It's the most! Wonderful! Time! Of! The Year!

City of Toronto: WinterCity 2005

And no, I'm not just late for Xmas (which is pretty overrated anyway). It's WINTERLICIOUS!

For the past two years, I've made a meal (heh) out of this little Toronto-specific event; taking a week off work to gorge myself at fine restaurants that I normally wouldn't be able to afford. It's also a nice way to discover some higher-priced restaurants that would make good venues for the occasional fancy dinner or birthday treat.

The festival is basically a "prix-fixe-o-rama" at a variety of different eateries, ranging from some simple restos all the way up to the creme de la creme of the city's bistros. All offer a $10 or $20 lunch, and/or a $20 or $30 dinner. The bistros, it goes without saying, book up almost immediately upon the opening of the reservation phone lines, but I've managed some excellent meals some of the less in-demand places, too. Granted, I've also had one or two really awful plates, and a smattering of smarmy servers as well, but given the price I can't complain too much :)

This is the first "'Licious" where I don't plan to make an effort to try some new places. For one thing, I'm still too broke from my bout of Boxing Day insanity to warrant "investing" in a resto that may not make my "Yes" list, and for another, the following have impressed me enough that I want to make a second (or third, in one case) visit.

Courthouse Market Grille
Oyster Boy
Filet of Sole
Canoe*

I also wouldn't mind hitting Sintra, a neat-but-expensive-looking Portuguese bistro, but money's tight, so we'll have to see how that pans out.

In summary, then...

WOO HOO! WINTERLICIOUS!


(*OK, OK, so I admit it - I haven't actually been to Canoe. One of Toronto's ritziest [and therefore priciest], it's one of the aforementioned locations that books up even BEFORE the lines open. But my parents and sis went last time, and all three came back raving that it was the best meal, the best drinks, the best dessert, the best view, etc. etc. etc. they'd ever had, so it's pretty safe to assume I'll find it passable!)