Lapointe's: Not the Catch of the Day

For someone who calls himself a foodie, I don't go out to restaurants as much as you would think. When I do, it would be to celebrate an event of some kind, or as part of a date night. On one of those date nights a few years ago, my wife and I, after wandering around the Market for a while, decided to try Lapointe's Fish Market Restaurant. We enjoyed the food there that day and we both added Lapointe's to our list of favorite restaurants. Unfortunately, this is not now the case for either of us.

The first time we were there, I ordered the halibut fish and chips, and Dawn had the calamari. I’m not a big fish eater, but I enjoyed my order, the batter was crispy, the fish was nicely cooked, and the tartar sauce was so good, I only used the ketchup for my fries. Dawn liked her plate of calamari, saying it was the best she had ever eaten, neither rubbery, or over-fried, served with a spicy dipping sauce. Even though it was a busy Friday night, we received our orders in a reasonable amount of time. We both looked forward to our next outing at what we thought was our new go-to restaurant for seafood.  When that Friday night come around sometime later, we again went with the fish and chips with some calamari as an appetizer. Our meal was good, but it didn’t blow us away as it did the first time. We both chalked it up to an off night in the kitchen, and we still considered Lapointe's a good place to go for a meal. That all come to an end during our next outing there.

Unlike the previous times, we went on a weekday as we were celebrating my birthday. Even though there were few people in the restaurant, we still had to wait five minutes to be seated. Once we were seated, there was another long wait to get our drink orders placed, and another long wait to get our water glasses filled. Then for whatever reason, despite there being plenty of empty tables throughout the place they seated another patron so close to us you would have thought it was a table for three. The final straw came when a group of people came in, and were seated and got their orders placed before us. We got up and left. Someone who I assumed was the manager asked us in passing if everything was alright, and I told him “No, it isn’t!” as we made our way up to street level. The evening was salvaged when we decided to go across the street to Coasters Seafood Grill. The difference was like night and day. Even though it was busy and we had to wait for a table, we were served drinks from the bar in an area off to the side of the entrance. When we got our table, the wait staff didn’t think it was beneath them to actually do their jobs, and took our order. The experience at Lapointe's turned Dawn off seafood for the evening and she ordered the cheeseburger platter. As I was still in the mood for something from the sea, I went with the all-you-can-eat mussels served in a garlic and white wine sauce. We were both satisfied with our choices, and have gone back to Coasters since then. Fortunately neither the food nor the service declined in our subsequent visits.

I have never had as bad an experience at a restaurant as I did at Lapointe’s before or since that evening. When Dawn called the restaurant to complain the next day, the manager apologized profusely, and mailed us a gift certificate for a complimentary meal. That free meal voucher was included with the gift we gave to a couple we knew who were getting married. Despite learning the restaurant is under new management since our last visit, we have not been back to the York St. location, nor have we gone to any of Lapointe’s other locations. As far as I’m concerned, when a restaurant allows its standards to fall off the charts this badly, they should never be given a second chance. I’m not expecting a perfect time every time I go out to eat at a restaurant, but I shouldn’t leave a place with that bad a taste in my mouth without even getting served one forkful of food. This restaurant is definitely the one that got away.

Cooking with...Coolio?!?

One of the worst cooking shows I've seen, "Rachael vs. Guy: Celebrity Cook-Off", ended with Lou Diamond Phillips beating Coolio to win $50 000 for charity. If you're having a hard time wrapping your head around the idea of the guy who sang "Gangsta's Paradise" on a cooking show, this isn't the first time Artis Leon Ivey Jr. has been filmed in the kitchen. He hosted his own cooking show on YouTube back in 2008. I assume he stopped making episodes when he was detained at Los Angeles airport in 2009 for possession of something that he shouldn't have cooked up, crack cocaine. At any rate here's Episode 1 for your Family Day enjoyment:

Valentine's Day cooking

Everyone's favorite Hallmark holiday is around the corner, and a lot of people will be going out for a meal with their special someone. While you can't go wrong with the Valentine's Day menus restaurants trot out this time of year, I would recommend people attempt to make something at home. I can understand why one would balk at doing this, as no one wants to run the risk of ruining a romantic dinner by making a mistake in the kitchen. But with a little planning, that doesn't have to be the case. A good Valentine's dinner doesn't have to be complicated.  In fact, the less complicated the meal is, the more time you'll have for the "dessert" part of the evening. The first time I cooked for my wife, I decided to make a roast chicken. My wife, being the sweetheart that she is, loved the meal, and she really appreciated the effort I put into it. Little things like using the good plates, candles, and a tablecloth, helped. When it comes to cooking, you can't go wrong when you cook with love.

Roasted Lemon Chicken

thyme (fresh if possible)
oregano (fresh if possible)
rosemary (fresh if possible)
chopped garlic
white wine
1 lemon
chopped onion
olive oil
1 chicken (about 2 kg in size)

1. Cut the tips of the wings off the chicken. Separate the skin from the meat by gently working from the front and back of the breasts with your fingers. Separate the skin as far as your fingers can reach. 
2. Rub inside and outside the skin with pinches of the spices, some salt and pepper, garlic, olive oil, and the juice from the lemon.
3. Place the chicken breast-down in a roasting pan and sprinkle with some more spices, olive oil, lemon juice, and onions. Roast at 375 degrees F.
4. After 20 minutes, flip the chicken over, baste, and roast for an hour.
5. To make a gravy, bring 3/4 of a cup of white wine to boil in a pan and add the drippings from the roasting pan. Add 3 tablesppons of flour (or cornstrach) and whisk until smooth over a medium heat.

This meal is best served with a salad and mashed potatoes. Happy Valentine's Day.

Ottawa chefs in Top Chef Canada

A big Franklin on Food shout-out goes out to Jonathan Korecki, the head chef at Sidedoor restaurant, and Curtis Luk, the sous chef at The Courtyard restaurant for making the cut to appear on the second season every Canadian foodie's favourite show, Top Chef Canada. Check out there audition tapes below. Go get them boys!

Jonathan Korecki's Top Chef Canada Audition


Curtis Luk's Top Chef Canada Audition

Superbowl Chili

This week I was watching the episode of "Top Chef" where the elimination challenge involved teams making chili for some rodeo cowboys, and I was surprised to see that one of the recipes was similar to a recipe I've been using for my Superbowl chili. It's adapted from a recipe I found in the January 2003 edition of Maxim magazine, and it's perfect for a party to watch the big game Sunday. Go Giants!

Chop 1 1/4 cups of onions; 1 1/4 cups of celery; 1 1/4 cups of bell peppers, 3 jalapeno peppers; and 3 cloves of garlic, and set them aside. In a large pan, brown 2 1/2 pounds of stewing beef. Once done, place the beef in a large stock pot, along with all the chopped vegetables; the entire contents of a can of whole tomatoes; a can of stout (i.e. Guinness, Alexander Keith's Dark Ale); a can of tomato paste; 1 1/4 cups of your favourite spicy barbecue sauce; 2 tablespoons of chili powder; 1 1/4 teaspoons of oregano; 1 1/4 teaspoons of cumin, and a few shakes of Tabasco sauce.. Bring everything to a boil, then reduce to a low heat, cover, and let everything simmer for at least 2 hours. Stir every now and then.

The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste, so if possible, have everything in the pot and on the stove at noon so you can dig into a hot steaming bowl of chili at kickoff. You can add a can of kidney beans if you want, but I can deal without a bunch of farting football fans during the halftime show, so I usually don't. For an extra bit of flavour, put a cinnamon stick in the center of the chili during the simmering process.