Winterlicious 2015 - Fred's Not Here Review

Fred's Not Here is a classic Winterlicious favourite for their delicious seafood and grill combinations. Located at King St. West past the Roy Thompson Hall and the TIFF Bell Light Box, it's a 5-10 minute walk from St. Andrew station if you're coming by TTC. The neighbourhood holds a plethora of tasty cafes and bistros for tourists and the workaholics of the financial district. The best thing about this place? The food. If you don't make a reservation for this restaurant, you may wait a good hungry half an hour for dinner. The ambience is that of a jazz bar, dim but not dim enough to miss a step on the numerous spiralling stairs that lead to the washroom downstairs. The vibe? Typically lively and full of delicious food conversations - it's also a really great restaurant for a first date that you actually want to treat.

For starters, you receive this basket of fresh breads and my ultimate favourite is their "jalapeno corn bread". It's crispy on the outside and moist yet crumbly on the inside with some sweet and spicy jalapeno bits and the goodness of comforting corn. Honestly my favourite bread at any restaurant. I always ask for more when I come here. It looks like an ear of corn split in two halves - two extra points for design and a million for its functionality. Once in a while, you get a little piece of jalapeno with the bite of bread and holy moly is it ever amazing! You can tell I love their bread, so here's a photo along with the other boring breads like rye and white.

The holy grail that is the bread basket (corn bread and rye bread shown)

For our actual appetizers, Jeffrey (my boyfriend) ordered their "famous lobster and crab soup" which comes lidded with puff pastry so you can dip it in their soup and eat it together. He was smart enough to take off the entire lid before it stuck to the sides of the bowl and wow, it was really intensely flavourful. I thoroughly enjoyed their soup. It was immensely fragrant with the crab and lobster (mainly I tasted more crab, which I was thankful for), and it wasn't as fishy as it would be with just the broth. It was creamy, didn't have any chunks of crab or lobster regrettably, but nonetheless really yummy. I should warn you, it is literally boiling hot so wait until the steam lets out and make sure to dip any remaining bread you have into this soup. It's simply scrumptious. Another warning: they tend to take away the bread basket when you receive your appetizers so make sure to hold onto your bread if you want to eat the remainder of your basket!

Their famous lobster and crab soup
(Please excuse Jeffrey's expression lol)

For my appetizer, I ordered the "baked stuffed calamari with seafood risotto" inside. This was also piping hot and the risotto was a bit too wet for me and sticky, most likely because it accumulated more moisture sitting inside the calamari with the cooking process, but it works out since the calamari becomes slightly dry when baking. The calamari itself is a bit chewy but when you slice it in half, pile on the tomato sauce and stuff it in your mouth along with the risotto inside, is a delectable bite. I don't recommend this dish for people who are not fans of chewy seafood, but I love squid and calamari, so this was great for me. When you're trying to slice it in half, the rice may fall out, so be mindful of your arms as you try to gather what's on your plate. There are limited spaces between tables and servers going back and forth.

Baked stuffed calamari with seafood risotto

Oh the long awaited main entrees. My eyes have never seen beauty till now - on a duck dish. "Two way duck - confit of muscovy duck leg and roasted breast of duck a l'orange with duck fat frites and steamed vegetables". The description comes with duck fat frites and steamed vegetables, and no, they did not provide such said food but I was content with what I received. It wasn't until I was nearly finished with my duck I wanted some more greens. The taste verdict for the duck a l'orange is that it was tender, juicy, delicious and fragrant with a slight crisp on the skin. The duck leg confit was gamey and a tad bit dry compared to the breast. And believe me, there was a lot of meat. As much as I really enjoy duck, the imbalance between meat and vegetables were hard to overcome, so I could barely finish my plate.

Two way duck - duck leg confit & duck a l'orange

 Jeffrey had the "blue label burger with house blend waguy (kobe) and angus beef, roasted sweet onions, blue cheese, parmesan duck fat frites, and truffle aioli. Let me tell you why he picked what he did: to taste the difference between kobe beef and regular beef. His verdict wasn't that great and I will explain why. The blue cheese, the delicacy of waguy, the onions, and the aioli are far too many flavours to pick out any specific taste. It's overwhelming and is no way to taste an expensive cut of meat. The flavours clash and it's not easy for someone like Jeffrey to taste anything on his palate. I only had the tomatoes that were on his plate with a piece of fry. Even with just the tomatoes, I got the strong pungent aroma of blue cheese and the parmesan was overpowering the fries - believe me, I really dislike blue cheese but I can appreciate a complementary flavour when it's paired well. I did find that disappointing but I was too distracted with my duck to try this burger, nor did I want it.
 

