Wedding Menu

Finally, we're getting to the FOOD portion of our wedding! One of the main reasons we picked Auberge du Pommier as our venue was for the food. Yes, you can call me a baker, a foodie, or someone who takes photos of her food, and this meant that I wanted our guests to be given various choices and to be well fed at our wedding. We decided on a French restaurant because most of our fond dining experiences happened in French restaurants.

The restaurant doesn't offer a complimentary tasting, but you are able to schedule one for an additional cost. We felt pretty confident that the food would be good, so we skipped the option and picked the dishes based on the menu descriptions.

Of course, the first edible treat they received was part of the program. After the ceremony, the drinks were generously circulated to our guests. Lots of wine and cocktails to start the party with.

We also ordered three types of canapés to be circulated at this time. A vegetarian pick - savoury scallion madeleines with lemon crème fraîche - as you may know, I love madeleines! Next up, a seafood option - grilled octopus brochettes with strawberry gastrique. Then, because most people love meatballs, grilled Moroccan lamb on a stick.

Auberge du Pommier printed the menus for every guest, but the children's menu wasn't included in it. But our flower girl and ring bearer had some great choices for dinner as well! Caesar salad, crudités and dips, or greens with house vinaigrette for an appetizer. Fish goujonettes with chips and tartar sauce, petit filet of beef with vegetables and potatoes, or roasted chicken with vegetables and potatoes for their entrée choice. Then for dessert, they could pick a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, a banana split, or fruit salad with cookies. The children's portion were actually really large so the parents happily helped finish all the food.

For the adult guests, they could order the soup of the day which was fennel and leek vichyssoise with fennel front mascarpone and mint pesto or the chou frisé consisting of kale, radish, pickled granny apple, and horseradish kefir vinaigrette.

One of the popular mains that guests ordered was the canard: roasted duck breast with apricot, coriander tabbouleh, fennel salad, pickled red onion, and grilled lemon jus.

Next, the boeuf: a beef tenderloin with braised broccolini, pommes purée, shallot confit, a scallion compte, and bordelaise sauce.

And since no one RSVPed with food restrictions, we offered a saumon choice instead of a vegetarian one: B.C. salmon with charred romaine, braised radish, spicy pea purée, and goat cheese cream.

Even though there would be cake, we still wanted a dessert course (who doesn't want more dessert?) The mousse au chocolat was served with a mixed berry compote, nut clusters, and salted caramel.

And the rhubarbe consisted of chilled rhubarb coulis, yoghurt gâteau, toasted almonds, and crème fraîche ice cream. Howard's and my plate were personalized from the chef with a note of congratulations (the only photo I took that day).

Cheers! More about those cakes next time . . .

Wedding Photography: Ikonica | Venue: Auberge du Pommier | Food and Drink: Auberge du Pommier | Printed Menus: Auberge du Pommier

Wedding Tablescapes

We live in a city with some great farmer's markets and florists. So I was very torn about going the do-it-yourself route or simply buying gorgeous and beautiful flowers to fill our tables. In the end, it came down to budget. After doing some research and seeing some sample quotes online, I knew were weren't going to get a sprawling table of flowers. I didn't even bother contacting florists for quotes in fear of offending them!

My initial vision was to keep things rustic to go with the restaurant's atmosphere. We were in what used to be a woodcutters' cottages after all. I was thinking mason jars and beautiful pink dahlias or flowers from my parent's garden. At one point I even thought I could make beautiful crepe paper flowers instead. I collected mason jars from family and friends (and ate a lot of pasta sauce myself), cleaned them, and painted the inside with white acrylic paint. I wanted the look of milk glass - without paying for the hefty price. A Pinterest idea gone wrong! Acrylic is supposed to be waterproof, but after letting the jars dry for weeks, I tested them a week before the wedding. No! The paint simply peeled off and bubbled. Water had somehow gotten between the paint and the glass - despite two to three coats of paint. It did NOT look pretty. Think mad-scientist lab with organs in a jar.

So that week, we frantically tried to come up with an alternative. Our best bet was going to Ikea for their versatile Ensidig vases. We bought six of the large ones (diameter: 15 cm, height: 16 cm) and 10 of the smaller ones that resemble milk bottles (diameter: 7.7 cm, height: 18 cm). We dropped the six larges one off at the florist where I ordered the bouquets and boutonnieres and asked them to fill it with green hydrangeas.

