The Toronto Star from Toronto, Ontario, Canada • 37

WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 16 2005 TORONTO STAR C5 ood 22ndAnnual' i CHRISTMAS SHOW November 19 27 I ESS "'I' Mide Gi I Tfe' The Metro Toronto Convention Centre 255 ront St Weekdays 11am 9pm Sat 10am 7pm Sun 10am 6pm wwwsignaturesca PrTtelbL Adults $6 Seniors (65) $4 Youth (1 3 1 7) $4 Children 12 and under REE Pay once return everyday for I Jessie Turner Jewellery Designs Maggie Murdoch Studio Nonia English Lilly Designs Metallic Evolution Karen Hunter Designer Bog Art Bog Art I MN from our 250 Canadian Artists Artisans Designers Chunky unky WHEEL THROWN POTTERY Demonstrations you can try it tuo! Opens Saturday November 19 HOT GLASS Demonstrations bv foremost cilassblowers artistsl 19Ta JyMMl nrwnnH Prnrfiiflx HE sampling bf what you will find '4 nflOKSKS JMk 4 Bn HwSI A Witf Iwl wl (Sh wr wh UMua amaf SHOP' OImS A SHOE THAT ITS Man's Running Shoa M1221SN 2a NEW BALANCE PROUDLY SUPPORTS THE CANADIAN BREAST CANCER OUNDATION THE WIDTH SPECTRU Canadian 'Breast Cancer oundation Not oil modols available in all widths KICK START YOUR WINTER TRAINING IN Running expert fitters will ensure you leave with a shoe that fits well and that meets your specific supportive requirements 5 a "Sr 2 running free 708 DENISON ST IHWY 404 STEELES) wwwrunningfreecn 905 477 7871 3 (o tc fi tel mBbuSMIm SB xj tf cn BilMttmMMa I 1 i JraS i 2e sMSs' rEE Less is more apply to the servers Mye Restaurant 7V7V7 LOCATION: 143 Church St (west of ra falgar Rd) Oakville 905 849 8989 wwwmyerestaurantca EXECUTIVE CHE: Mo Aoki HOURS: Lunch: Tuesday to riday 12 to 2:30 pm Dinner: uesday to Saturday 5:30 to 10:30 pm Sunday 5:30 to 10 pm WHEELCHAIR ACCCESS: Accessible with equipped washroom Anyone who has contemplated the 15 stones on raked white sand at the Ryoanji temple rock garden in Kyoto comprehends the Zen of simplicity While Mye Restaurant exactly evoke similar enlightenment and awe of profound emptiness it does do an ex ceptionally nice job with tempura sea food and vegetables Ownerchef Mo Aoki who came from Japan to open Mye 18 years ago obvi ously understands simplicity whether in dishes such as tempura or in the se rene fresh setting with seafoam green walls and square birch chairs that re peat the shape of bare windows The only ornaments are a hearth in the small room off the entrance a de lightful spot for a romantic meal and display cases of sake cups each vivid as ajewel The real jewels at Mye are utterly fresh sushi and sashimi the latter glis tening like satin but with the texture of velvet Dozens of varieties are offered ii la carte at prices ranging from $350 for six pieces of cucumber roll to $17 for five pieces of giant clam sashimi A medium sashimi appetizer ($1850) displays its wares simply: white tuna grouper clam octopus thick pieces of salmon and tuna resting on fanned wa fers of cucumber with mackerel set on lemon and topped with a tiny ruffle of grated scallion White daikon radish is shaved to translucency' Selections from a separate appetizer menu include delicious agemaki roll ($8) six pieces of tempura eel sushi served on a banana leaf Each seems to have kissed the batter and flirted with 'i the fryer the exterior crunch revealing moist eel Less successful is deep fried Outstanding Excellent Very good Good air i Poor Awful DiningOut JUDYGERSTEL squid ($950) too chewy and seafood treasure shrimp salmon scal lop shiitake and oyster mushrooms and onion steamed and served in a tin foil envelope but so mild as to be fla vourless Mye triumphs with tempura The bat ter is imported from Japan the vegeta ble oil is fresh and clean and the ingre dients are properly chilled into com placency before being surprised by siz zling oil The result is delicate crisp coating and vegetables or seafood that yield their rawness but remain pristine Main courses maybe sushi sashimi or variations on tempura teriyaki or steak Steak with Seafood Dinner ($31) brings large tender shrimp large scal lops sliced in half and mushrooms all sauteed to a golden finish in Mye's gin gery steak sauce along with half inch thick morsels of tenderloin matching the scallops in size almost a half pound of it done to a pink medium rareness as requested Broccoli on the plate was pleasantly crunchy and there was also a red pepper harumaki a slender crispy fried egg roll Desserts include mitsumame ($650) resilient cubes of unflavoured gelatin with vanilla ice cream and fruit cocktail as well as a creme brulee trio ($9) Often these taste artificial and ambig uous They make one yearn for a time when creme brulee a canvas for a misguided fancy But here ma ple syrup green jasmine tea and cran berry were natural tasting identifiable but subtle enough that order them again Who knows whether get them? At Saturday dinner we ordered sesame ice cream green tea ice cream with red beans ($550) The red beans were missing (though they ap peared on tlie bill) and by the time the green tea ice cream was a slick in the dish the sesame ice cream still arrived The server explained that the restau rant was busy Diffident through much of the service placed dishes on the table while looking elsewhere and at one point hovered over us with a dish in hand talking to other servers while we waited to see if and when it was going