Blue label burger with house blend waguy (kobe) and angus beef

Ultimately, I enjoyed my dishes but didn't have the room in my stomach for dessert and so we took our desserts to go. I picked the "white chocolate lemon cheese cake" and Jeffrey had the "banana chocolate bread pudding with warm caramel rum sauce". It sat in my refrigerator overnight and I did swing it around quite a bit when I was going home so all the caramel rum sauce leaked out from the bread pudding and was a sticky mess. The cheese cake is made in-house and was recommended by our server, who was so nice to us and also complimented my Kate Spade purse which I accepted in awe because nobody recognized my purse ever, haha. Unfortunately, the cheese cake didn't taste as great as I'd hoped and was WAY too sweet. To get rid of the citrusy tang, I guess they over sweetened and to a high disadvantage. The texture was hard and the white chocolate on top was just sugary and not very flavourful. The bread pudding was a little better and tasted like banana bread with chocolate and rum. I did not mind it as much as the cheese cake, but this would have tasted better with custard. I also craved a textural difference with each bite, like toasted almonds or walnuts. Like Trapper's Restaurant, Winterlicious menus are not well known for their dessert selections and I wish they would give you something to mull over about and come back for next year.

As a final word, thank you so much for the exceptional service we received here that night and for your smiles to our server. She was really charming and I wish everyone else were equally charming here. Please feel free to let me know what you think if you ever stop by here. It's a great Summerlicious/Winterlicious stop for anyone that hasn't tried their menu and at $35 per person, it's quite reasonable. I was very happy with my duck a l'orange - all three pieces of it. And their jalapeno corn bread. Did I mention their corn bread? Deeeeeeeelicious!

Dreaming of Another Dimension

It wasn't so long ago that I had dreams of food. Those of you that know me to the core know that I have an ever longing passion for food that cannot be denied. Just a dream earlier, I was infuriated by people hiding my food and I accused my boyfriend of stealing it. Then it turned out one of my friends had hidden my delicious steaming bowl of katsudon so I gave him the full Hanna Lee wrath that is inevitable when it comes to the obsession of food. I accused my boyfriend because he'd already downed two whole plates of donkatsu and we were at a quaint Japanese diner. They only served the most delicious meals there. Obviously I would get mad for someone stealing my food. Or worse, not even appreciating the flavour combination that is the infamous katsudon and denying me the same pleasure. So what was my dream actually about? Why does it involve a different dimension? You'll see.

It wasn't quite evening yet. The sun was still up and I was walking around my bedroom with my huge walk-in closet and the obscurely large beautiful bed was just the sight anyone would want to see before falling asleep to the most peaceful and beautiful slumber. Then, I heard gun shots. See, this is the part I know is a dream since I live in a fairly large room but my closet has not enough space and never will have enough space because I tend to buy a new outfit ever so often, thinking I need it. But the truth is, I have enough clothes (including underwear) to not do my laundry for at least 2 months, considering I would change every single day into a different outfit. So, when I heard gun shots, I did what anyone would do and ducked out of sight and peered into my windows. Then I heard someone climbing a ladder. Don't ask me how I hear people climbing ladders, I just did. This is a dream after all. Our family mansion was being invaded. By several robbers? A horde? I wasn't sure. So I stayed out of sight and looked outside the window of my closet. Yeah, I know - it's a dream closet complete with windows! Through the windows came barging in a handsome fellow. He looked like Taylor Kitsch. Although I don't personally fancy him, so I really have no clue why I would have him appear in my dream.

He's got quite the physique and the utmost pleasing of appearances, I know, but don't be fooled. He was leading an alien army into my family mansion. Just then, when he came in, I decided to do what would result in a sickness. I tried to seduce the man to make time for my family's escape. By this time, I had shouted loudly to the members of my family that someone was going to rob us and maybe kill us, so it would be wise to hide. Taylor Kitsch walked up to me with a gun and pointed it at me. I don't recall what he sounded like or what he said. I was blinded by fear. Then, ever so slightly, I hugged him and said something along the lines of, "Why don't we enjoy ourselves a little? You've got me at gunpoint. I'm not going anywhere." So I led him to my bed and sat on top of him. Yes, there was definitely no nudity because as soon as I started to kiss him, I threw up on him. Ergo the aforementioned sickness. He was utterly shocked and disgusted that I had thrown up all over him. He shoved me off, muttered something negligent, and left my bedroom. Well, that was easy, I thought to myself. I'm free of him, at least.

