Stofa

Ottawa, ON, CA

I rushed (by "rushed," I mean "rushed") home to join Jonathan at this restaurant for this culinary adventure. We had fun.

As Stofa is one of the top five restaurants in Ottawa, which is to say on the 2018 Canadian Top 100 restaurants and also located in Ottawa, our expectations for the meal were set by the three of those top five we had visited: Riveria, Atelier, and North of Navy. Our expectations were tempered slightly, however, by the dinner organization: the reservations for the entire restaurant were made through Visa, we were all having a curated tasting menu. Expectations set.

The weather was still quite cold, and, as a result, I was also quite cold, which made the quick entry into the restaurant at our reservation time delightful. We had geat seats, along a wall, where we could watch much of the activity.

The meal started with an amuse bouche: a honey coated ball of bread with bacon butter. The butter was delicious, the mode of butter delivery was not. The bun was sticky and dense, too big for a single bite, too small to be easily cut. The result was sticky, messy fingers to start the dinner.

Not great. The butter was soft, and plentiful, so the dish wasn't a loss.

The first of six courses came quickly next, setting a very well timed pace for the evening, a shrimp and shallots dish on a house-made rice cracker. This dish, again, was too big for one bite, was delicious, and was the cause for lingering dirty fingers.

Stage set: expect finger discomfort the whole meal. Okay then, if that's how it is going to be, what else is coming?

I looked at the menu and saw foie gras and soft shell crab up for the next two courses, then grabbed the alcohol I was avoiding, and drank up. These are two of my least favorite, fancy-restaurant common courses, but I was determined to try them.

The next dish was seared foie gras with a sauce and aldente vegetables. I was going to do this, I was going to eat this food that I had tried and tried and tried before, never finishing it, always handing the rest over to Jonathan. I had a bite, the sauce was good, the veggies, too.

And nope.

One bite later, my mind rebelled and the rest of the gras went onto Jonathan's plate. Can't do it. The taste is fine, the texture is not, and the actual food itself, including the process, just is away not. My mind screams NOOOOO every time I try it.

The tempura soft shell crab next up, however, I had. I had previously revolted at Quintonil and refused at Pujol, but decided I was going to do this with this dish. And I did. The tempura part meant it was a deep-fried dish, and pretty much most of the time "deep-fried" means delicious. I managed it. Didn't taste like crab, though.

Up next was the halibut. It was tasty.

Before the final main course arrived, red deer tenderloin, however, we had a longer break. I made one of my "Beeyah" comments about the wine glass that arrived for this dish, how it was big, so it must be a red wine, when the waiter commented, "Red wine, red meat. Big glass, sharp knife." It didn't rhyme, I giggled anyway. The deer was delicous, and it was red.

The dessert was a quince and grape tart. The dried meringue, however, was the start of the dish. Melted in the mouth, with the perfect crunch if one bit down at the right time.

The evening was delightful. I'm glad Jonathan signed up for it, and that I arrived home to go with him.

Of note, Stofa fell off the list this year.