to land Another quibble: the bottle of red wine was warmer than room temperature Would that I were enlightened enough to overlook the rocky sendee and ruminate only on the simplicity and the tempura Email Judy Gerstel at jgerstelathestaica KEITH BEATYTORONTO STAR Server Justin Mahabir keeps busy at erro restaurant which serves a wealth of Mediterranean fare and pretty desserts I ''JL Keeping menu options open Lunch CHRISTIAN COTRONEO nothing so reassuring as the sweet symphony of a restaurant in full fervour At erro pots and pans are a pound ing an espresso machine is slurping and lunchcrs are lingering over post card desserts all about the healthy din of in dustry at erro where a legion of lunchcrs mulch through a massive se lection of Mediterranean fare Even so finding a quality seat among the 120 or so at the St Clair Ave es tablishment be an issue Dithering over the expansive lunch slices of bread The bread however is no match for its ingredients allowing fingers to pass right through it A clean finish takes some work but a tasty lin ing of goat cheese and olive paste goads you on Along the way the water fill ing mania is much appreciated On a lighter note the Salmone ($1495) will make it easier on you when it comes time to stand up The At lantic salmon is grilled to a perfect pitch and pink on the inside Even bol stered by baked goat cheese pine nuts and mushrooms the salmon is light enough to hover over a bed of greens No matter what path you take just no reasoning with the dessert menu menu on the other hand can really eat into your lunch hour Will it be the Magic Mushrooms ($695) ei carpeting of portobello and Caramel Vanilla Tartufo Not to day Dulce de Leche Cheesecake Maybe next time oyster mushrooms on crunchy crostini Chocolate Mousse Damn you swabbed in a roasted garlic cream nothing to be ashamed of sauce? Or the stewed mussels in white about surrendering to this mousse It wine and butter tomato sauce known arrives pretty' els a picture surrounded as Cozze by brush strokes of chocolate sauce Even risotto comes in three varieties: unghi ($1395) the seafood slanted Pescatore ($1795) or the smoked chicken charge of Zucca ($1595) even go to the pizza regions of the menu if your boss is expecting you back anytime soon With 22 options enough to give a hungry visitor culinary vertigo As far as panini goes the Giardinicre disarmingly different The bread crushed or grilled into a shell Instead roasted red peppers egg plant artichokes and mushroomspoke out from a couple of ridiculously fresh But make no mistake in over your head This is one sweet slab of stomach filler Bite by bite you press on knowing every ounce left behind is sacrilege Make it to the end at least with no help from your lunch partner and you just may see erro from a fresh angle The restaurant remains in perpetual motion But you have come to a re sounding halt ERRO BAR AND CAt: 769 St Clair Ave (west of Bathurst) 416 654 9119 Hours: Monday to Saturday 11:30 am to 11pm Sunday 5:30 to 11 pm (Hours may vary Call ahead about late niglit dining Reservations only for parties of eight or more) inal tab: $3365 for two plus tip Time: rom walking in the door to walk ing out 55 minutes The ideal lunch partner Someone who always leaves room for dessert Red flag: The panini is a hands on expe rience and at times hands in Email: foodjithestarca RESTAURANT NEWS UNDRAISER: Two celebrated chefs will cook a seven course tasting menu at Lago at Eagles Nest Golf Club as fundraiser for Second Harvest David Gaunt and JP Challet (of The ifth) promise around the world tour of culinary matched with wines for the dinner tonight Tickets are $300 (tax receipts issued for $200) Lago is at 10000 Dufferin St (at Major Mackenzie Dr northwest comer) Call 416 408 2594 CHINESE ACCENT: Lai Wall Heen is cel ebrating its 10th anniversary with a new menu introducing regional Chi nese classics The upscale restaurant at the Metropolitan Hotel on Chestnut St (near Toronto City Hall) is known for its Cantonese cuisine and its dim sum or dim sum lovers the Dine around China Prix ixe Lunch Menu ($28 per person) is an option Also a "Soiree by Patrick Lin visiting chef from the Royal Garden Hotel in Hong Kong takes place riday and Saturday at 7 pm The price is $138 per person Info: 416 977 9899 BURGER AWARDS: Pulp Kitchen res taurant has won a award from PETA for Hometown Veg gie of Toronto The burger is a roasted portobello mushroom patty topped with tahini dress ing roasted to matoes caramelized onions and fresh greens on a whole wheat kaiser years ago if you walked into most res taurants and asked for a veggie burger all have gotten for lunch was ei blank says PETA vegan cam paign director Bruce riedrich or de tails on the Leslieville eatery see wwwpulpkitchenca SMALL CHANGE: old is new at Grill Bar Executive chef Jim Romer set out to develop a fresh menu but was surprised when guest surveys and online feedback showed that most people wanted little if any changes About 10 per cent of the re vamped menu is new Items being in troduced include Southeast Asian Chicken and Beef Skewers Butternut Squash Ravioli and Giant Prawns with Thai Green Curry Sauce has opened 13 locations in the GTA in five years Its style is described as scale Information: www milestonesrestaurantscom Email: THEWIDT SPECTRU OT.