Inn on the Twenty [-Nine]

It’s a special year of birthdays. My BFFs and I are celebrating each one of ours together in style. This time around we celebrated “The Doc’s”. Think Power Puff Girls…

Anyway, The Doc decided to celebrate by setting us up on a road trip from Toronto to the Niagara Region to have brunch at the well-known On the Twenty Restaurant. If you haven’t heard of Inn on the Twenty, then please let me share some tidbits with you. It is located in the Niagara Region in a little hamlet called Jordan. It’s a 90-minute drive from Toronto. Food Network fans know that this restaurant is where celebrity chef Anna Olson of Sugar: Simple Sweets and Decadent Desserts and Fresh with Anna Olson: Seasonally Inspired Recipes to Share with Family and Friends was the pastry chef. It was here, also, that she met her husband, Michael Olson, the executive chef of the restaurant at the time. The restaurant is known for its regional cuisine as well as its seasonal menus.

Here is a picture story of our brunch:

 

Pureed Asparagus and Ham Soup

Chardonnay Steamed PEI Mussels
with Fiddleheads, Asparagus and Roast Garlic served on fresh linguine

Truffle Scented Linguine
with Woodland Mushroom Ragout and Asparagus Tips, Parmesan Tuile Chardonnay Cream

Ontario Beef Tenderloin
Pommes Frites and Stilton Poutine
Balsamic Braised Cipollini, Merlot jus

Red Velvet Cake

Mmmm… Red Velvet Cake.

Everything was delicious and our server, Claire, was the best! Y’all gotta go and dine there.

The Red Velvet Cake is not on the restaurant’s menu. We later learned that The Doc had arranged it with the restaurant to have this cake for us. This is the third birthday of the year we’ve celebrated among ourselves and the third time we’ve requested the cake for our dessert. For the first birthday, we were all very disappointed. It tasted nothing like Red Velvet at all. It was a spinoff, having a raspberry-cranberry thing going on. The second birthday we ordered the cake only to be told by our waiter that they were sold out. Actually, the restaurant lied because as we were leaving we saw a whole uncut Red Velvet Cake in their dessert display! I guess we were all hoping that the third time was it. But alas, it was not…the cake wasn’t chocolaty enough and the frosting lacked in the cream cheese department. Well, the next birthday will be mine. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that we will finally find The One.

On this note, I wish my very dear friend Charlie a very happy 29th birthday.

MIA

I apologize for being away from the blog for so long. My blog, my baby, oh how I have neglected you these past 20 months.

Things got pretty crazy since my last post. Here’s a short update. Late in 2009, my grandfather, who lived with us, fell ill. I had to take him to countless doctor’s and specialist’s appointments. Unfortunately in April 2010, he passed away. Goong Goong, may you rest in peace. From that point, my focus ran in many directions and the blog was put on the back burner. Aside from caring for my children, I looked over the sale of the family business. Once the sale was complete, I started a new job. And I haven’t really had a chance to get back into blog writing since…until now.

Please drop in every now and then to see if I’ve posted anything. I have been taking a lot of pictures of food and I have lots of ideas for posts prepped in my head. Just give me some time to put it on Window Live Writer and publish it. Thank you for your patience.