Last Sunday Paul's pal Elise had invited us to her favourite restaurant: Solstice. It is located in Mississauga off of the Lakeshore. The last time I had been to this area of the city it had been pretty run down. I had heard that things had improved but this was my first opportunity to see it first hand.
Solstice is located in a strip mall. Before that turns you off completely . . . you would never know you were in a strip mall once you were inside of the doors. The restaurant has warm, sleek lines and the colours chosen by the decorator are calming and subtle. We were seated at a table close to the fireplace which was wonderful given the cold air outside.
The menu has deep Italian 'underpinnings'. As we ate, Elise, who knew the brothers who own the restaurant, told us that many of the recipes belonged to the owners' Italian mother or grandmother. It is true that cooking does run in the blood. Some of the choices were clearly Italian : arancini rice balls, risotto, various pasta dishes. Other selections didn't seem to fit (the Asian spring rolls come to mind . . .)
I ordered bruschetta to start and Paul selected the arancini rice balls. The bruschetta was well made although the bread could have been more thinly sliced for my tastes. I also ordered a salad with balsamic dressing.
For our main course I ordered a pizza with portabello mushrooms, cheese, roasted red peppers, chicken breast, and pesto. It was on a wonderfully crisp, thin crust. YUM! I ate about half of it and took the rest home for lunch the next day.
Paul had checked out the menu on-line and was craving the pork tenderloin. It came out perfectly cooked with a warm apple butter glaze. It was served with four large chunks of roasted potatoes and three perfectly cooked vegetables: green beans, carrots, and roasted beets. Paul said that it was the best pork he had for some time (clearly he was forgetting the pork I had recently prepared for him, but I digress). The only downside was that there was so much food he couldn't finish it - unheard of for Paul (mind you, he had eaten 4 rice balls and 2 pieces of bruschetta prior to the main event).
After sitting and digesting dinner for a bit we decided to have some dessert. I ordered the tartufo of the day: coconut and raspberry - an unusual but very tasty combination. Paul ordered creme brulee and Elise ordered the tiramisu. Paul tried some of her dessert and declared it to be the best he had ever tasted.
Dinner for the two of us with water and wine was $ 103. An excellent deal.
It was a great meal with Elise. She caught us up on her recent adventures in Ireland, had some great photo albums and souvenirs! WOW
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