Auberge du Pommier's Summerlicious

Posted by Mary Luz Mejia Jul 16, 2008

Chef Jason Bangerter isn't just a talented cook, he's also smart enough to know that the yearly Summerlicious and Winterlicious dining events in Toronto are an opportunity to flaunt your culinary chops. That several participating restaurants don't get this concept mystifies- pedestrian pasta dishes anyone? It’s a shame because here’s an opportunity to get curious diners through the door, wow them, and then ensure they’ll be back thanks to a terrific meal and experience.

At Auberge du Pommier, their Sumemrlicious menu gets you three well-conceived courses starting with a refreshing heirloom tomato and melon soup or a crisp seasonal salad with a picture-perfect peach honey dressing, fresh cheese and olive oil from Arles. The mains include a Tournedos de Boeuf (seared beef tenderloin with glazed pearl onions, local mushrooms and a wonderful potato puree), a Loup de Mer (my fave of the night- baked white sea bass with young leeks, saffron aioli and a bouillabaisse broth), or a roast chicken with Provencal bread salad, olive tapenade and golden pepper velouté. I finished off with the Rhubarb Consommé for dessert – a cold rhubarb nage with sweet Ontario strawberries and crispy lavender meringues. My sister enjoyed the pave of chocolate with cocoa crumble, maple syrup and birch beer foam.

If I didn’t know and admire Chef Bangerter’s work, this meal would have made me a card-carrying fan (in a non whacky sort of way- I’m no chef stalker). My sister and her husband are Bangerter converts; of their own volition I might add. My husband almost got misty when Chef brought out his interpretation of Canada on a Plate- locally foraged mushrooms flash fried with a light-as-air batter, served with marinated spruce tips, a spruce gelee, and for our benefit, shaved truffles. Magnificent. Summerlicious runs July 4-20 around Toronto.