I had made the table numbers that would be combined with the main centerpiece. Had to insert a bit of my love for baking here. I took some wooden cake dowels, bought cookie cutters in the shape of numbers, and used a hot glue gun to stick them together.

There you have it! A visible table number - with a nod to baking - rising above a fluffy bouquet of hydrangeas.

For the milk-bottle vases, Howard and I went to our grocery store and bought green chrysanthemum buttons the day before the wedding. We trimmed them at home and had them ready to go. The venue provided candles and candle holders so they did the set up, placing as many candles that would look nice and lighted them before the dinner. They also arranged each place setting with folded napkins, menus, cutlery, and glassware. We loved how they did a little extra for our head table, using different candle holders and including some of their own greenery.

We decided on assigned seating for each table, so we got a pack of ivory tent cards with an embossed frame along the border. Here's the crazy part - I hand lettered all of the names. Yes, we could have ran it through a printer . . . but where's the personality in that? I don't even have calligraphy pens or special nibs, I did these with a regular black pen and coloured in the areas I wanted thickened. Yes, hand cramps and lots of breaks were involved.

Wedding Photography: Ikonica | Venue: Auberge du Pommier | Candles and Candle Holders: Auberge du Pommier | Florist: Ruby Florist and Loblaws | Vases: ENSIDIG from Ikea | Place Card Hand Lettering: Sylvia Chan | Table Numbers: Sylvia Chan | Cookie Cutters: Fox Run Craftsmen | Wooden Cake Dowels: Michaels

Wedding Photography

Okay, so you've picked a date, sent out your save the dates, booked a venue, sent out invitations, and found the dress. Simultaneously, and preferably a year ahead, you need to book your wedding photographer! Trust us, the dates book up fast! You'll want to check out each photographer's question and start inquiring to see if they're available on your wedding day. Compare prices, services, and photography styles. Some packages start at 6 hours, 8 hours, and you have to pay additional fees for over time. Does the company send one photographer? Two? An assistant? What is the policy if the photographer can't make it? Do you get the high-resolution files on a disc, USB, or does the package include prints and an album? Are you on the hook for paying for gas and parking? What about dinner?

So as you can see, there are LOTS of different options and we found it useful to create a grid to see everyone's offers in neat columns. Testimonials are incredibly important, but rely on your own instincts too! For instance, we loved the photos our friends received for their wedding, but found this studio to be incredibly rude and unreliable when we were discussing the details. Another photographer had many rave reviews, but accidentally double booked us. There were lots of talented options here in Toronto and we found this more challenging than finalizing the venue. When it came down to it, I knew I wasn't going to take this decision lightly and that this was going to take a significant chunk out of our wedding budget. The photos were an important part of the wedding for me, acting as keepsake and gifts for our guests. Honestly, we do think you get what you pay for in this department.

Our final decision was to go with Ikonica because we found the director to be incredibly knowledgeable, patience with our many questions, quick in getting back to us, and professional. We liked that as a studio, there would be a whole team behind us. And in the case of an emergency, another lead photographer at the studio would be able to work our wedding (I'm sure no one wants to be stressed and scrambling for a replacement on the week of). They provided a core package that included a photo essay of the day that we could have password protected for our guests to view, screen resolution previews, a lead photographer, a second photographer, and an assistant photographer. We were able to include additional hours and purchase the high-resolution files to do as we see fit. And browsing through their galleries and portfolios, they did great post production work on the photos. The payment structure was also nicely set up at signing, the month before, and upon delivery - this helped as there are lots of bills to pay during or after the wedding, so having it spaced out in installments gave us breathing room. In terms of additional fees on top of the package, we did provide vendor meals for the three photographers and for parking/tolls/gas.

We'd have to say that the team did a great job on our wedding day. They arrived on time for our first look. Made all of us feel easy and relaxed in front of the camera and could probably tell right off the bat that we weren't the type to awkwardly pose for "fabricated moments." They really hustled to keep us on time and go through our photo list with guests. They also took the time to seek out little moments from our day in which we only saw later when we were going through the photos. My favourite was the mix of portrait and candid shots they captured. Our guests were happy to take direction and a few exclaimed that they were impressed with the job the photographers were doing. They were also well aware of the schedule, the key people, and knew where to be and when. We have to say that our experience was wonderful and we would highly recommend them.

