27 Yorkville Ave| Toronto, ON
http://www.mideastroyorkville.com
A few weeks ago I was invited to attend Mideastro’s two year anniversary. Mideastro is located in the posh neighbourhood of Yorkville where they are offering a fusion of Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisines. Executive Chef Benny Cohen is the brains behind the menu creating a wonderful fusion of flavours from multiple countries.
The interior is beautiful with dark wood furnishing and black leather seating, the place feels incredibly warm and cozy yet still being elegant.
I loved how they had personalize name cards for everyone, little touches go along way people!
We started off with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.
Risotto with edamame, asparagus, green peas and spinach.
Foie Gras with lemon, chili and halvuh on pecan pastry.
Beef Carpaccio with parmesan and arugula pesto.
For cocktail hour we got to mingle with media personals and bloggers, the food just kept coming and the drinks kept flowing. My favourite was probably the beef carpaccio and the risotto.
For the sit down dinner part we started off with a trio of appetizers:
Persian Grape Leaves (Stuffed with dried mint rice, ground tenderloin in tomato hearts, lemon, fresh mint and pine sap, on a bed of Lebanese sumac tahina and red & white quinoa table)
Duck Confit Pastilla (on a coconut cream mash, drizzled with date honey, sesame paste, pomegranate reduction and pistachios)
Shrimp Falafel (tzatziki feta, pickled vegetable tartare, hummus masabaha, aji panka & herb tahina)
The flavours were complex and interesting, the Duck Confit probably threw me off the most. It was sweet and savoury with incredible texture. At first I wasn’t a big fan, you really had to savour the flavours and texture but it was probably my favourite of the three.
Entree Trio:
Halibut (whipped fennel cream, quinoa tabule, Spanish almonds, sweet arisa preserved lemon pesto with Syrian olives, baby artichokes, okra & lemon raki)
Crispy Quail (mung bean pods, mango, chili, candied garlic, root vegetable tartare & pineapple reduction)
Miami Ribs (marinated in ginger, garlic, mint, date honey & orange juice)
Miami ribs were hands down my favourite of the trio, it had a very Korean-ques quality to them, sweet, savoury, garlic-y and tender.
We got miniature sized desserts, the only compliant I had was I wish they were bigger cause they were so good!
Fig Kataiv, crisp kataiv pastry layered with spiced mascarpone, fresh figs and pistachios
Mini Nutella Parfait, frozen nutella cream, caramelized bananas, rich crème anglais, salted pecan brittle and tuile cookie. Who doesn’t love chocolate, hazelnuts and bananas?
Each course was paired with a hand-picked wine to accompany the flavours of the dish. The night was amazing from start to end, I met some great people and had a delicious meal. Thank you Mideastro for letting me celebrate with you and providing such a great array of flavours to try.
Happy 2nd anniversary Mideastro and to many more successful years to come!
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