BOTANIST || Experience the Limited Dinner Series, the Garden Club, Utilizing Overflow Produce from Local Urban Farm
I am continually impressed by the amount of care that goes into planning the dining experience at the Botanist.
The restaurant has just launched a limited dinner series, the Garden Club, which incorporates farm-fresh overflow produce from the Downtown East Side Neighbourhood House Urban Farm and also donates the proceeds to help fund the organization’s move to a new location.
The Urban Farm is an innovative project to bring the community together to grow and celebrate food and is an integral part of the community. It feeds approximately 400 people lunch each week while the free market provides about 50 bags of produce on a weekly basis.
From now until November 27th, guests can book the exclusive Garden Club dining experience only available in the Garden Room at the Botanist.
Neighbourhood House Sour cocktail prepared by Head Bartender Jeff Savage. Made with Longtable Gin, Cointreau, Salal berry and Spruce tip Sherbet, Lemon Juice, Egg White, and finished with a vibrant Viola.
Depending on the overflow produce available from the Urban Farm each week, Executive Chef Hector Laguna and his team will design a menu tailored for the farm-fresh produce, so guests can expect a unique experience with each visit. 80 to 85 percent of the food for your meal will be made with overflow produce from the Urban Farm, so the ever-changing 3-course menu ensures none of the produce goes to waste.
We were surprised by the generous portions of each course, so don’t underestimate this fine dining menu. As usual, Chef Laguna’s menu is meticulously planned to take us on a journey with our taste buds. We started with sablefish with grilled kale and burgundy truffles, a dish that is aromatic and decadent to taste with a blend of the buttery sablefish texture topped with an abundance of shaved truffles.
Grilled kale, potato, viola glaze, burgundy truffles, pan seared sablefish.
The main course featured Chef Hector Laguna’s 20-day dried-aged duck breast. Words don’t do it justice so refer to the photo below to get a visual of the decadence of this treat. The duck meat is cooked perfectly with just a touch of pink at the bottom, while the fat of the skin is skillfully preserved so that the skin texture is just slightly crunchy before your taste buds are met with the burst of flavour from the layer of fat between the skin and meat. If I sound like I’m exaggerating, you’ll need to try this dish and see for yourself. I’m sure we will arrive at the same conclusion about how delicious the duck breast is.
20-day dried-aged duck breast.
Preserved green tomatoes, colour greens, sunchokes, green mole, dried-aged duck breast
For dessert, the pastry chef had prepared a cloud of Sala berry yogurt ice cream with lemon curd and citrus cake nestled at the bottom of the bowl. At first sight, the size of the bowl was intimidating, as we thought it was one of the largest desserts bowls we’ve seen. Upon scooping into the tangy and sweet cloud of Salal Berry yogurt ice cream, we loved how light the dessert was, and we managed to polish off the entire bowl despite already feeling quite full after the main course. Insider tip: if you do manage to get this scrumptious dessert as part of the menu, you’ll find that each spoonful yields a unique flavour combination with hidden gems submerged in ‘the cloud’.
Salal berry yogurt ice cream, Lemon curd, Citrus cake.
Visit the Botanist website to book your Garden Club dining experience today.
To learn more about the various programs supported by the Downtown East Side Neighbourhood House Urban Farm, visit their website here.
Photography by Florence Leung
