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Sassafraz By Deepi Harish When my former roommate from university suggested we meet up at Sassafraz, my immediate reply was “I don’t know how much money you’re making these days, but my pockets aren’t that deep.” She assured me it was “affordable-ish,” and told me to do my own research; so, I scoped out their site and confirmed this was indeed where our date would commence. Located in the heart of Yorkville, parking was a hassle. But it was all worth it once we walked up to the yellow house-like structure that is called Sassafraz. Inside, the bistro portion of the restaurant is located over on the right, while the left side makes up the main dining room. We were politely escorted past the glass doors, into the main dining room that is accented with plenty of candles hugging the walls. I started off with a badass mojito, while my dinner date ordered a cosmo. I’ve never had a mojito with raspberry puree muddled in with mint leaves, but it works; quite well actually. Although we were asked if we’d like to start off with bread – and we replied “sure” – our bread never made it to the table, although our butter did. However, we were presented with a complimentary appetizer – a goat cheese mouse matched with a baked fig slice. Both smooth and textured, my palette was ready for something experimental. My main course was lobster gratin, infused with sparkling white wine and ziti pasta, accompanied by a roasted tomato salad on the side. It was so excessively rich and fulfilling, I could barely finish half. Although the dish was yummy, it was not 30 something dollars yummy. I felt that I could totally re-create this dish in my kitchen at home. My roommate raved about her duck breast which sat on a bed of vegetables. Her portion looked a little small to me, but aren’t the portions always a little limited with upscale restaurants. Quality over quantity, I know, I know. The conversation was good between us, but that’s not what you food lovers care to hear about. Switching gears, I was 95 percent sure I was unable to hold down a dessert at this point, since I was already thinking about unbuttoning my pants, in my car, on my drive home. But my roommate was intensely studying the dessert page, which made me want to do the same. She decided on the crème brulee, and I thought, “I can’t remember the last time I had crème brulee.” The waiter came over and before he could entice us into ordering dessert, I blurted out “Two crème brulees please.” My roomie stepped in and ordered a glass of dessert wine, while I got the final word by ordering an espresso. I’m sure the dessert menu had listed exactly what would be on the plate, but I only seemed to notice the words “crème brulee.” So you can imagine my surprise when this extended oval plate was presented to me (and my friend) with an assortment of fine delicacies. From right to left, there was a mini crème brulee cup. Positioned in the middle of the plate was a mango crêpe engulfed around sweet, creamy mascarpone cheese filling. These two dishes were unified by an elongated, triangle shaped, crisply cookie. To my farthest left was a milk chocolate cup filled with raspberry and dark chocolate watered down gnosh. Everything on this plate was luscious. There was the perfect amount of velvety-ness, contrasted with a right dose of thin, crispy hard candy. Our conversation seemed to have paused completely as we plunged into our paradise of desserts. I was at point of feeling uncomfortable since I had eaten such rich food, all in one sitting. Just when I thought it was all over, the waiter kindly brought over a complementary warm, diamond shaped shortbread-like cookie, with a dark chocolate piece pressed in the centre. As much as I didn’t want to resist, I had to think with my head and not my stomach. I was too stuffed. I forced my full friend to take just one bite, for my own pleasure. She assured me that it was heavenly as well. Our bills came to a nice figure of 81 dollars per person. We both agreed it was worth it, despite my few contradicting comments. |