Insider’s Tips: July 10
Summer produce has started well this season. This week, Chef Loseto was pleased to find a full array of field-grown Ontario berries and fruit. He bought Ontario tayberries (a cross between a raspberry and a blackberry), yellow currants, gooseberries, sour cherries (our favourite Ontario fruit) as well as Ontario cherries.
The purchase of ordinary cherries was noteworthy because, for years, this was the only Ontario product Chef consistently refused to buy, as their quality never approached that of California cherries.
Chef bought lots of very good-looking Ontario vegetables — notably French beans, kale, spinach, radishes, cauliflower and broccolini. He even found the first Ontario field tomatoes. He thought they were a bit soft, and when he asked about them, the farmer told him that the first tomatoes on a tomato plant tend to be inferior because they hang low on the plant, as its stem is not yet sufficiently strong. Chef had trouble with that explanation.
It’s the last week for Ontario asparagus.
The only imports Chef bought were California plums and apricots, which have not started yet here.
This week, Nova Scotia swordfish and halibut have arrived. As a First Course, Chef is grilling the swordfish over charcoal and serving it with agnolotti. The Nova Scotia halibut is featured in a Third Course with English peas. Soft shell crabs are still arriving, as well as Nunavut turbot.
The kitchen has received venison racks and tenderloin, which Chef is pleased with.
This week and next, the popular Summerlicious special continues at lunch and dinner in GEORGE and the GEORGE Courtyard. At dinner, the most popular First Courses are the cod salad or ocean trout cured at GEORGE by Chef, followed by beef tenderloin for the Second Course. At lunch, the most popular choices are the smoked maple tomato soup followed by the Cornish hen, which has always been a big GEORGE favourite.
Lunch during Summerlicious is $55pp, with dinner at $75pp. Our Sommelier offers a good-value wine pairing with the Summerlicious specials.