And you know what? Now you have a bit of a breather in wedding planning! The big stuff have already been sorted and decided, so you can take a little break until it's time to look for a florist and a hair/make up artist.

On the topic of engagement photos and albums, we opted out! Howard and I weren't sure what we would use our engagement photos for - I wanted to create my own save the dates and invitations, so it didn't seem like there was a need for these. I know a lot of photographers encourage it because you get to know your photographer a bit more before your big day and you get practice being in front of the camera. But I think we did fine without it. ;) And for the album, we felt that lots of people view these online nowadays, so there wasn't a point in having one sit in our home for the occasional guest to flip through. But, I did want a few photos printed out and displayed as a gallery in our hallway! By the way, aligning and hanging frames is a whole other challenge . . .

Photography: Ikonica | Lead Photographer: Jean-Marc Robin | Second Photographer: Felix | Assistant Photographer: Nicole | Post Production Coordinator: Virginia LeBlanc

Wedding Venue

Here's a blast from the past! I've been writing these posts since the beginning of the year by jotting down my thoughts in hopes of helping those who might be planning a wedding. So it's a combination of things I drafted months ago and thoughts from today.

I think choosing the venue was the hardest part of the wedding because everything else falls in place once it's decided. You might have read an earlier post where I was feeling the blues because we didn't know what to do. Did we want to do a destination wedding or a wedding in our city? There were so many pros and cons and we debated for a long time. In the end, we decided to have the wedding in our home city with the following requirements:

1. We had to stay within a budget.
2. There had to be good food (right? We have a food blog of goodness sake).
3. Ideally, it could host the ceremony and the reception.
4. Free parking for our guests.
5. Someplace easy to get to.

One of our earlier plans was to go the route of a hall rental like everybody else. We wanted the ceremony and reception at the Toronto Botanical Garden because it was adjacent to Edwards Garden. This was when we thought we should continue our park theme (having met on the job while working for Toronto Parks and Rec and being engaged at Central Park in New York). But bringing in a caterer, renting furniture, and all the fees associated with the space meant we would be doubling our budget. *faint*

Another idea was to do a really simple wedding by getting married at City Hall and then having dinner at a restaurant. Then we found out that those wedding chambers at City Hall weren't included, there was a rental fee! And we'd have to pay for parking. If I was going to be spending money on renting a space for the ceremony, I might as well find a prettier spot!

And a prettier spot we did find! We were so happy to learn that Auberge du Pommier was available (do book ahead, we reserved it a year in advance). This charming French restaurant includes a terrace space for ceremonies. It's covered in case there's rain (which it did) and includes heaters if it gets a bit chilly (which it did). We also still get the greenery with the trees, shrubs, and plants - so we're still with the park theme here with it being airy with fresh air.

The lower terrace was transformed by the amazing staff who arranged the chairs in theatre setting and for hanging our decorative bunting at the front. Unlike other venues, you don't have to rent chairs or tables! The area is also completely private and not visible from the road or parking lot. Bonus, the aisle isn't too long so I didn't have to walk too far to get to the front (was seriously stressed about walking in heels in a gown. A simple thing like walking, geez)!

We wanted a small wedding, but we still ended up booking the largest private room that Auberge du Pommier had - which seats 48. The Oscar room had the perfect set up for us, there were six tables of eight, a fireplace, a cake table, and a hutch.

We had the option of reserving the second private room for late night dancing and food too, but they weren't next to each other so it felt disconnected and we declined the space. Another small wedding group was there that night, but we didn't see much of them since we were separated by the concierge. If you're wondering about the main dining room space, Auberge du Pommier doesn't offer full restaurant buyouts on Saturday evenings, only during lunch or on Sundays.

It was tricky narrowing down the guest list to 46, but we did it. You know what's trickier after? The seating chart! We actually had our head table split in two, so the ones in the middle were for us and our wedding party. Then Howard's family and friends on the left and my family and friends on the right.

Now that we've had our wedding, we only have praises and good things to say. The event specialists at Oliver & Bonacini are courteous, helpful, and so great to work with. We were so lucky to have Jessie along the way to answer our questions and organize our ceremony and reception schedule. The on-site manager and staff that day were also top notch. We felt that they went above and beyond with our requests and even on things we didn't ask for or think about. They were all truly professional and thoughtful in presentation and interacting with our guests.

