alyssa a little extra at the end when the bottle was finished. (In case you haven't guessed by now, Alyssa is the one in charge of the F&B reports.)
But long before the bottle was finished, we got to enjoy our main course!
Don had selected the Prosciutto-Wrapped Supreme of Chicken, with Wild Mushroom Ragout – it looked delicious enough to make Alyssa quit being a veg-head, and tasted delicious enough to keep Don from ever leaving the land of the omnivore. The chicken was cooked perfectly, tasted incredible, and even Don may have been heard to emit a little food-cooing (though he won't admit it). Alyssa went for the Basil Ricotta Gnocchi in a Vodka Blush Sauce – yes, the f&#*ing gnocchi, but it's been a long time since that traumatic food experience, and she is ready to enjoy gnocchi again. Which is good, because this particular gnocchi was absolutely delicious!
We really appreciated the portion sizes – we were able to get through all three courses without resorting to doggie bag, and while nice and full, we weren't stuffed to the gills. We also thought the serving plates were great – both the semi-funky design, but also the way they seemed perfectly designed for each dish they were presenting. For instance, instead of a ginormous bowl of too-much gnocchi, or a tiny-looking bowl of a perfectly-portioned gnocchi, there was a regular-dinner-plate-sized platter, which swooped up and then down into its own perfectly-sized bowl of perfectly-portioned gnocchi. Not an essential thing, but again – detail, detail, detail.
As was probably easily predictable to anyone who's read our F&B report before, Alyssa pounced on the Vanilla Bean Creme Brûlée for desert, because it was there. :) And it was everything that makes creme brûlée one of her favourite choices for dessert, in yet another perfect portion size. Coo coo coo. Don opted for the Pecan Butter Tart (probably also predictable) with French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. He moaned a little bit. It was decadent. Alyssa stole a wee bite and there was cooing, moaning, and some rolling of eyes into the back of her head. In a good way. A great way. We forgot to check, but we are desperately hoping this item is on their regular dessert menu. Oh please oh please oh please.
We didn't want to leave. We chatted a bit with Devon and Natasha and another waiter whose name we didn't catch, but we thought we recognized her from somewhere else (we were wrong), and then we realized that if we ordered something else, then we didn't HAVE to leave. Because we're a little brilliant that way. (And they had already told us it was against health regulations to leave our toothbrush in the bathroom and put our sleeping bags along the bar...)
So we topped the night off with a couple of decaf Spanish coffees – no whipped cream, because we're very virtuous angels – and stuck around until the birthday celebrations at the bar made us think we ought to leave the party. But we'll be back... oh yes, we'll be back. (And we may try to sneak in the sleeping bags, anyhow...)
We were in luck! The brand-new restaurant we'd been meaning to try, Hudson, had its kitchen open until 11pm – and does so EVERY DAY. Not only that, but it's the second-closest restaurant to us in the festival. And did we mention the kitchen stays open until 11pm every night?!?!? Insert happy dance here. Late-night menu, walking distance... we're already off to a great start.
If we were good people who hadn't already walked down and up the damned hill an hour or so before (after a particularly brutal yoga class), we would have walked, honest! But it was cold and we were lazy, so we drove. We promise to walk from now on, but have mercy. Those who have walked the hill will understand, I'm sure...
We arrived around 9-ish, and they were still pretty darned busy, but they did have a table for us (we hadn't bothered with reservations, oops!). It's a long, narrow room with the bar at the front – topped with a library shelf filled with beautiful old books – and the restaurant filling roughly the back 2/3rds. There was music in the background, but it wasn't terribly loud – at least, once the "girls' night" table of eight beside us paid their bill and left (no matter how hard you try, if you're at a table of eight, you're gonna be noisy...), and it's quite elegantly decorated.
Our waiter was Natasha, who despite apologizing for keeping us waiting didn't really keep us waiting at all – sure, she had to attend to some tables, but she got to ours promptly and we didn't have an iota of impatience. We were actually enjoying just looking around and we've definitely had to wait far longer at other places many other times, she had nothing to apologize for.