As I made my way along the corridors of my family's mansion, I looked for my brothers. I did not see them or their dead bodies. It was going well, or so I hoped. Then came in the aliens. I did not see them closely, only shadows because I hid behind something. Alas the futuristic creatures have revealed themselves. My dad is a pastor/reverend in real life, so in this dream, I had no idea what they could possibly want with my family or these worldly possessions. Perhaps they wanted something else? Perhaps I could negotiate with them? I had all these thoughts inside my head, brewing for answers and escape.

All of a sudden, I was swarmed by special forces sent by the government to assist in our survival. They were trying to send me somewhere safe through a vortex. They shot a gun and it created a vortex on someone's body and we had to leap through it to get to the otherside. As bizarre as it sounds, it was quite realistic in my dream. So I climbed in and the officer beside the commanding officer (or so it seemed) climbed in with me and away we were swirling into this man's gut - through to another dimension. Taylor Kitsch appeared again, and found scissors somehow. This vortex could not be sealed, so the commanding officer was trying to sew up the man's gut and by doing so, he would deliver us from the handsome evil that was Taylor Kitsch and his horde of aliens. He gnawed away at the thread and ripped it open. I leapt out of the vortex and trying to be the heroine again, fought him for the scissors. I feared being stabbed. But right then, the scissors split in two and I grabbed the other end and as fast as I could and as hard as I could, I stabbed him in the gut.

The blade of the scissors were quite long and I could no longer see the metal. Only the plastic of the handle could be seen. At this moment, the officers seized him and the aliens disappeared. I saved our family! We were free at last! I was rejoicing at our battle with outer dimensional creatures and ran all the way down the corridors to the escalators and started to descend multiple levels and finally reached the basement. I walked past the media room with thousands of books and movies and televisions into the kitchen. My brothers and my mother were standing around the long dining table discussing the events that had occurred within the past few hours. My mother was suggesting dinner options. It was only dinner time? It had seemed like an entire day had gone by. My mother kept urging me to go find my father so off I went, up the stairs where I could see the rack of bicycles on the wall, all the way up to the ceiling. Of course our ceiling was sky high, considering it was a mansion. But something was off. The bicycles stopped a third way up. They were missing. I sensed tension in my stomach as I kept climbing up the stairs. There they were. Two female aliens laughing and chatting away over glasses of wine. I was mortified. They glanced at me and continued chatting. I ran back down the stairs and informed my mother and brothers that there were remaining aliens looming about the mansion. Just then, the aliens walked down with laser guns that were the size of Super Soakers. Then they shot my family, one member at a time. I could only hear the sound of my screams as I ran off, tears running down the sides of my cheeks. I ran past our maids and remaining special forces officers. They were lurking around a hidden bathroom. I rushed past them. The door of this hidden bathroom were like those of my own closet. They slid like wall dividers. The magnet at the end snapped shut and I sighed with relief as I tried to shake of my fear. I pulled the string to give myself light. Then I heard them approaching. The aliens. I quickly shut off the light by pulling the string once again. A collapse was seen through shadows beneath my feet. I manouvered my feet ever so slightly to avoid them seeing my shadows. The door was not long enough to cover my feet and I could not risk them finding me. The tension crept up to my stomach and up to my face. I was dead meat in no time, I thought. What surprised me was not my death, but how many of them had sprung up out of nowhere. There were lines of them, an entire army of them marching along my lovely decorated basement. Their shadows marched one by one to the stairs. I froze my eyes shut. Majority of them had gone by already. Maybe I would survive. But I would be a lone survivor out of my family. I had no more hope. No will to live - there was no one to live for. Then I made eye contact. They had changed appearances and now looked human. A primped up human with their blown up voluminous hair and doll eyes, complete with the beautiful long lashes. She sneered as she shot. I felt no pain. I raised my middle finger at her and she called to her comrades as I died. She shot my middle finger multiple times as I drew my dying breath. Then all was black.

And I awoke in my room, staring at the ceiling, and at my sliding door closet. All was well again. My family was not massacred and we did not live in a mansion, but we were living and sound asleep.