If you're thinking about an event or reception at a restaurant, I highly recommend it. Auberge du Pommier included candles, linens, printed menus, cake knife and lifter, booster seats for kids, card vessel, bouquet vases, coat check, parking vouchers, and reserved signs. And if you have elders or children, they have accessible washrooms on the main floor. Not to mention all the charm of a rustic woodcutters' cottages!

Venue: Auberge du Pommier, Lower Terrace and Oscar Room | Photography: Ikonica | Bunting: Samantha Swenson

The Chase Fish and Oyster

The Chase Fish and Oyster

10 Temperance Street

Toronto, ON M5H 1Y4

647-348-7000

Birthday weekends are the best! We haven't eaten out and tried a new restaurant in a long time, so Howard did a little research and picked a restaurant for my birthday dinner last week. The only stipulation I gave him was that I wanted oysters. I think it's been more than a year since I've had a good oyster platter!

Oyster platter delivered. Each table is given a card and pencil to mark the amount of raw seafood they would like to order. So I penciled in three Foxley Bay oysters and three Salt Grass oysters after our knowledgeable waiter went through the description. All oyster platters come with fish and oyster hot sauce, cocktail sauce, and migonette. Just so perfect that I could try each sauce per oyster. Maybe eight next time so I can really load up the lemon and horseradish on one.

We tried a bunch of sharing plates and this was by far our favourite. The big eye tuna "nachos" - in quotation marks because it was made with crispy taro root chips, hot mustard saffron emulsion, and sweet onion and shoyu dressing. Delicious and refreshing, it was so good during this chilly winter, imagine how much better it would be eaten on the patio during the summer!

Next up, the hot smoked white fish on toast with caviar and pickles. Great flavours and I don't even like pickles! But everything worked together to form that perfect bite.

Couldn't resist a side of shoestring fries. I love fries.

Octopus with harissa, spiced merguez sausage, mustard greens, and sauteed red onions. We made merguez sausages last summer and I thought they were pretty awesome. But this one was a hundred percent stronger and punchier in flavour. There were only a few slices on the plate, which is a good idea because it can easily overpower the octopus.

We decided to share a main, but thought that the portion was similar to the sharing plates. Regardless, the scallops with pumpkin ravioli, foie gras butter, and arugula was rich and creamy.

I always look forward to dessert, but felt this was too much chocolate and sugar for one person. Did I just say that? Darn, I am getting old! But thank goodness we shared it because it could not be finished as a single serving. The hazelnut bombe with hazelnut whipped ganache, dark chocolate cream, chocolate cake, and candied hazelnuts was like a giant Ferrero Roche minus the thin wafer shell. I can't believe I'm going to say this as well, but dessert was our least favourite dish of the meal!

But that doesn't matter, we are definitely going back and looking forward to trying the other restaurants from this hospitality group: The Chase (which is upstairs), Little Fin (right beside), and Colette Grand Café.

Café Boulud and Daniel Signing

Last Saturday, we found out that Daniel Boulud would be having a book launch at the Four Seasons Hotel for his new cookbook, Daniel: My French Cuisine. It's a big tome of a book and well, I knew that I would eventually want a copy for my collection, so why not have it personalized?

Since the book signing was scheduled for 2pm, Howard and I went to have lunch at Café Boulud first. We find that the service there is always impeccable. We were running late due to traffic and construction and called to let them know, they were very gracious in moving our reservation back. It was nice to not worry about rushing knowing that they were still keeping our table.

Went we arrived at Café Boulud, Daniel himself was at the front overseeing some of the preparation for the book launch. We were escorted to our table by the lovely hostess who field our phone call earlier and were promptly served with water as we browsed the menu.

Howard and I decided to get charcuterie to start. The Saucisson Lyonnais had pistachio embedded in it and was served with a potato salad and cornichon vinaigrette.

I chose a lighter fare, the Chop Chop Salad with romaine, cucumber, avocado, grapefruit, cilantro, and a sesame-ginger dressing.

