Scrooge’s Roast Goose

Toronto in Dickensian mood. The skies are lowering, the wind cruel, bottle pickers roam the streets for unreturned wine bottles, a few hoodies sprawl across the tables in the food mall. The malls have banned the Salvation Army’s bells, but outside Holt’s, the Sallyann’s brass band is playing some Mendelsohn,  Hark the Herald Angels Sing, while along Bloor, the Church of the Redeemer is advertising a reading of A Christmas Carol. All that’s missing is Tiny Tim’s Roast Goose.

Hmm. A problem. Since the demise of the once thriving Hungarian strip on Bloor between Spadina and Bathurst, notably the deli, Elizabeth, goose has been a rare treat downtown. But now I’ve found goose on a menu. C 5 at the Royal Ontario Museum is offering a Holiday Menu — $66 for three courses including Roast Goose.

As I make my way to C5, I ponder the goose. Roast/braised goose is many Europeans’ Yuletide feast and and before the age of the mass produced turkey, the English preferred it too. The hospitably large turkey is Toronto’s overwhelming favourite says Marlon Pather of The Butchers, but he adds “Goose is getting more popular.” Not Canada geese! He is expecting a few choice Pilgrim Geese from Elora, among other imports.

Like a duck, the goose is mostly bones and its darkling meat is strong almost gamey,  because unlike those wusses, chicken and turkey, it flies. Delicious fat pours from it. My parents penned a few geese, dreaming of roast goose stuffed with foie gras and prunes, garnished with crimson cabbage and chestnuts – the acme of a feast – only to come up against reality. Geese are rural gangsters. They broke out and terrorized the village,  trampling cabbage patches, hissing menacingly.

When I arrive at C5, I discover the goose is still a spoiler. Ted Corrado, the chef, has a sad tale to tell. The goose is off the menu because he was dissatisfied with the quality. I swallow my disappointment. In holiday spirit we make up our own festive dinner.  First we nibble a ricotta cheese roll with smoked butter. The smoker is the fad du jour. The smoked mackerel rillette with flat bread is a crowd pleaser. Then we have a superb seafood plate: a scallop with sea urchin, smoked mackerel with strings of beet coloured cabbage, ceviche shrimp and a tender chunk of octopus tentacle.

We sample goose’s replacement, tender enough pieces of pheasant but the flavour comes from the rich dollop of black pepper hollandaise on top. The accompaniments are fine:  prune bread pudding, potato hash and ginger cabbage. But for festive eating, nothing beats the pan fried fresh foie gras and chunk of rare squab corn with manchego tamale, poblano pepper, and a reduction of peach and tequila.  Dessert is good too: a spiced Yule log, a brittle tube stuffed with chestnut mousse and adorned with piquant blood orange sorbet.

We admire Corrado and his chef de cuisine Luigi Encarnacion for exquisitely rendered pointillist cooking – a lot of complexity in a small package. Corrado reminds me of the chef Marcus Eaves of L’Autre Pied in London, a one Michelin star place, where intricate combinations come in even smaller packages. The eater must concentrate, pause, eat more, contemplate. This isn’t intended to be a blow-out – it’s an attenuated experience, each mouthful savoured.

The service is prompt and informative. Full disclosure, our dinner was comped because of the change in menu, the computer breakdown which prevented reservations, and other problems.

‘Tis the season to be uncritical, but my inner Scrooge cannot ignore the shoddy way  ROM treats C 5. Communications are a mess. The website isn’t updated. Don’t even try calling the restaurant: a voice message tells you they’re on the other line. I left my number and forgettaboutit. First excuse was that the computer was down. But when I called to check prices after the dinner, I had the same problem.

There’s only one elevator, the restaurant’s dedicated entrance is sometimes closed. We came in separately through the museum entrance. Two guards wanted to inspect my 5×8 inch purse! Atleast the elevator took me to the fifth floor. My companion was told to take another elevator to the fourth floor, then climb the stairs. The fourth floor was so crowded he couldn’t find the stairs.

Funny but sad too.

** and a half stars.C 5 at the Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. 416 586 7928 wheelchair accessible.  Menus change daily. Holiday Menu with tax  $150 for two.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 1:48 pm and is filed under Restaurant Review. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.