My husband D and I enjoy dining with new foodie friends as we did recently with Canstar reader and contest winner Janice Sawka and her guest, at The Keg Steakhouse + Bar Southside location on McGillivray Blvd. The co-workers and pinball aficionados toasted the evening with a French 75 Martini and a Ginger Crantini.

As soon as we could stop talking about our favourite Winnipeg restaurants, the friends selected appetizers of Tuna Tartare and Baked Brie. Janice was determined to try something that might have typically been outside of her comfort zone.

After mustering up the gumption, she was surprised at the lovely texture and subtle flavours of the tartare. Tartares have French origins when a meat or fish is finely chopped and served raw. She also enjoyed the tastes of Mushrooms Neptune and Crab Cakes that we shared with her.

For their salad course, The Keg’s renowned Caesar salad and a nouveau Spinach Salad were chosen. Janice was tempted by the addition of chèvre (goat cheese) and the chardonnay vinaigrette on the spinach one.

D tried the Wedge salad for the first time.

I waited and had my salad as my entrée. I love this new option on the Keg menu.

Janice was still working her way through both her appetizer and salad when her Sirloin Oscar entrée arrived.  She was happy to indulge in both seafood (shrimp and scallops) and one of The Keg’s excellent steaks, all in one dish. The asparagus and béarnaise sauce were her “icing on the cake”.

But speaking of sweets, dessert was yet to come.  My husband suggest a mini-dessert trio of butter tart, fudge brownie and crème brûlée (literally: burnt cream) for the undecided.  Janice considered and then concluded that the famous Keg Billy Miner pie was her choice, if she could request that it not be served with caramel sauce.  The Keg is always happy to accommodate substitutions, so everyone got exactly what they wanted.

Our server Cory was more than gracious with us when the dining room emptied, as the four of us sat and chatted about dining in Italy, Seattle and Jerusalem and where next our food adventures may take us.

Kath’s quote: “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful.”-Mae West

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

In the same manner that some of you (including my D) may have a sweet tooth, I have a rich savoury tooth. I crave foods like creamy cheese, seafood and grilled meats. This makes my regular sojourns to The Keg for lunch,  bit of a challenge. Not that they do not have items that foot the bill on their lunch menu. Au contrare, they have too many for me to a timely decision!

On this particular day my lunch mates made savoury choices too: one selecting an appetizer for his lunch of bacon-wrapped scallops and the other, a half of a prime rib sandwich with a cup of the soup of the day. They were settled in to enjoy their satisfying lunches, while I tucked into mine.

What could be more decadent than Lobster Mac and cheese? The casserole arrived still bubbling from the oven. I moved the succulent lobster pieces aside to save them for my last bites while I took mini tastes (to make the treat last that much longer) of the perfectly prepared pasta, bechamel sauce and sharp cheddar cheese. The lobster held its own against the other rich ingredients and I was perfectly satisfied. Well, almost. I had been thinking that a little drizzle of truffle oil that reminded of a chef’s special I had tasted at The Keg some months before, would have been the perfect savoury taste. See? I am obsessed!

Lunch this day, reflected my day to day philosophy. Life’s short, eat a rich casserole first.

Kath’s quote: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we diet.” -author unknown

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

Now that D and I are empty-nesters, we love to spontaneously drop in somewhere for dinner before we head home for the night. On this evening, we knew that a televised Jets game was being pvr’d at home. We both wanted something light, not just because it was a mid-week, “no real reason to go out” kind of night but also because of our post-holiday resolutions. You might think that The Keg Steakhouse + Bar would be a poor choice under these circumstances, but you would be wrong.  The Keg has always been very customer focused (D and I are former employees) and it is no surprise that their executive chefs have put lighter items on the menu to ensure that all their guests get exactly what they desire.

