When you are able to reacquaint with good friends that you have not had the occasion to visit with in a while, it really doesn’t matter where you go or what you eat, does it?  The company was the most important thing and yet here we were tucked into a cozy corner table in the back dining room at 529 Wellington.  Because I have been acquainted with the WOW! Hospitality folks for many years, it was like coming home with lots of embraces and hugs.  I even was able to meet a twitter follower IRL (in real life).  She recognized me from my thumbnail photo and I was so glad that she introduced herself.

The room is warm and beautifully appointed and you can easily imagine the grand dinners that must have been common place in the restored mansion.  Our waiter was impeccable and did his best not to intrude upon our intimate conversations.  We all chose beef specials as they were relayed by our server:

 the calf’s liver with onions on mashed potatoes,

a Caesar salad topped with grilled tenderloin and enormous shards of Parmesan cheese

and an open-faced rib eye steak sandwich with sauteed mushrooms.  The flavours of the steak were rich and deep and even though the beef was extremely well trimmed, my taste buds found a nugget of fat the was silky smooth and absolutely sublime.  My lunch reminded me of the way in which my Dad would enjoy his steak-nothing fussy or complicated: just the finest cut with lots of age and a little bit of seasoning.  I have never seen the kitchen of 529 so I do not know how their steaks are prepared but I imagined that it would have been seared in a hot pan or over a hot flame to seal in the juices and then carefully watched until the perfect doneness was achieved.  I tasted salty butter on the accompanying mushrooms and if I am not mistaken on the steak as well.  Unadorned and divine. And don’t worry about me, I did get my quota of veggies later in the day.

I may try the beef carpaccio next time, remembering back to when Doug Stephen, one of the owners of the restaurant first opened a bistro in the basement of the Travellers Building, named Cibo’s. I remember their carpaccio from our first wedding anniversary dinner.  Fine dining and fine beef have always been a part of our lives. 

The menu states that less than 1% of all Canadian beef available is graded Canada Prime and that all the beef at 529 is as such.  No wonder our lunch was so very good.

Kath’s quote: “The quality of food is in inverse proportion to the altitude of the dining room, with airplanes the extreme example.”-Bryan Miller

Love-that is all.

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