Insider’s Tips - Oct.24

Yellow & Red Beefsteak Tomatoes

With the weather this week downright balmy, the Chef succeeded in buying mostly Ontario produce this week from the Ontario Food Terminal even though very few Ontario farmers showed up. He scored bigly with yellow beefsteak tomatoes which he purchased from an 85 year old farmer he likes and has dealt with for years. He is the only farmer who arrives in a small minivan and always has a limited supply of particularly good vegetables some of which he keeps for the Chef. The yellow tomatoes the Chef purchased were as good as any tomatoes he had seen all year.

Ontario produce bought by the Chef included field cauliflower, peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbages, strawberries, apples and pears as well as hothouse eggplants. The strawberries were grown outside but covered.

From the US, Chef Loseto bought persimmons, raspberries and pomegranates.

Now that turbot from the Arctic is back in GEORGE, we have wild sustainable fish from all three Canadian oceans. Until the last few years Toronto was never known for fresh oceanic fish. Many years ago, salmon from Gaspe was not available any further east than Montreal. Now distribution channels have opened up for Toronto.

GEORGE takes pride in its very large selection of fish dishes which the Chef loves cooking. There are always two or three main fish courses available as well as five or six appetizer courses. Seafood figures large in GEORGE’s Tasting Menus. If you like fish, ask your server what fish appetizers are being served and are not on the main menu. They are surprisingly varied every night. We think GEORGE shines as a fish specialist  Toronto restaurant if that’s what you are looking for.

Be aware though that Chef Loseto never brings in Mediterranean fish. In Canada, these are farmed fish not always up to the environmental we maintain. And they don’t taste nearly as good as wild Mediterranean fish tastes when you holiday there. The Chef  believes that unlike the wild Canadian fish we serve, they do not represent good value given their cost. 

Game is on the menu as fall progresses and braises as well as heartier meat dishes are offered. Currently, GEORGE serves venison bison duck confit, and the Chef’’s favourite, Quebec squab.

At lunch or dinner In GEORGE, don’t miss the chocolate pistachio mousse made with the same homemade pistachio paste the Chef uses for his gelato. For dessert, we also recommend yuzu banana gelato.