Not Quite Ready for Prime Time

Diners today fall into several genres where age, gender and financial status are irrelevant: 1) There are those who enjoy good food with friends in a more club-like atmosphere where the music is on the highest decibel, conversation is animated and requires shouting, and everyone is having a great time. 2) There are those who come to enjoy a leisurely meal with friends, have conversations on meaningful as well as frivolous topics, and exchange thoughts on the presentations and flavour nuances of the dishes they are served. 3) Let’s do lunch instead of dinner.

Tonight, we are in the genre 2 mood, and meet for dinner at the Deauville Club, the restaurant in the newly opened Revery Hotel. Entering this lovely, calm and sophisticated restaurant with rose coloured suede banquets and chairs, rose tables to match and soft lighting, reminds me of what we see in the black and white Hollywood movies of the 40’s. This is the perfect room for an intimate conversation, and I’m suddenly glad I wore a nice summer dress.

Cocktails are delightful: Cafe Coca is the classic espresso martini enhanced with coconut and Pandan Sour is as delightful and fragrant as it is sparkling color. The menu offers a fusion of timeless French classics and global culinary inspiration. Most items are marked dairy free, gluten free, plant-based, etc. We plan to share a few dishes, trusting that the kitchen will parallel the sumptuous decor.

In casual conversation with our server, we learn that the Chef is newly arrived from Poland, and that the staff is a veritable United Nations who bring their own expertise with them. How exciting and refreshing this is in a new restaurant.

Our appetizers arrive and while their plating is very pretty, there are curious notes within. Caesar Salad is one baby gem head of lettuce cut in quarters and drizzled with a pleasant peppered anchovy dressing, while a rather pale ficelle crostini and half grilled-lemon dominate the plate for an imbalanced ratio of crouton to salad. Mushroom Panisse is a charming layering of a saute of wild mushrooms in a chickpea crust that has eluded any suggestion of flavour. The mushrooms are indeed flavourful, but the panisse, which is the star of the plate, is nondescript.

Never mind. Our mains arrive in due course. Paella is deconstructed from its usual mode of service in a paella pan, and each ingredient: shrimp, chicken, calamari, scallop, chorizo—sliced as if for pizza—rather than chunked for paella, garbanzo beans and saffron rice are arranged on the plate.

Again, the plating is pretty, but this is not a paella. The visual element of eating a paella has been deleted. I am also getting the sense that each ingredient was cooked separately and then plated together. A chef cannot circumvent the time it takes to make a proper paella. This lacked a sense of freshness, and that was immediately noticeable. More questionable is the cutlery service, which has not been changed since it was first set on the table. I am eating my paella with remnants of Caesar Salad dressing on my fork. This is not the way it’s supposed to be, people, in a restaurant of this calibre.

Muscovy Duck comes with fine accessories of fingerling potatoes, onions and purple cauliflower. But the attitude of the dish is disturbing. As with every dish so far, it has the appropriate flavour quotient, but the food tastes as if it has been pre-made and re-heated. We are at a loss for words.

Never mind. Perhaps dessert will be a splendid finale. Blueberry Pierogies are listed on the menu. I grew up in the West (Pierogie country) and learned to make proper Pierogies in Home Economics class in High School. Alas, these doughy, chewy Pierogies would not have received a passing grade. A trio of Les Petites Gourmands are prepared in-house, but were not prepared today, and have the quality of refrigeration. Nevertheless they are pretty and pair well with our espressos.

Deauville Club is not yet ready for prime time. It has all the makings of a special place. Some smart and au courant front-of-the-house management can shape the kitchen to match the sophistication of the dining room.

Deauville Club, 416-596-2810, 92 Peter St, Toronto