Food Pictures

I was recently in Kingston helping my Godparents move their baby girl into her dorm room at Queens.  My sister happened to be in town too, so the five of us unpacked bags and boxes and put together furniture in a single room and laughed the day away.  What did I take pictures of?  Food.  Oops.  Just the other day I was thinking…I need to take more pictures of food to pretty up my blog, but now my camera and I are neglecting to take pictures of people!  I did, however, take many pictures of my handsome, new nephew and only one picture of food.  It’s a fine balance, but I’ll get this right eventually.

In Kingston, we ate dinner at a little restaurant called Chez Piggy.  The food was good, but the company was better.  They were very knowledgeable in the area of food allergies and our waitress was great at selling her favorite foods on the menu!  Her food descriptions were mouthwatering and anything she recommended was ordered by someone at our table.  I especially enjoyed my flourless chocolate cake with caramel sauce for dessert.

Kale Nyama - Angry Hot Lamb Loin

Andrew and I were in Boston again to welcome a new relative to the family.  I would like you all to meet Andrew Ryan Jones. My Andrew, Judy (my Andrew’s Mom) and I took a well deserved break from apartment organizing/ moving/ setting up to drive to Boston to meet baby Andrew.

Andrew meet Andrew

I think one of the most helpful things I know I can do for new parents is cook.  I like to cook, sometimes I can help clear out some forgotten items in their refrigerator and everybody deserves to have a meal cooked for them.  What we ate:

GF pasta with roasted tomatoes, asparagus, zuccini and shrimp

I used a box of rice pasta by a company called De Boles.  So far, I have only seen this product in the US.  I found it in the health food section at Hannafords.  They have lasagna noodles and angel hair and penne and spirals and they are made with rice, corn and also available in gf multigrain.  I’m not a fan of corn pasta (corn is for my Mexican palette, not Italian), so I have not tried this one, but I really like the rice pasta.

A Dark Dominion

That title alludes to a very heavy post, but I assure you, read on, this is a nice story…

This is a story about a restaurant that I like very much.  It has a charming, old world atmosphere, flavourful food, unique cocktails, passable pricing and so far, great memories.

Hears a taste:

Taverne Square Dominion.

Last November Jonathan (my partner in event coordinating crime) and I had our first experience at Taverne Square Dominion.  We had the good fortune of dining with someone who actually lived in the time that this former hotel bar had been a central part of Montreal’s gay village.  Jonathan and I both enjoyed a delicious steak and the three of us imbibed several bottles of red wine.

The next time I went back it was with Andrew and Jonathan.  We had tried to see a movie, but it was sold out, so we decided to dine.  Oddly enough we were seated at the same table as before.  Apparently it is our table.  We ordered fancy drinks (they have Pimms!) and set off on our second Taverne Square Dominion food adventure.  The waiter’s were very helpful and happy to go back and talk to the chef with any questions I had that they could not answer definitively.  I like that.

What I ate:
Rock Shrimp with toast (they replaced the toast with lettuce and I made little wraps) – I ate this the first time too and it was so yummy I had to have it again
Beef Striploin – same thing I had last time, but I hadn’t drunk as much red wine and still delicious

What Jonathan ate:
Fried Clams
Mussels cooked with bacon and cider

Andrew ate:
Salmon Gravalax
Mussels cooked with bacon and cider

The third time Jonathan and I made our way back it was to celebrate another summer visit with great friends (the theme of Jonathan and I’s summer).  Rachel, a marvelous friend from McGill, and Jason, her boyfriend (equally marvelous), came to town from Toronto for three fine days.  Now, if you thought finding food for me and Andrew (no nuts) was complex, try adding a vegetarian on a special diet and avoiding wheat, a fastidious pianist and an Atkins diet.  Jason was our easy eater.  We all took a peek at the menu and agreed this was the place for us.  The drink menu sealed the deal…homemade soda, tonique and an impressive list of gin was something we could all enjoy.

We arrived at the Taverne and were seated at the not our table in the back as the seating for large groups is limited (they won’t take groups larger than 8).  We ordered our cocktails and our meals and enjoyed each others company while we waited for our feast to arrive.  We all know, the minute someone gets up to go to the washroom the food arrives, so we sent Chris.  Only instead of our appetizers arriving there was a flash and we were in the dark.  A power outage!  Noooo!  Our food!

Half of the street was out, but no one was sure how long the dark would last.  Waiters rushed around adding candles in beer mugs and short glasses to each occupied table, then all of a sudden our appetizers arrive!  Apparently our timing had been perfect; when the power went out our order was up and cooking.  We were served our main courses as well.  After the power had been out for 40 minutes we noticed the waiters breaking the news to other clients that they had decided to call it a night, the power was still a mystery and the kitchen wouldn’t be able to make any more meals.  The waiters pulled out their calculators and started adding together the tabs manually, each bill was served up with a sassy round of shots.

It could have been strange eating in the dark, but when you’re with great friends and great food it turns into a rare experience we’ll never forget.

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