Monday, May 17, 2010

i heart foodies... and sundaes







Six degrees of separation is an interesting thing, don't ya think? Here is a snippet of a conversation between my father and I last week:

Papa: "I'd like to send you a review written in La Presse (Montréal newspaper) about restaurants in Ottawa. It was written by your cousin Ève."
me: "Neat... by the way, I'm working at The Whalesbone every Friday night."
Papa: "That's the restaurant that was highlighted..."

Awesome that my cousin has such great taste eh? ;0)

Jump ahead to Friday night. Charlotte pounds on the floor (my cue to run upstairs and get a dessert order), and hands me a page cut out of a newspaper, and asks me to translate it. There it is, the article my father had been talking to me about, the one I had randomly mentioned to Charlotte and Jenna when I walked in for my shift. Small world eh? But the best part... seriously, the best part, is how the article came to be in Charlotte's hand.

These two older gentlemen decided to drive all the way up from Montréal to have supper at the Whalebone - informing us that it was all thanks to Ève's review in La Presse. I love people who take their food seriously, I especially love it when they go 2 hours out of their way to try something new... all that to say... i heart foodies. Oh, and I especially heart Ève because not only did the Whalesbone make her list but so did some of my other favs; Chez Eric(Wakefield), Soup'Herbe (Chelsea), Oz Cafe (Ottawa), Delish (Hull... Chloé's resto) and the Wellington Gastropub(Ottawa)... well done Ève! Claps for you and your taste buds!!!

Now onto my adventures in the prep kitchen! ;0)

It was an evening full of desserts. Which at the Whalesbone (as of May 1st) means SUNDAES!!!!! Oh, how I heart Jenna's sundae list... all the homemade goodies she makes to accompany that scoop of Pascale's vanilla bean ice cream (or two scoops... or for the truly decant, even three!). Mini cheesecake bites, brownie bites, cookie dough, pecan chocolate skor bar (sigh, my favourite), granola, caramel corn, flambé bananas, strawberry sauce, passion fruit coulis, chocolate ganache, espresso sauce, butterscotch sauce, candied apples... you see, and I haven't even mentioned them all. Sigh.

The biggest problem with the sundae bar (as a client that is) is what to choose! Seriously, you read the list above. When that little sundae menu card is placed in front of you, it takes time to come up with the perfect combo... how much chocolate today? or do I want it to be fresh and light? Half and half? WHAT TO DO!!!!?

That's where I came in on Friday. You see... people were enjoying Charlotte's tasting menu... which meant that they got to enjoy my "tasting" sundae. I decided to take the opportunity to make whatever combo that caught my fancy. Picture this, Charlotte gives me an order for 4 tasting sundaes. I run downstairs, grab the order card and just look at my sauces/topping options. Then I start grabbing the ingredients, I pull out the glass bowls, scoop out ice cream and start my creations.

Here are some of the sundaes I came up with...
vanilla bean ice cream, butterscotch sauce, peanut butter skor bar, brownie bites
vanilla bean ice cream, passion fruit coulis, fresh fruit (banana, pineapple, maraschino cherries), granola
vanilla bean ice cream, chocolate ganache, salted peanuts, peanut butter cups
vanilla bean ice cream, coconut dulce de leche, chocolate chip-cherry cookie dough, sponge toffee
vanilla bean ice cream, strawberry coulis, fresh fruit, brownie bites
vanilla bean ice cream, flambé bananas, brownie bites (yeah, i think these are some of the best brownies ever), candied apples

and then my favourite... the one I ended up making myself at the end of the night... my pat on the back for a good night of scooping ice cream, generously piling on the sauces and toppings and then running up and down the stairs as quickly as possible. My personal favourite, and please, feel free to ask for it the next time you wander into the Whalesbone and sit down for the "make your own sundae"...

vanilla bean ice cream. chocolate ganache. rhubarb compote. granola.

Seriously. A slight tart sweet sundae. And you'll notice... I didn't leave anything in my bowl.

note... I'm writing the following because I hope it'll force Jenna into adding this to the menu (write it and it shall be. Right?)... Jenna mentioned that she'd love to make shortbread cookies... break those up, toss in fresh strawberries and whipped cream... the strawberry shortcake sundae. I think that is a FABULOUS idea.

And the best way for all of you to find out if she takes the hint is to show up and enjoy your very own sundae. I'll be more than happy to serve it up for you!

Cheers!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Ouhhh, you wanna make this even more intricate, Eve is the daughter of a good friend of my parents!!!
And I m so flattered, by the way that she mentionned Delish.
Bisou Lynne
Chloé