May 7, 2016 Trip to Niagara on the Lake and dinner at AG Cuisine

May 7, 2016  Trip to Niagara on the Lake and dinner at AG Cuisine

We decided to travel the ten miles down river to Niagara on the Lake today after Suzette had three mini so treatments from 9:00 until 10:30.

We caught the 11:00 shuttle and made it to Niagara on the Lake by 1:00.  We immediately went into a cheese shop and purchased 100 grams of an award winning creamy cow’s milk cheese something like Gouda and 8 slices of prosciutto.  We decided to have a picnic, so we went across the street to Peller’s winery shop and tasted two sparkling wines and then a 2015 new release still rose made with Pinot Noir and syrah that we liked, so we bought a bottle of it.  The town is dominated b

The only thing we lacked was a baguette, so we walked to the supermarket and bought a baguette, some grapes, and an apple.  We then walked four blocks to Queen’s Park at the lake and sat on a bench overlooking the point where the Niagara River enters Lake Ontario across the river from Fort Niagara on the American side of the river, which sits on a promontory located at the point where the river enters Lake Ontario.

 

The town is dominated by a Main Street filled with shops.  We tasted South African olive oils and then went for our picnic.

  Here is the color of Trius

  The back label

We  ate our picnic until we became chilled at around 2:45 and decided to return to Niagara Falls, as the weather was changing for the worse.  We shuttled back to the Floral clock by 4:00 and to downtown by 5:00.  We decided to go to our dinner early, since bus connections were so poor and arrived at AG Cuisine at 5:30.  Luckily we were not the first to arrive.  We were seated at a large table in a dining room that was uncrowded and much more quiet than the Weinkeller last night.  This restaurant exuded the feel of fine dining. Instead of a loud restaurant on the main tourist street, AG is located in the Sterling Hotel 1 block behind the street on which the Weinkeller is located.  What a difference a block makes.  The street where the Sterling Hotel is located was virtually deserted of tourists and traffic.  

We had our best dinner of the trip at AG this evening.  The waiter was knowledgeable about the food and AG featured local ingredients and a farm to table menu combining creative combinations and presentations of a wide variety of ingredients.

  Rhubarb Strawberry Lemonade

We started with a cocktail called rhubarb lemonade made with a rhubarb consommé and strawberry infused vodka with a wedge of fresh lemon.  

The only fresh ingredients available this evening were ramps that the chef had foraged and rhubarb grown in the restaurant’s garden. Suzette loves rhubarb, so she chose the three course prix fixe menu with an appetizer of sea scallops, a slice of watermelon radish on a pile micro greens garnished with a slice of pork and pistachio terrine, and salmon caviar.  Pretty impressive.

My appetizer was two chunks of the most tender pork belly that were I have ever tasted cooked in five spice and served with a dollop of rhubarb red wine reduction and a dollop of a white bee pollen vinaigrette with steamed rhubarb julienne strips and roasted crushed peanut on a bed of micro greens.  

I did not notice Suzette’s entrée either because I was consumed by the immenseness of my entrée, but it contained two or three beautifully grilled quail that had been cut in halves, sautéed mushrooms, a potato and cheese Napolean, several edible flowers, and a rhubarb reduction sauce.

I ordered a side of ramps, which the kitchen was kind enough to accommodate.  Ramps are in the onion family and look similar to green onions but taste woody and have a meaty texture.  

Allium tricoccum (commonly known as ramp, ramps, spring onion, ramson, wild leek, wood leek, and wild garlic)^[2] is a North American species of wild onionwidespread across eastern Canada and the eastern United States.^[1] Many of these English names are used for other Alliumspecies, particularly Allium ursinum.

Wild Ramps

Ramps

My dish contained crumbed house made chorizo with a little pigeon pepper, several chunks of re sweetbread th a dthat had been floured and sautéed, a slab of haddock that had also been flouredoth and pan re sautéed served on a bed of fried ramps and fresh kale and fried fingerling potatouvignon  wedges all surrounded by a puddle of sauce made with thickened carrot juice and cream.  The carrot sauce was liked leaf  the ring master in a three ring circus with the combination of ramps and kale with fish and saucetel in one ring, the chorizo and potatoes with sauce in another, and, in the third, the sweetbreads and carrot sauce.  Instead of one combination like Suzette’s dishes, my dish had three important meat ingredients that could be eaten in varying combinations of two or three ingredients at a time, especially with the addition of the extra ramps, which I shared with Suzette and probably went well with her quail.

Whitefish is a local lake fish with a tight white flesh.

Suzette ordered a flight of three wines paired to her menu selections, a Pinot Grigio was served with the scallops, a full bodied pinot noir with the quail, and a Cabernet franc ice wine was served with her dessert, which was a rhubarb cake in a puddle of caramel sauce garnished with a dollop of mocha ice cream.

I drank my lemonade with my pork belly appetizer and ordered a glass of Sauvignon Blanc for my fish entrée and ordered a glass of local Sauvignon Blanc for my fish entree that was dry with an elegant finish.

For dessert we shared Suzette's rhubarb cake served with a dollop of whipped cream and a scoop of mocha ice cream with a fresh mint leaf sticking out of the top.

After dinner we took the bus back to the hotel and had a sip of cognac.

Bon Appetit