We decided on a bottle of Ironstone Cabernet Sauvignon – we've had it before, so we were playing it a bit safe, but the wine menu there looks very good, and they've got lots of fancy cocktails available too, if you so desire. When Natasha brought it to the table, she noticed the bottle felt very cold, so said she'd go get us a different one (like we'd refuse wine...). The manager, Devon, came back and apologized that they've been having difficulty figuring out where to store the wine in the bar – they'd had it up top before, but it got too hot, and now they were trying it along the wall, but that was getting too cold. So she said they'd warm it up a bit for us (not sure how?) and it would just be a moment. Again, we really didn't mind, but certainly appreciated the attention to detail they both demonstrated!
Both the festival menu and their regular menu have vegetarian-friendly options, and even some vegan-friendly! It looked like there were gluten-free options too, although please double-check and don't take our word for it.
For appetizers, Alyssa chose the Wild Mushroom Purée with Black Truffle Oil – a vegan-friendly soup with tons of flavour. There was much cooing... and maybe a moan or two. Don picked the Traditional Caesar, with romaine, parmesan padano, egg yolk, and TONS of garlic (Alyssa had to try a bite, just to make sure we could stay in the same room together... and because it looked and smelled so darned good – yes, the salad was coo-inducing as well!).
The one and only ding we had against the restaurant (and this is just Alyssa being stuck up and picky): Don's plate was cleared before Alyssa was finished. Otherwise, this place would have gotten six stars out of five. :) They were super-attentive to us and the other patrons, topping up our wine and – bonus prize! – giving Alyssa a little extra at the end when the bottle was finished. (In case you haven't guessed by now, Alyssa is the one in charge of the F&B reports.)
But long before the bottle was finished, we got to enjoy our main course!
Don had selected the Prosciutto-Wrapped Supreme of Chicken, with Wild Mushroom Ragout – it looked delicious enough to make Alyssa quit being a veg-head, and tasted delicious enough to keep Don from ever leaving the land of the omnivore. The chicken was cooked perfectly, tasted incredible, and even Don may have been heard to emit a little food-cooing (though he won't admit it). Alyssa went for the Basil Ricotta Gnocchi in a Vodka Blush Sauce – yes, the f&#*ing gnocchi, but it's been a long time since that traumatic food experience, and she is ready to enjoy gnocchi again. Which is good, because this particular gnocchi was absolutely delicious!
We really appreciated the portion sizes – we were able to get through all three courses without resorting to doggie bag, and while nice and full, we weren't stuffed to the gills. We also thought the serving plates were great – both the semi-funky design, but also the way they seemed perfectly designed for each dish they were presenting. For instance, instead of a ginormous bowl of too-much gnocchi, or a tiny-looking bowl of a perfectly-portioned gnocchi, there was a regular-dinner-plate-sized platter, which swooped up and then down into its own perfectly-sized bowl of perfectly-portioned gnocchi. Not an essential thing, but again – detail, detail, detail.
As was probably easily predictable to anyone who's read our F&B report before, Alyssa pounced on the Vanilla Bean Creme Brûlée for desert, because it was there. :) And it was everything that makes creme brûlée one of her favourite choices for dessert, in yet another perfect portion size. Coo coo coo. Don opted for the Pecan Butter Tart (probably also predictable) with French Vanilla Bean Ice Cream. He moaned a little bit. It was decadent. Alyssa stole a wee bite and there was cooing, moaning, and some rolling of eyes into the back of her head. In a good way. A great way. We forgot to check, but we are desperately hoping this item is on their regular dessert menu. Oh please oh please oh please.
We didn't want to leave. We chatted a bit with Devon and Natasha and another waiter whose name we didn't catch, but we thought we recognized her from somewhere else (we were wrong), and then we realized that if we ordered something else, then we didn't HAVE to leave. Because we're a little brilliant that way. (And they had already told us it was against health regulations to leave our toothbrush in the bathroom and put our sleeping bags along the bar...)
So we topped the night off with a couple of decaf Spanish coffees – no whipped cream, because we're very virtuous angels – and stuck around until the birthday celebrations at the bar made us think we ought to leave the party. But we'll be back... oh yes, we'll be back. (And we may try to sneak in the sleeping bags, anyhow...)