Howard decided to try the Lamb Burger with eggplant, tzatziki, and sweet potato chips. There was an option for feta cheese, but Howard forgot to include it in his order. I tried a bite of it and have to say it's a very good lamb burger! I personally wouldn't add the feta if I were to order this again.

And the side of sweet potato chips? So crispy, salty, and delicious!

I really wanted dessert because I think they're stellar here, but the signing was about to begin, so we made our way down to the gift shop to purchase our copy of the book.

The cookbook was out on display for anyone to browse. As instructed, we started to form a line beside this table. I liked how organized this event was!

Daniel Boulud signing my copy of Daniel!

He was so nice and beckoned me over for a picture. :)

Not only did we get our book personalized, they also handed out little cans of madeleines with dark chocolate crispearls. This made me so happy! You don't understand, we were going to go back to Café Boulud for dessert but dessert came to me! If you've never tried the fresh madeleines from Café Boulud, I highly suggest that you do. They arrive warm in a cloth basket, you start with one and before you know it, you'll be thinking about them long after you finish eating them.

We're going to be back, because included with that gift was a card for a complimentary dessert when you order any main course. That's really difficult for me to resist, so we'll be making another visit during the holidays.

Summerlicious: Daishō

Daishō

190 University Avenue, 3rd Floor

Toronto, ON M5H 0A3

Summerlicious in Toronto is one of those wonderful times of the year where we make an effort to go out and try restaurants with our friends. It's nice for those of us who are wallet conscious because the prix fixe menus are set at affordable lunch and dinner prices.

This year, when the restaurant list and menus were released, I was surprised (might have even gasped) to see Daishō on the list. Still relatively new, the opening of the three floors of momofuku eateries in Toronto had caused quite a buzz. But, it was nice to see that they were participating in this annual event!

We made dinner reservations (they had a 6:30 pm and 8:30 pm seating) for the later one to accommodate everyone's arrival after work. Upon arrival, we informed the host that our party was present, but were told that no tables were available yet. So we went down to nikai to wait the suggested fifteen minutes. We went back up to check (since no one was going to come down and inform us that our table was ready) and waited approximately another five to ten minutes until we were finally seated at the bar. How does one get a regular table at Daishō? This was our second time there and we were seated in the same spot, while it's fun to sit high up, I'd still prefer the chairs where my feet and rest on the floor!

To start, we were given an amuse bouche, a shot of chilled pea soup. It was tasty and woke up our taste buds for sure! I'm not even a fan of peas, but that soup left me wanting more. Going clockwise starting from the top left corner: Two burger buns, hot sauce, falafel bun, and shrimp bun. I had the burger bun, which was reminiscent of a McDonald's hamburger, included onion, cheddar, and special sauce. A bite of Howard's shrimp bun which had good clean flavours, the shrimp was accompanied with spicy mayo, pickled onion, and bibb lettuce. The gigantic one we were all eyeing was the falafel bun with yogurt, chickpea, and cucumber. Our friend gave us the nod and thumbs up as she gobbled it up. The falafel bun was the one that came with the little dish of hot sauce, but that didn't stop us from dipping our respective appetizers into it.

Howard tried the pork chop with corn, chanterelles, and nori. Unlike any pork chop we've had before, it was tender and was almost like a slice of ham cooked very well.

I rather enjoyed the trout with shrimp, pepperoncini, and herbs. There was definitely a good kick to it and the trout and shrimp didn't overpower each other.

We were served a palate cleanser of cucumber granita before dessert was served.

Howard's crack pie dessert with whipped cream and powdered sugar. If you haven't had their famous crack pie before, we would recommend that you share it. It's incredibly sweet and if you have too much, your teeth will start to cringe from all the sugar. But a bite or two? Lovely!

I tried the fried strawberry pie with vanilla, spiced sugar, and cookie crumb. A bit disappointed that the ice cream had melted so much by the time it arrived. And there wasn't anything special about the strawberry pie. As one of our friends put it, it's a strawberry spring roll!

An assortment of cake truffles.

Aside from waiting for a table, service was attentive and friendly. The buns at momofuku are always a standout and the main dishes were well prepared and cooked. Sadly, the portions were a bit on the smaller side for dinner entrées and the desserts weren't that inspiring (as you can purchase them from milk bar). Still hungry, we left and debated eating at noodle bar, but the dinner was already one of the higher prix fixe prices, so we decided against it.