New to the menu (as of late November) is Baked Sea Bass. Sea Bass is a meaty, salt-water fish. We are fond of Sea Bass, especially the giant ones called Grouper that we often dine on while vacationing in the Caribbean. Do you see the definition of the fish in this photo? The meat can be easily separated with your fork and the result is as if you were eating a glistening scallop.  The cucumber salsa crowning the fish added crunch and additional clean tastes.  We were really impressed by the Keg’s take on quinoa. A tri-colour variety of the grain is combined with garlic, chives, jalapenos, cherry tomatoes, red onions, black beans and charred corn; taking one super-food and elevating it with others.

Speaking of super-foods: pistachios, salmon and brussel sprouts make appearances in the second dish that we shared. I’ve know pistachios to be paired with chicken and sausages, but never before with fish. They added a satisfying crunch, additional protein and flavour to the already succulent salmon. The sprouts had been sautéed with apple-wood smoked bacon increasing the depth of the dish with pungent tones. The drizzling of maple butter and the bed of decadent garlic-mashed potatoes, cinched our love of the dish.

We ordered a heavier red wine before we selected our entrees, but the next time we select these two dishes, we would be inclined towards one of the couple of Sangioves on extensive wine menu. Typically white wines are chosen with fish, but a lighter red like this or a Gamay can also be enjoyed.

We chose to decline the dessert menu when our helpful server offered it, to help us with those resolutions but also because we had lingered over our wine and were anticipating getting home for the game.

Kath’s quote:“Pistachio nuts, the red ones, cure any problem.”-Paula Danziger

Live simply, laugh often, love deeply.

From the moment I met Natasha from Treasury Wine Estate, I knew that she was the real deal.  Not only is she drop dead gorgeous with the most beautiful complexion I have seen in a very long time, but she looked fit and healthy in her “Penfold’s red” dress.

She was also upbeat and happy about her work and representing the iconic Australian winery Penfolds.  When you think about it, who wouldn’t want to travel the world, sip exquisite wines, taste fantastic food and then talk about it?  The key for me and my “liking” her is that wine aficionados can be pretentious and stand-offish and Natasha is anything but that.  She uses real language to describe her Penfolds wine passion-words like “pencil shavings”, marshmallow” and “lacy”.  As I pondered what made this woman so appealing, I just came out and asked her where she was from.  The answer? Regina-where the humblest and modest people in the world come from (second to Winnipeg, of course).

As mini tuna tacos and shrimp cocktail were presented by efficient Keg servers, we sipped on a Bin 51 2012 Riesling.  I do love a lusciously sweet Riesling and this was dryer than my taste but I will admit that the hints of lemon and apple were a perfect complement to the seafood appetizers.  The first course was a delectable Lobster & Shrimp salad.  The Keg’s recipe including avocado, cremini mushrooms, black beans and corn is just my cuppa tea.  These distinct flavours were enhanced by the Thomas Hyland Chardonnay.  I especially liked the biscuity notes (another of Natasha’s down to earth descriptors).

I was surprised, but more than appreciative when a Bin 2 Shiraz Mouvedre 2009 was served with the second course of the Keg’s Creole Chicken.  I skipped the chicken (trying to pace myself) but loved the shrimp and scallops with the spicy and earthy shiraz.  Natasha thought of it as an alluring “lady” wine with tastes of rosemary, thyme, lavender and cinnamon.

My favourite food taste of the evening was the perfectly prepared Mustard Salmon served with another 2009 wine, this time Bin 407 Cabernet Sauvignon.  This was when Natasha’s description of pencil shavings came in and she was exactly correct.  The suggestions of blackberry and back cherry were another surprise with how well they magnified the mustard sauce and the salmon.

The best was yet to come when another Shiraz (St. Henri) arrived for us to savour with Beef Tenderloin Medallions accompanied by drizzles of béarnaise and whiskey peppercorn sauces.  Natasha declared that the wine was veiled, perfumed, velvety with aromas reminiscent of Easter Lilies.  I simply took her word for it, not having as sophisticated palate as she, but knowing it was likely the finest Shiraz I have ever tasted.

