Earth Hour Dinner at Thomsons
Sorry I’m a little behind on my dinner updates – these 4:30 am wake-up calls (I’m taking over traffic duties on the Eyeopener this week) are seriously interfering with my late-night posting schedule. I might have squeezed this in last night if upon arriving home from one of the most wonderful, sleep-inducing (bread-warm soup-red meat-cheesy potatoes-red wine-bread pudding) meals I’ve had in a long time I did not hop straight into bed with my laptop, but rather went straight out again, to a board meeting at which we reviewed budgets and grant proposals. (How I stayed awake through that I have no idea. Also-the first thing another meeting-goer said to me when I walked in the door was: “it’s a good thing you’re on radio, because you look awful!”) When I got home, my eyes slamming shut, it was all I could do to upload the photos.
But look at them! Look at this soup! This is (was) Thomsons’ Hotchkiss Farms smoked heirloom tomato puree with basil foam (a dollop of crème fraîche, I think, with slivered basil). It tasted exactly as it looks. Smoky; an essence of the very best-quality tomatoes and cream.
I love to see corporate entities participating in events like Earth Hour. So if I can show my support by going for a three-course meal made from ingredients sourced within a 150 mile radius, it’s the very least I can do. At Thomsons, they’re celebrating Earth Hour all week long with a special menu featuring ingredients sourced from within 150 miles of the hotel. (These ingredients and others can be found on their menu year-round; they are regular suppliers, all drawn together to create a single meal for this occasion.)
And to be perfectly honest, Thomsons Restaurant, next to Catch in the lobby of the Hyatt downtown, has been off my radar for awhile. I’m not sure why – it’s just one of those restaurants that has been around so long I hardly notice it anymore. I’m so glad we’ve been reunited.
It’s a beautiful old sandstone building – the Thomsons block, constructed in 1893 by brothers Melville and James Thomson, was originally a bookstore and has since housed clothing stores, furniture stores, hardware stores and bakeries. I love the stone parapet- and if you look close, there are wild rose flower details in the sandstone.
And now – a restaurant. Where they bake their own bread! Who knew? Wonderfully chewy with a nice crust, savoury but studded with raisins. Right directly up my alley.
And that was ahead of the meal; at Thomsons, they’re celebrating Earth Hour all week long with a special menu featuring ingredients sourced from within 150 miles of the hotel. It’s a set menu, and the best value I’ve seen in a long time – a three course meal; a full-sized, substantial one, made with lovely organic, local ingredients, for $35. Seriously – if you want to go out for a nice, schwanky (without being stuffy) dinner affordably, you can’t beat this – it’s the best deal I’ve seen in ages. (Normally just an entree like this would go for $35-or more.) The room is beautiful, overlooking Stephen Avenue or set back from it, with old jazz massaging your ears in the background – Sammy Davis Jr. and Ella Fitzgerald – a wonderfully relaxing change from the usual generic dance beat that tends to make me a little squirrely. The service was super – it reminded me what good service is. Our server, Benjamin, described each dish with groovy enthusiasm in a rich, melt-in-his-mouth Jamaican accent-I really need to get myself a recorder and upload some audio and video here one of these days.
And seriously – look at this meal. Mike almost cried:
It’s a short rib from Spring Creek Ranch, braised in Wild Rose Brewery WRed Wheat Ale for six hours. Underneath, Sylvan Star smoked gouda gratin and multi-hued Hotchkiss Farm carrots. Honestly? It was perfection in a bowl. A fantastic balance of beef, jus, cream, cheese, potatoes and carrots. It was like going home and being fed, if your mom was some fantastically talented chef. Had I been born rich (or married into it) I would have gone upstairs, got myself a room and curled up in a nice bed on clean (popcorn fragments and Buzz Lightyear-free) sheets and fell asleep in a state of pure bliss.
Wait! I almost forgot dessert. The photo doesn’t do it justice – it was getting dark, and that little triangle of homemade Chinook buckwheat honey ice cream was MELTING.
You can’t blame it, really – it was set atop warm bread pudding already draped in warm custard sauce, nestled into a warmed cast iron skillet. But let me tell you, that ice cream was bliss. BLISS. As you may know, I am an ice cream fanatic. I can’t keep it in the house – literally I can’t keep it because I eat it all and it has no chance to stick around. I have no idea how they made this stuff so creamy – I mean, it was like the very best ultra-creamy ice cream times a thousand. And with a honey cast to the flavour, rather than the usual vanilla. Bliss. I am as I type plotting ways to get some more. I may go back for another meal just to get dessert. (Not that the route there would be so terrible either.)
So for Earth Hour this weekend, the Hyatt will be shutting down all non-essential power throughout the hotel during those 60 minutes. This includes exterior lighting, sales, catering, marketing and executive offices, the Sandstone Lounge, Thomsons Restaurant and Catch Restaurant & Oyster Bar (all will be illuminated by candles), Stillwater Spa, the Imperial Ballroom, the Regency Club and parts of the lobby; any energy they do use will be Bullfrog Power. Good on you, guys.
Earth Hour Menu – Monday March 22 to Saturday March 27
(On Saturday March 27, it will be served in a truly earth friendly atmosphere as they offer dinner service by candlelight.)
Appetizer
Hotchkiss Farms heirloom tomato and organic greens salad with High Wood Crossing cold pressed canola oil and malt vinegar
OR
Hotchkiss Farms smoked heirloom tomato puree basil foam
Main Course
Wild Rose Brewery WRed Wheat Ale braised Spring Creek short rib, Sylvan Star smoked gouda gratin and Hotchkiss Farm carrots
Dessert
Home made Saskatoon bread pudding with homemade Chinook farms buckwheat honey ice cream
To book a reservation at Thomsons to enjoy the Earth Hour menu, email dining@thomsonsrestaurant.com or call 403-537-4449
(Hurry – it’s only around until Saturday!)
March 24 2010 | eating out | 10 Comments »
