Only a few places this year were offering takeout dinner specials for Valentine’s Day. Alo had a fairly nice one, but it was similar to what we had from them at New Year’s. So we went with another favourite, Richmond Station. All in all it was a lovely dinner to have at home, with only a little bit of heating and plating involved.
Although the meal came with a lovely bottle of 2019 Kew Vineyards Pinot Meunier natural brut, we decided to order an extra cocktail (after all, we weren’t driving):
Milk punch cocktail: rum melange, Jim Beam Black, calvados, absinthe, Earl Grey, pineapple, spices - fun, mildly sweet with some bitter complexity.
Parmesan sable with truffle butter - delicate and flaky, with very truffle-y butter.
Smoked beet salad: whipped ricotta, three colours of beets, endive, hazelnuts, ice wine vinaigrette - very smokey, with the creamy ricotta offset by the vinaigrette.
Hand-cut macaroni with roasted squash, black trumpet mushrooms, cave-aged comte sauce, candied pumpkin seeds - basically a decadent gourmet mac ‘n’ cheese.
Braised grass-fed organic beef shank, celeriac puree, baby king oyster mushrooms, pickled pearl onions, red wine jus - meltingly soft beef with a rich jus that was one step too salty.
Pain au lait, whipped butter, maldon salt - lovely.
Chocolate fondue with brownie bites, coconut balls, butterscotch cookies (6 each) - the chocolate was dark, with hints of orange and alcohol (perhaps some liqueur added). The brownie was particularly delicious. Enough stuff for dessert over the next few nights.
