Insider’s Tips - Sept.26
GEORGE is opening for lunch starting Wednesday, Oct 2 from Wednesdays to Fridays.
We think that WFH has finally run its course in Toronto and our downtown is filling up. And what better place to lunch than a Michelin rated restaurant like GEORGE which you can afford. We will soon be posting a menu. Lunch will be lighter, quicker and a more modestly priced version of dinner with the inclusion of Lorenzo’s signature pastas.
Last weekend the Financial Times wrote a whole section on the return of business lunches in New York and London. Its wine writer Jancis Robinson lamented the decline of wine drinking but said that bottles of wine had been replaced by glasses of wine.
One of the FT writers summed up the glories of a good business lunch as follows:
No office is so happily industrious that leaving isn't an escape. No job is so important that it can't be interrupted by stories someone doesn't want you to hear. Gossip and lunch pair naturally because who doesn't appreciate an opportunity to bisect a workday with word from the grapevine and a two-sip martini?"
Two-Sip Martini / $7.50
Crafted with gin or vodka, and finished with your choice of an olive or a lemon twist.
The Chef returned from the Ontario Food Terminal this week proclaiming that Ontario summer produce was still going strong although plums, eggplants and zucchini flowers were nearly done, and cantaloupes had vanished. Summer corn from his favourite supplier, Welsh Farms and English peas from Lennox Farms were still around and worth buying. He also likes the Brussel sprouts in the market. California figs are finished and were replaced by rather expensive Greek figs which the Chef bought.
Ontario pears and apples have arrived. The Chef suggests that you buy the Anjou pears now before they deteriorate and switch to Bosc pears after the Anjou pears begin to deteriorate.
Squash and pumpkins are abundant motivating the Chef to begin serious work on his upcoming fall menu.
The Chef's delicious lighter summertime meat and fish offerings continue to be available but because of the cooler weather he is looking into the possibility of putting Ontario lake fish like pike and pickerel on the menu. He assured me he had no difficulty removing the bones from the pike.
The Chef’s delicious, not so sweet, caramel tart is still being offered.
This week will be the last week for the Chef’s Italian Dinner Special. His recipes and techniques were inspired by his Italian mother and the wonderful Italian tastes and combinations he learned about as he grew up.