Grandfather Port, aged 30 years, was lovely to sip with the Dessert course of Chocolate Cake and fresh raspberries but even better when I followed the lead of one of our table companions, who poured his port right over his cake.  He is Sicilian and since we have travelled there, we know that Sicilians know how to eat, so I wasn’t going to challenge his decision.  He was right, the decadent richness of the cake was  put over the top with the baptism of port.

The room and our table were beautiful, as were the guests whom we dined with.  The value offered by both Penfolds and The Keg was nothing short of astounding, with a ticket cost of a mere $100.  A friend in the lobby remarked that he would have happily paid double that amount. Best of all, was that all monies raised went to Special Olympics Manitoba.  In all, one of those memorable evenings that will stay with us for a very long time.

Kath’s quote: “Wine is bottled poetry.”-Robert Louis Stevenson

Love-that is all.

I visit all of The Keg locations often at lunch time because I think that it is the perfect place to conduct a short business meeting.  When I am host for a lunch date, I know that the food quality will be consistently high and that service will be prompt, polite and non-obtrusive.  Although I love to eat steak and other beef selections, I do not often do so at lunch time unless I am planning ahead and not intending to have supper that evening, as is sometimes the case.  Recently while at the Southside Keg, I spied a new steak addition on the lunch menu.  The Manhattan Cut New York is a seven ounce portion which would definitely hold me over if I had an early teaching gig in the evening.

More often though, I choose the hearty Sante Fe Chicken or Cobb Salad.  The latter is topped with chicken in addition to avocado, bacon, hard cooked eggs and crumbled Bleu cheese!  I look forward to going back soon to sample the Lobster and Shrimp Salad which enhances the subtle shellfish tastes with black beans, corn, cremini mushrooms, avocado, mango sesame dressing and pine nuts.

I also spied the new Lobster Mac & Cheese which will also have to wait for a future visit.  On this day we started by sharing Tuna Tacos.  The mixed cabbage slaw was punched up with jalepenos and a side of Sriracha sauce but in my mind the sleek, subtleness of the ahi tuna was fine with no accoutrements.  The quality of the tuna was exceptional: ahi is another name for yellowfin tuna and is widely used in raw fish dishes, especially sashimi.  For a fish to be served raw, the quality of the flesh must be exemplary.  The filets had a dusting of creole seasoning and had barely touched the grill-just the way I love it.  As a result the meat was cool and silky, like a cold drink on a hot day.

I am a fried chicken lover from a way back when my grandma would serve just “caught” chickens for lunch.  I know that the thought may be disturbing to some, but the taste of a fresh, free range chicken is like no other.  Even though I was a city girl, I spent summers on the farm and the practice was just a part of everyday farm life.  But I digress, the only way that I have found to achieve this same kind of tenderness is by marinating the chicken first.  Buttermilk is the best manner because the mild acids that it contains, tenderizes the meat.  The Keg’s version then coats the hearty portion with a unique blend of seasonings.  I found the crust to be a bit on the salty side but not in an unpleasant way.  I am supposed to be conscious of reducing my salt, but I could not help going back to the delectable tastes over and over again in the same way that I crave kettle potato chips and buttery popcorn.  The chicken came with a choice of side and I selected the coconut curry soup which was delicious in itself, but offset the chicken in a lovely manner.

My lunch mate chose a half of the Brie Chicken sandwich with a salad and after I tried unsuccessfully to make it through the portion on my plate, I may opt for this lighter fare another time.

Business was conducted and the meet up was a success in all aspects.

Kath’s quote: “A cook she certainly was, in the very bone and centre of her soul. Not a chicken or turkey or duck in the barn-yard but looked grave when they saw her approaching, and seemed evidently to be reflecting on their latter end; and certain it was that she was always meditating on trussing, stuffing and roasting, to a degree that was calculated to inspire terror in any reflecting fowl living.”-Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852)

Love-that is all.