Saturday, July 19, 2008

CAFE TASTE - A GREAT OASIS FOR WINE AND CHEESE



Lola and I tried to go out for a nice dinner the other night and it seemed like it just wasn't meant to be. We wanted to go to one restaurant in particular but found that it was closed for a private party when we arrived.

We walked up and down Queen Street looking for something nice, but didn't happen upon anything that sparked our interest. When we did find one that looked interesting (we'll try it soon) we found they didn't take Interac. We looked up and down that area of Queen and couldn't find an Interac machine that worked! Grrrrrrr!

All of this walking around wasted about an hour or so and as we passed the original restaurant we wanted to go to, we found it had opened up to the public again so we decided to go there for dinner.


As we were walking home along Queen Street, we were passing other restaurants looking in at the staff as most of them were closing up and reading menus posted on windows. We were passing one place - Cafe Taste - and a waiter standing in the door asked us to come in to see the patio in the back. We went in and decided to have a look.

Cafe Taste is a wine and cheese bar that offers over 30 wines by the glass and up to 30 cheeses. We came in at the close of the night after there had been a wine event, but there were still a few people lingering on the patio sipping wine over quiet conversation by candle light. Lola and I ordered a glass of ice wine each and had a sampling of two cheeses. It was a nice way to end a what started out as a not so perfect evening.

The best thing about the night was that we discovered Cafe Taste; we want to go back soon for a night of wine and cheese. Cafe Taste not only offers a vast array of wine and cheese for sampling, but they are proud of the fact that they search for local products to offer their guests.

While we were enjoying our ice wine, we were brought a really nice blue cheese that paired well with it. I also wanted some goats cheese which was supplied without a problem.

As a wine and cheese lover, I want to go back to Cafe Taste to bust a gut one night. I think it will be a a night of sensual pleasure and fun!! And if you're a wine and cheese lover...you should check it out too. You may find a new favorite.

Here's a link to the Cafe Taste web page: http://www.cafetaste.ca/



Cafe Taste 1330 Queen St West (@ Brock St.) 416.536.7748 cafetaste@rogers.com

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

My husband and I have been going to Cafe Taste since we moved into the neigborhood. We were just there this past week and shared some wine on the patio as a matter of fact, perhaps we may bump into you and your "Lola".

Anne P.

Livingston Cooks said...

Hello Anne!

Lola and I went to Cafe Taste for our first visit on the evening of July 16th. I'm sure you will see Lola and I there sometime because we definitely liked the feel of the place and want to go back. Also, it is in our neighborhood so we plan to go back anyway.

We are stuck at home tonight because of the rain. We were going to go to the Jazz Festival on in the Beaches tonight but the rain killed that. Instead, we're having Margaritas and tapas.

Could be worse!

Livingston Cooks said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Will you be doing a post on tapas anytime soon? I'm having a tapas party for the long weekend and have been scouring the internet for good recipes and I can't decide on what to serve. Any suggestions would be aopreciated.

Kathy

Livingston Cooks said...

Kathy:

As far as I'm concerned, anything can qualify as a tapas. Remember, however, that tapas are Spanish. Anything Spanish served in little bites will work for you.

I like to include roasted red peppers, giant stuffed green olives, roasted garlic, Choritzo sausage or a variety of sausage, seafood, a variety of cheeses and some other meat and vegetable dishes.

Here are some ideas:

Mixed mushrooms in loads of butter, white wine and garlic with fine herbs. Saute beforehand and transfer into a cassarole dish and warm in the oven with brie over top. Serve with crusty bread.

Diced chicken in seared in a hot pan with garlic, butter, white wine and sherry. Season with salt, pepper and a little paprika. Add chopped green olives. Serve in a small cassarole with bread.

Grilled sausages sliced into bite sized pieces with strips of roasted red pepper.

Roasted tomato halves drizzled with olive oil and topped with bocconcinni cheese.

A nice cheese platter including soft rind and hard cheeses. Include Manchego from Spain. It's a nice, firm mild cheese from Manchego Spain.

Perhaps some grilled frenched lamb chops with a nice red wine reduction.

Roast a tenderloin of pork with a smear of tapenade and slice it before serving on a plate. Top it off with a squeeze of lemon and a sprinkle of herbs.

Grilled vegetables. Make small skewers if you want and baste them with garlic infused olive oil and balsamic.

Grill some figs with a balsamic reduction. serve a slice of proscuitto over each one and spike it with a cocktail pick.

Stuff some chiles with minced garlic, cheese, bread crumbs and herbs and bake them.

Prawns marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, shallots and paprika either sauted or baked. Again, serve with bread.

Grilled calamari Spanish style.

A nice variety of mixed olives - giant green ones stuffed with pickled garlic, green stuffed with pomento, green on the seed, black spiced.....

Look up some Spanish recipes and scale them down into small portions.

Have fun!!

Anonymous said...

Hi again,

Thanks for the tapas tips, well...more than tips, I think you just created my whole menu.
-thanks again,
Kathy

Livingston Cooks said...

Kathy:

Glad to be of help. I hope you knock them dead with some killer Tapas!!

Chow!!

Marko

Sheena Rae said...

Hey uncle Mark! I'm back in Canada again and would love to get together with you! Please e-mail me at sheenalivingston@hotmail.com and I'll send you my phone number to plan to get together! Hope to hear from you soon!

Anonymous said...

COOL SITE MAN,

CHEERS